wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] GAC weighs accompaniment program for Colombia

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

04419
September 23, 2004

GAC weighs accompaniment program for Colombia
	
Presbyterians there report threats, intimidation and arrests

By Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE * The Worldwide Ministries Division Committee is weighing 
whether to send small delegations of U.S. Christians to Colombia to 
accompany Presbyterians there who are living with threats, intimidation and 
fear.
	 A sub-committee of the division unanimously approved a proposal 
today that puts the program jointly in the hands of the WMD and the 
Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, which is lodged in the Congregational 
Ministries Division (CMD).
	 It will go before both the WMD and the CMD Committees on Friday, 
and, if approved, before the General Assembly Council on Saturday morning.
	 "We've been receiving regular requests for increased accompaniment 
and solidarity with the Presbyterian Church of Colombia," the Rev. Will 
Browne of WMD told the sub-committee, who added that two back-to-back 
moderators * the Rev. Rick Ufford-Chase and the Rev. Susan Andrews * had 
visited the region, which is nearly unheard of.
	 Andrews visited Colombia in January.
  Ufford-Chase just returned this week. Part of his mission there was to 
help the Presbyterian Church of Colombia develop a job description for a 
full-time accompanier.
Accompaniment has historically reduced violence because of the presence of 
international witnesses. U.S. churches used accompaniment as a strategy in 
the 1980s to deter the killing of Central American church partners.
	 Browne said money has been allocated to hire a full-time 
accompanier in January to coordinate delegations to Colombia and to work 
with the church there. Until the position is filled, he told the 
Presbyterian News Service, small two to three person delegations will be 
recruited to travel there, if the GAC approves this action.
	 "This is not the same sort of accompaniment that we did in the 
1980s in Central America," Browne said. "It is not one on one, living and 
working side-by-side. This will be an ongoing presence of people who will 
visit government offices and say, 'We're watching.' These delegations will 
visit jails, the government, the military.
	 "These people will not be using the non-violent-bodyguard-model."
	 The Colombian church is reporting threats to its leaders, as well 
as arrests of church workers, particularly those who are engaged in human 
rights work. (See related story *..)
	 The action also instructs the denomination's stated clerk to write 
to the president of Colombia, the president of the United States and top 
United Nations officials expressing concern about ongoing human rights 
violations in Colombia and calling upon those institutions to ensure open 
human rights monitoring in the region.
	 It also requests the clerk to express the Presbyterian Church 
(USA)'s concern to those same officials for Mauricio Avilez, a volunteer 
law student who coordinates a ministry for the Presbyterian Church of 
Colombia to displaced persons. Avilez was jailed three months ago and 
authorities are evaluating whether the allegations leveled against him are 
valid, including guerrilla activity.
	 A pastoral letter to the Presbyterian Church of Colombia is also 
part of the action.
	 Citing the rampant violence that is part of Colombian life, Browne 
said that accompaniers in Colombia are not taking a small risk. "The risks 
people will take here are potentially life-threatening," he said.	

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