wfn.org | AACC - Africa Churches Urged to Address Human Rights

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

January 31, 2004

PRESS RELEASE
All Africa Conference of Churches

Church must play frontline role in the protection of human rights
By Mitch Odero

The church needs to be concerned with the use of military solution to 
counter-terrorism as well as the impact of anti-terror legislation on human 
rights, a continental seminar on human rights was told in Nairobi yesterday 
(January 30th)

Addressing the seminar organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 
conjunction with the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), WCC's 
Executive Secretary for Human Rights Mr. Clement John said that those 
concerns would be among the future challenges of the church including 
impact on economic justice as a result of rapid globalisation of national 
economics.

Other challenges include the increase in incidence of religious intolerance 
and violence.  Participants of the seminar are leaders of the national 
Christian Councils from 39 African countries, representatives of 
sub-regional (Christian) fellowships, Christian and civil society 
organizations.

Mr. John noted that human rights and basic human dignity 'are most 
massively violated as a result of endemic poverty and the growing gap 
between the rich and the poor within and between nations".

This situation, he went on, was further aggravated by globalisation of 
national economies and cultures.  "It is precisely for this reason that 
WCC's Programme on Development and Economic Justice was created to 
encourage churches in the industralised world to press on their governments 
amongst others to eliminate injustice in international trade and commerce.

Opening the seminar AACC General Secretary Rev. Dr. H. Mvume Dandala noted 
that Africa 'is in a crisis of war and insecurity. Gender violence and the 
exclusion of the girl child from basic needs such as education, perpetuate 
the plight of women who are the custodians of the household economy in
Africa.'

Rev. Dandala went on to stress that the 'human exodus and rampant 
destruction of public goods in the event of war and unabated conflicts 
cannot be qualified in moral terms.

He said that what was needed for peace to prevail was "home grown 
initiatives that would transform institutions into moral peaceable 
communities of people living in harmony with one another and their 
environment."

Human rights, he stressed, "is therefore not just a matter of secular 
legislation, but a theological and moral imperative that must be 
articulated as part and parcel of our journey of faith'.

He pointed out that it was on the basis of the dignity of the people 'that 
power is conferred to individuals or institutions because they serve as 
instruments for the common good and social well being of the whole
community".

Rev. Dandala underlined 'when the people recall their authority from those 
in positions of power, than moral imperative to rule is also taken away.'

A lecturer at African University in Zimbabwe Rev. Shirley DeWolf regretted 
that there was a culture of impunity which was fast taking over the 
continent.  She explained that such culture was 'swallowing up our 
continent and the Church as an ecumenical movement that cuts across the 
continent and across communities in turmoil has not found its collective 
voice.'

She called on Christians to work out a clear accountability of conscience 
for 'what we do and what we fail to do'.

For further information contract

Mitch Odero - AACC Information Desk
E-mail:  infodesk@aacc-ceta.org
Tel: 254-020-882021/22 (up to February 4th)
Fax: 254-020-4443241/4445835