wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Zimbabwe: World ecumenical bodies request international community to scale up efforts

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

>For immediate release - 24/06/2008 13:33:41

WORLD ECUMENICAL BODIES REQUEST INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO SCALE
UP EFFORTS IN ZIMBABWE

Two international ecumenical bodies called on the UN, the South
African Development Community and the African Union "to increase
[their] efforts to address the rapidly deteriorating situation in
Zimbabwe". Emergency aid, postponement of the run-off election
and the responsibility of the international community to
intervene in protection of the people are amongst the main
concerns. 

In a joint letter issued in Geneva today, the World Council of
Churches (WCC) and the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF)
requested the three international bodies to pay "urgent attention
to the humanitarian needs of the people of Zimbabwe, their
freedom to exercise religion, the destabilization of the
political situation and the need to end human rights abuses". 

The joint letter refers to the need of "international
intervention" in order to distribute food aid, as Zimbabweans
face "the imminent threat of starvation in some areas". It also
mentions the need for a political solution that "may involve a
postponement of the election", as well as the importance of
bringing perpetrators of violence to trial. "There can be no
impunity", the letter says. 

"We have learned from our Zimbabwean brothers and sisters that
some churches have been kept from offering worship while other
church services have been violently dispersed. This situation,
which is underreported in the media, is unacceptable and must
receive urgent attention from the world community", states the
letter signed by WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia and WSCF
general secretary Michael Wallace. 

The letter makes a point of reminding that "in extreme
situations" the international community "has the duty […] to
intervene in the internal affairs of a state in the interests and
safety of the people", a principle known as "responsibility to
protect". 

>Full text of the joint WCC-WSCF letter:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=6055 (
>http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=6055 )

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical
fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings
together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.