Resources:

People’s struggles for peace & justice

• Statement on Peace, Security and Development in South Asia (2009.04.08) – statement issued by the international ecumenical consultation on South Asia held 30 March to April 2 in Bangalore, India, and jointly organised by the WCC, CCA, and the South Asian Councils of Churches
• The Underside of Human Rights (2008.12.15) – commentary by Rev. Liberato Bautista, CoNGO president, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Africa

• AACC Statement on Zimbabwe (2008.12.11) – statement on the crisis in Zimbabwe, adopted at the 9th General Assembly of the All Africa Conference of Churches; and the AACC’s Call to make January 25 an African Day of Prayer and Fasting for Zimbabwe
• Beyond Horror in Rwanda and DRC: The Second Voksenaasen Statement 2008 (2008.11.21) – issued at the end of a conference that dealt with the roots and ramifications of genocide and mass violence currently tearing apart peoples and nations in the Great Lakes region of Africa; the conference is the second in the Genocide-Mass Violence Series held at the Voksenaasen centre in Norway in November 2008
• Urgent Call: Protect the Right to Life, Dignity and Democracy in Zimbabwe! (2008.11.14) – joint statement by leaders of international ecumenical organisations against the Southern African Development Community (SADC) leadership and Zimbabwe’s political leaders for failing to act decisively on the ongoing political situation in Zimbabwe

Colombia

• Colombia: Growing International Support for Peace (2009.03.24) – Mario Osava of Inter-Press Service reports on the deteriorating human rights situation in Colombia from interviews with participants of the PfL Second People’s Forum held in Bogotá, Colombia, 20-23 March 2009
• Christian Peacemaker Teams chart humanitarian law violations in Colombia (2009.03.03) – Ekklesia reports on the CPT compilation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations witnessed by or reported to the Colombia team in 2008
• Humanity versus hatred in Colombia (2009.01.06) – WCC media relations officer Juan Michel reports on the visit by a WCC Living Letters ecumenical delegation to Colombia’s “humanitarian zones” in December 2008
• Awá Massacre Indicative of Lack of Protection for Colombia’s Indigenous (2009.02.12) – press release from the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the US Office on Colombia (USOC) and the Latin America Working Group Education Fund (LAWGEF) on the massacre of 17 members of the Awá community
• The Colombian people want and deserve peace, say Living Letters (2008.12.18) – a small international ecumenical team that visited Colombia in early December brings home the message that the “peasants, the internally displaced and the indigenous peoples [of Colombia] are clamouring for the return of their lands, for justice, for the government to keep its promises and for an end to violence.”
• Brussels Declaration Concerning Human Rights Violations in Colombia (2008.09.17) – full text of the verdict of the International Opinion Tribunal on Human Rights Violations in Colombia held on September 15-17, 2008 in Brussels, Belgium

India

• Rethinking counterterrorism after Mumbai (2008.12.11) – article by Richard Falk arguing against a militarist response to the Mumbai attacks, based on lessons from US response to 9/11, in favour of addressing legitimate grievances, e.g., ending the pervasive discrimination against minority Muslims in India and solving the dispute over Kashmir that respects the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination
• Jaipur public tribunal on terror in the name of countering terror (2008.12.10) – a report by Yoginder Sikand on the proceedings of the people’s tribunal held in Jaipur, Rajasthan in November 2008 on actions taken by the state in the name of countering terrorism and religious conversions; and the preliminary findings and recommendations of the tribunal
• Tackling Terrorism: A Call to Hindu and Muslim Religious Leaders (2008.12.08) – in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, Maulana Waris Mazhari makes the urgent call to civil society groups and religious leaders to come together in a joint struggle against all forms terrorism and religious extremism
• Terrorist Attack on Mumbai – What Should Be Done (2008.12.03) – in this essay, Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer points out that addressing root causes, moral exhortation and security operation go together in addressing the complex problem of terrorism; he also stresses the importance of distinguishing the unique dynamics of terrorism in India and Pakistan as being derived from the internal situation of the two countries
• Statement on Religious Violence and Intolerance in India (2008.09.26) – issued by the Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches during its meeting in Luebeck, Germany, 26 September 2008
• Condemn the Orissa Violence (2008.09.03) – statement by the Mumbai-based Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) and Institute of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Witch Hunting Muslims in the name of Fighting Terrorism (2008.08.24) – statement and interim report issued by the Peoples Tribunal on the Atrocities Committed against Minorities in the Name of Fighting Terrorism, held in Hyderabad, India on 22-24 August 2008

