wfn.org | Missionaries Detained

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (197
notes).

Note 195 by UMNS on July 2, 1997 at 15:36 Eastern (2370 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                          383(10-21-71B){195}
          New York (212) 870-3803                     July 2, 1997

Congo soldiers allow detained
missionaries to leave Kilwa region

     NEW YORK (UMNS) -- Two United Methodist missionaries were
detained by military personnel in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, the former Zaire, but have been released.
     The Rev. Randolph Nugent, general secretary, United Methodist
Board of Global Ministries, said the detention occurred when Laura
and Larry Hills attempted to leave the town of Kilwa for
Lubumbashi. They are now expected to arrive in Lubumbashi on July
3 or soon after.
     In a July 1 letter to board directors, Nugent reported that
the Hills' vehicle had been confiscated by military personnel, who
also detained some members of the United Methodist church in
Kilwa. After their release, the couple's movements were "severely
restricted" and they were prohibited from leaving the region.
     Consultations were made with United Methodist bishops in the
area and U.S. State Department officials to help obtain permission
for the couple to leave Kilwa.
     Because of the unrest in the former Zaire, the Hills and
other missionaries had been waiting in Zambia until board
officials approved a return to their places of assignment. "The
Hills returned prematurely to Kilwa where unrest and tensions have
been evident," Nugent said.
     Nugent noted that a delegation from the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights is presently in Congo attempting to
investigate sites where soldiers have been accused of killing
refugees.
     On July 1, U.N. officials said the new government of
President Laurent Kabila is blocking that investigation. The
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates more than
200,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees remain unaccounted for in the former
Zaire.
     The lack of cooperation by the new Congo government,
according to Nugent, "further documents the instability of the
political situation that warrants continued monitoring for human
rights violations and maintaining missionary personnel in secure
areas."
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