c. 1996 Religion News Service

Aid groups urge U.S. action on Zaire crisis

(RNS) Alarmed by the possibility that continuing inaction could lead to the deaths of thousands of refugees in eastern Zaire, a group of 18 U.S. aid agencies is urging the United States to take steps to help resolve the crisis _ including supporting the deployment of an international peacekeeping force.”This crisis has erupted due to the failure _ for over two years _ of the international community to muster the political will necessary to address the underlying causes of instability in the Great Lakes region,”the 18 groups said of the refugee crisis that currently involves Zaire, Burundi and Rwanda and could spill over into Uganda and Tanzania.

Hundreds of thousands of Hutu refugees from Rwanda have been living in camps in Zaire along its border with Rwanda. Recent fighting in the region between Zairean Tutsi rebels, supported by Rwanda’s Tutsi-dominated army, and the Zairean army, have sent tens of thousands of those in the camps fleeing in the forests where they are inaccessible to humanitarian aid.

The 18 groups called on the United States to take three steps:

_ Establish a regional logistics facility to transport relief personnel and supplies”to meet the immediate needs of starving and sick refugees.

_ Work with African and European governments”to field an international military force capable of providing sufficient security”to assist refugees in Zaire pending repatriation to Rwanda or eventual resettlement.” _ Exercise leadership within the United Nations Security council to inform governments of the region that”any interference with humanitarian relief operations will alienate them from their friends in the international community.” Some aid groups have been criticized for continuing to feed Hutu refugees in the camps around Goma, Zaire, because Hutu militants _ including some suspected to be responsible for the 1994 slaughter of more than 500,000 Tutsis in Rwanda _ control some of the camps and have commandeered aid for their own troops.

The 18 relief groups said the military force should”insure that combatants do not receive intended exclusively for the civilian population.” The United States has responded cautiously to calls for its involvement.

On Friday (Nov. 8), State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the United States was reviewing a variety of options to deal with the crisis.”The United States has not yet made a decision on whether or not it can and will participate in such a force, and if so, how we’ll participate,”Burns said.

Groups issuing the appeal for U.S. involvement included Africare; Church World Service; Doctors of the World; Doctors without Borders; Food for the Hungry International; International Aid; International Rescue Committee; International Medical Corps; Lutheran World Relief; Map International; Mercy Corps International Operation USA; Refugees International; Save the Children; United Methodist Committee on Relief; World Concern; World Relief; and World Vision.”Now is the time to do everything possible to ensure access for humanitarian aid and to encourage Rwandan refugees in eastern Zaire to go home,”said Kathyrn Wolford, president of Lutheran World Relief.

One-third of homeless men are veterans

A new survey of homeless shelter indicates that one homeless man in three is a veteran, most of whom fought in Vietnam, according to the International Union of Gospel Missions. Seven percent of homeless women also are veterans, according to the survey.”The scars of Vietnam still are not fully healed for many veterans,”said the Rev. Stephen E. Burger, executive director of the union, an association of nearly 250 faith-based rescue missions.”Large numbers of Vietnam veterans, unable to cope with the post-traumatic stress of their wartime service, continue to come through our doors.” The IUGM interviewed 14,000 homeless men and women in some 133 shelters nationwide for the survey.

Church leaders urge U.S. to support Boutros Boutros-Ghali

(RNS) Sixteen U.S. Protestant and Orthodox church leaders, including the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, have written President Clinton asking him to drop U.S. opposition to the re-election of United Nations General Secretary Boutros Boutros-Ghali.”Secretary General Boutros-Ghali is known to us as a faithful Christian and is a man of peace,”the church leaders said in their letter to Clinton.”Among his little-known achievements are his personal courageous involvement as one of the key negotiators at the Camp David Peace Accords and his key role in the release of President Nelson Mandela from prison,”the letter said. The Camp David Accords brought peace between Israel and Egypt.

Boutros-Ghali, an Egyptian, has been under fire in Congress and at the White House because U.S. policymakers feel he has not done enough to reform the United Nations’ unwieldy bureaucracy and cut the mushrooming costs of the world body’s operations.

But the church leaders said that in his five-year term, Boutros-Ghali”has been a constant and strong supporter of key U.S. initiatives”at the UN.

In addition to Campbell, those signing the letter included Archbishop Khajag Barsamian of the Armenian Church in the USA; Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning; The Rev. Kermit de Graffenreidt, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; the Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett, United Methodist Church; the Rev. Dan Hoffman, Washington Office on Africa; the Rev. William Howard, New York Theological Seminary; the Rev. Archie LeMone, Progressive National Baptist Convention; Kara Newell, American Friends Service Committee; Bishop James Ottley, Anglican Observer to the United Nations; the Rev. James Parks Morton, dean of the Cathedral Church St. John the Divine, N.Y.; the Rev. Rodney Page, National Council of Churches; the Rev. Albert Pennybacker, National Council of Churches; the Rev. Meg Riley, Unitarian Universalist Association; and Joe Volk, Friends Committee on National Legislation.

Anti-Defamation League honors Rabin

(RNS) The Anti-Defamation League has established an award to honor the memory of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The award will recognize individuals in the Jewish community who have used their positions in the Jewish community to promote tolerance, civility and understanding between Jews.

Rabin was assassinated a year ago by a militant opponent of his efforts to forge peace between Israel and Palestinians.”In the months leading up to the tragic assassination … many in the Jewish community in Israel and the United States were alarmed at the inflammatory rhetoric utilized by political extremists, and the demonization of political opponents,”said Abraham Foxman, national director of the ADL.”Since the assassination we have become increasingly aware of the growing schisms (in Israel) between religious and secular, right-wing and left-wing, Ashkenazic and Sephardic, new immigrants and native-born, and the corrosion of civility and tolerance in the manner in which these groups interact,”he said.

Foxman, who made the announcement at the ADL’s 83rd annual national meeting, did not spell out what the prize would be.

Quote of the day: Cardinal James Hickey of Washington, D.C.

(RNS) At a recent ceremony at a Washington, D.C. synagogue, Cardinal James Hickey recalled the desecration of Argentina’s largest Jewish cemetery and said the church views all acts of racism as a sin against God:”It is our shared conviction based on the sacred Scriptures that every human person bears the stamp of the divine image; therefore, every form of racism is a sin against God and humanity; every offense against a human person is an offense against the Creator.” JC END ANDERSON