wfn.org | Landmines

[Sheila MESA <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
17 September 1997

CENTRAL COMMITTEE     No.  10

WCC ADDS TO CONCERN OVER LANDMINES TALKS

As the United States decides whether it will sign up to an international
landmines treaty, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has been among
those this week who have put pressure on those attending talks on the
issue in Oslo.

On Tuesday (Sep. 16), the WCC sent a letter to the Diplomatic
Conference on Landmines declaring: "We pray that (an international
landmines) agreement may be a true ban treaty without any exemptions
and reservations."

The letter, which welcomes the conference's "essential work" in seeking
a ban on anti-personnel mines by the end of the year, declares: "We
urge all states to ratify it, committing themselves to its full and immediate
implementation."

The letter from the WCC headquarters in Geneva to the conference is
signed by His Holiness Aram I of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the
Moderator of the WCC's Central Committee, which is currently in session,
and the Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, the WCC's General Secretary.  It says
that "churches are prepared to assist" in implementing a ban treaty and
concludes: "We affirm the sanctity of human life as persons are made in
the image of God, and thus oppose all dehumanizing and life-destroying
forces, including the manufacture and deployment of such cruel
instruments as landmines."

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 330, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but
works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest governing body is the
Assembly, which meets approximately every seven years.  The WCC
was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is
headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church
in Germany.

World Council of Churches
Press and Information Office
Tel:  (41.22) 791.61.52/51
Fax:  (41.22) 798 13 46
E-Mail: jwn@wcc-coe.org
http://www.wcc-coe.org

P.O. Box 2100
CH-1211 Geneva 2