wfn.org | CWS/NCCCUSA Staffer Back From Kosovo

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact:  NCC News, 212-870-2227 (about this story)
  WCC U.S. Conference, 212-870-3193 (for delegation 
report)
Email: news@ncccusa.org  Web: www.ncccusa.org

83NCC7/13/99   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CWS STAFFER RETURNS FROM GLOBAL ECUMENICAL VISIT TO KOSOVO

 NEW YORK - An ecumenical delegation to Kosovo June 24-July 5 
returned determined to continue humanitarian assistance to all in 
need and to help lay the foundation for peaceful co-existence of 
ethnic Albanians, Serbs and Gypsies in Kosovo.

 "United Nations and other humanitarian organizations meet 
daily to coordinate their response in a situation that is changing 
rapidly" as refugees return home en masse, reported Linda Hartke of 
Church World Service, the only North American in the eight-member 
delegation.  

Church World Service, the humanitarian response ministry of 
the (U.S.) National Council of Churches, expects its aid in the 
region to reach $3.4 million by the end of the summer.

"What most struck our delegation is there's a new round of 
ethnic cleansing going on in Kosovo as returning ethnic Albanians 
find their homes destroyed and family and friends dead or missing," 
she said.  "One thing is clear -- need is need wherever it exists, 
and victims of ethnic cleansing are victims wherever they are."

The delegation traveled to Pristina, Gracanica, Suva Reka, 
Prizren, Djakovica, Pec, and Mitrovica -- seeing first hand the 
destruction wrought by Serbian paramilitary and military forces.  
Included in its recommendations, the delegation has called for 
greater international support for the International Criminal 
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and a clear mandate for KFOR and 
UN personnel to apprehend and bring to justice persons who committed 
war crimes.

The visit was organized jointly by the World Council of 
Churches and Conference of European Churches, in consultation with 
the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade, the WCC's member church in the 
region. 

The delegation explored at every turn "the possibilities for 
mediation and civil conflict transformation," and reported that "the 
response was, however, that it would be much too early to think 
about initiatives to this effect."

Commented Ms. Hartke, "We saw clearly that the trauma is still 
too fresh for people to think or talk about reconciliation."  
Nevertheless, the delegation encouraged "those faith-based 
organizations which have experience in this field to jointly explore 
possibilities in the mid-term future."

In the meantime, the delegation recommended, the number of 
KFOR troops originally planned (50,000+) should be fully deployed; 
the civilian police force must immediately be oriented, trained and 
put to work across Kosovo; small arms must be demobilized, and KFOR 
and United Nations civil administration mandates which guarantee the 
security of ethnic minorities and all citizens must be made 
explicit.

"Advocacy for the rights of Serbs and other ethnic minorities 
as well as maintaining a multi-ethnic and diverse Kosovo is 
critical," the delegation resolved.  A civil administration must be 
established and a civil society rebuilt as soon as possible.

 Action by Churches Together (ACT), an international ecumenical 
humanitarian assistance consortium of which CWS is a member, had an 
assessment team in the region at the same time as the WCC/CEC 
delegation, Ms. Hartke reported.

 "We were charged with strengthening first-hand contacts with 
the churches in the region and gathering information on the present 
situation in Kosovo, with a special focus on the security and rights 
of all peoples in the region, the nature of the planned civil 
administration and future long-term ecumenical action," she said.  
"The ACT team was looking at specific needs on a village by village 
basis -- numbers of homes destroyed, food security, presence of 
landmines, and so forth and will issue its revised Kosovo appeal 
shortly."

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