wfn.org | WCC prepares for UNCHR

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

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
18 March 1999

THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES PREPARES FOR THE UN
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

The World Council of Churches (WCC) plans to raise both thematic and
country-specific concerns at the 55th session of the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR).  According to Clement John, the
WCC Secretary for International Affairs, issues of religious intolerance
and discrimination will continue to play a central role.  Together with the
World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), Franciscan International
and the Dominicans the WCC has filed a written statement on the
Blasphemy Law and growing religious intolerance in Pakistan.  

Last year the WCC, the Conference of European Churches (CEC), WARC
and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) already made a joint oral
intervention on the subject of religious intolerance and discrimination, and
there are plans to do so again this year.   In making this intervention, the
WCC wants to draw attention, amongst other things, to situations of
tension in Eastern and Central Europe and Asia, and to call for a visit by
the Special Rapporteur.

Other issues again on the WCC's agenda this year are migrants and
refugees, child soldiers, Indigenous peoples' concerns and impunity.

In common with representatives of Indigenous peoples, the WCC will
press for the establishment of a Permanent Peoples' Forum within the UN
system and support the review process of the draft Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In the area of impunity, the WCC will continue to support churches as
they seek to address the problems connected with impunity from the
perspective of the victims, and create a culture of accountability and
justice.

Another specific subject of concern is the situation of Christian minorities
in Muslim countries.  According to John, human rights violations against
Christians in Pakistan, Indonesia, Sudan, India and elsewhere have
continued to increase.  Examples cited include the Blasphemy Law and
electoral legislation in Pakistan, cases of persecution of Christians in
Nepal, and the situation of the Dalits in India.

Two further topics to which the WCC will be devoting attention are the
situation of the Ogoni people in Nigeria and economic sanctions against
Iraq.

The WCC is also closely monitoring developments in Indonesia.  A joint
delegation from WCC/Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), which visited
the country earlier this year, urged the Indonesian government to identify
and bring to justice those responsible for burning and destroying
churches and fomenting outbreaks of violence between Christians and
Muslims, as well as violence against members of the country's ethnic
Chinese minority.

The Special Rapporteur's report on the situation in Sudan is awaited with
particular interest by the WCC.  To date, the WCC has refrained from
making an intervention at the Human Rights Commission, choosing
instead to work closely with the Sudanese churches and councils of
churches in efforts for peace and human rights.

Lastly, the WCC has continued to follow with concern the human rights
situation in Guatemala and Colombia.  In regard to Guatemala, the WCC's
primary concern is to ensure that the country does not disappear from
the focus of international attention, while in the case of Colombia, it will
call upon the Commission to urge the Colombian government to guarantee
the safety of human rights activists, to carry out a critical review of the
existing legal structures and the operations of the security services and
to introduce concrete measures to establish effective and adequate
control over these state agencies.

Contact:  Karin Achtelstetter, Media Relations Officer          

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 338, 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
Media Relations Office
Tel:  (41.22) 791.61.52/51
Fax:  (41.22) 798.13.46
E-Mail: ka@wcc-coe.org
http://www.wcc-coe.org

P.O. Box 2100
CH-1211 Geneva 2