wfn.org | WCC NEWS: WCC urges Zimbabwe to stop forced evictions

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 27/06/2005

WCC CONDEMNS FORCED EVICTIONS IN ZIMBABWE, CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO STOP
THEM

The World Council of Churches (WCC) on 24 June condemned mass forced
evictions in Zimbabwe and called on the country's government to immediately stop them.

In a statement issued by its International Affairs director's office, the
WCC labeled the evictions that have left hundreds of thousands of
Zimbabweans homeless as "an operation of segregation against the working
poor".

"To carry out such acts of cruelty," the statement says, "shows clearly
that the government is losing the moral and ethical ground for leadership,
healing and reconciliation."

The WCC statement affirmed and supported the recent messages of the
Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) and the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops'
Conference (ZCBC), which condemned the so-called Operation Murambatsvina
because of the "untold suffering" caused and its "cruel and inhumane
means".

While calling on the government to "urgently address the pressing needs"
of the evacuees, the WCC affirmed that "churches and relief organizations
should also be given unrestricted access to the displaced persons".

If Zimbabwe is to be reconciled, rebuilt and healed, the WCC statement
affirms, its government should "dismantle the restrictions on fundamental
freedoms" and initiate dialogue with the opposition, churches and civil
society.

Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, a WCC-related global
alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and
support communities in emergencies worldwide, is working in Zimbabwe.

The full text of the WCC statement is available at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/zimbabweevictions.html

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, in
more than 120 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 Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.