Philippines

• US churches seek Congress human rights action on the Philippines (2009.03.29) – report on the NCCUSA open letter asking the US Congress to withhold any additional military financing until the Philippine government lives up to human rights standards
• Episcopal Church challenges extra-judicial killings in the Philippines (2009.03.24) – report on the testimony submitted by the US-based Episcopal Church to the US Congress expressing the Church’s concern for the continuing widespread human rights abuses in the Philippines
• Situation of indigenous peoples in the Philippines: Urgent Appeal to the UN (2009.01.05) – I.P.O. news release on the resolution of the Hans Koechler Political and Philosophical Society to call on UN agencies to address the worsening situation of indigenous peoples in the Philippines
• The Collapse of Peace in Mindanao (2008.10.23) – media release and report overview (with link to full report) of the policy study undertaken by the International Crisis Group on the conflict between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine Government
• Honouring The Memory of Bishop Alberto Ramento (2008.10.03) – brief articles commemorating the second death anniversary of PfL founding member Bishop Alberto Ramento, victim of extrajudicial murder, 3 October 2006

Sri Lanka

• SRI LANKA: A HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE – links to news, information and resources on the rapidly escalating humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, brought on by the Sri Lankan government intensified military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
• WCC Demands Release of Sri Lankan Ecumenical Official (2009.04.22) – news release on and full text of letter of WCC general secretary to the Sri Lankan president urging the release of Shanta Fernando, executive staff for justice and peace of NCC Sri Lanka and detained by government authorities since March 27, 2009
• Day of Reckoning in Sri Lanka (2009.04.20) – analysis by International Crisis Group Asia director Robert Templer on the imminent “mass slaughter of civilians” as the period set by the Sri Lankan government for the LTTE to surrender comes to an end at noon Tuesday, April 21st
• A slaughter of Tamils (2009.04.13) – statement issued by concerned South Asian citizens appealing for the international community’s intervention and urging the Sri Lankan government to halt its assault on the LTTE to avert the escalation of violence and mass deaths among Tamil civilians trapped in a small area in the northern Vanni region
• Sri Lanka, a “humanitarian crisis exceeding all imaginable proportions” (2009.04.09) – reports on the statement released by the international ecumenical consultation on peace in South Asia, expressing the churches’ concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka
• The silent horror of the war in Sri Lanka (2009.03.30) – Arundhati Roy ascribes blame on the utter lack of media reporting on what is going on in Sri Lanka for the “colossal human tragedy” in the country
• Prayers for Sri Lanka (2009.02.20) – appeal from the Christian Conference of Asia for the intervention and solidarity of the international community to resolve the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka
• Religious leaders ask Secretary Clinton to assert U.S. influence in Sri Lanka (2009.02.16) – in a letter to the US Secretary of State, religious leaders appealed for immediate US intervention to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka
• Global Ministries and GMP Urge Obama Administration to End Violence in Sri Lanka (2009.02.03) – Letter from leaders of the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) urging President Barack Obama to work to end the violence in Sri Lanka.
• PUCL Statement: Humanitarian Crisis in northern Sri Lanka (2009.01.31) – an appeal from the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Tamil Nadu & Puducherry unit) for the United Nations to invoke the doctrine of ‘Responsibility to Protect’ and to intervene in the Sri Lankan crisis to avert further aggravation of the humanitarian crisis
• The Mixed Message of the Military Solution (2009.01.17) – by Dr. Jehan Perera, director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, on the implications of the Sri Lankan government's message of military success in the war against the LTTE

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