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Your Help is
Needed .....
These are the people that
stand with us ... So lets do what we can to help them now ...
Sharon
on:en
Friends and
Relatives,
I received the message below from my
dear friend William who is now in Barrancabermeja, Columbia working to stop the
harm being done to civilians there.
My friend has also placed his life on the line at Burnt Church and the Hebron. His colleagues who are with him today are also giving of themselves as nonviolent witnesses to violence and injustice. I ask that you take a moment to read
the words they have sent, the appeal for their lives and the lives of those that
they protect by their presence in Colombia. Once you have learned about their
desperate situation,, please take some action to help - prayers, letters,
forward this message, whatever positive effort that you can take.
Thanks for your support,
understanding and solidarity,
All My Relations,
Willi
.......
CPT Colombia wrote:
Dear
Friends of the CPT team here in Colombia. We have recently learned
that there may be a plan under way by the paramilitaries to kill a member
of our team. We ask for your prayers and support at this time. Find
below
the press release, a statement of conviction and some ideas for possible actions for you to take at this time. William for the team here in
Barrancabermeja, Colombia
For immediate
release:
Monday, August 12, 2002 Contact: Charles (Carlos) Spring 011-57-7-621-8777 011-57-1-585-7657 POSSIBLE PLAN TO KILL A MEMBER
OF CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER TEAMS (CPT)
Barrancabermeja,Colombia
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has recently
learned that members of an illegal right-wing self-defense organization, commonly known as the "paramilitary," may have a plan to kill a member of the CPT team here. Through a reliable source, CPT
members learned late last week that the paramilitary has been unhappy with
public statements that CPT has made concerning the actions of the
paramilitary in this area and is considering
killing a CPT volunteer in response. CPT has denounced violence and human rights abuses committed by all armed actors operating in this area (including the paramilitary, the guerrilla and the state armed forces.) The possibility of violence
being directed against a member of CPT is discussed here in a spirit of
prayer and commitment to the gospel of life
for all Colombian people. The CPT team prays for those who make such threats. Information about this matter is being shared with churches around the world, with US and Canadian Embassies, and other relevant government bodies and organizations which may have an interest in such events. CPT's team in Barrancabermeja
expects to carry on its work with more than average precaution in the near
future, but it has no plans to evacuate. CPT's primary focus will
continue to be accompaniment of the civilian families in the Opon Township and
in the Cimitarra Valley who live
in constant danger because of the cycle of violence that grips Colombia. "We will continue to ask all armed actors to lay down their weapons and enter into the creative effort of searching for nonviolent solutions to their problems," stated Lisa Martens, as she left to accompany the rural population outside this Colombian city. At this time, the CPT team is
issuing a "statement of conviction" to explain the framework for our
presence here in Colombia (see attached.) We
are also asking for people to find creative ways to denounce the violence of the paramilitary and all armed actors here in Colombia, violence that is generally directed at the most vulnerable. A list of ideas of possible actions is also attached.
-30-
STATEMENT
OF CONVICTION:
We would like our wishes, as
stated below, to be respected in the event that members of Christian
Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Colombia are harmed or killed by any of the armed
groups currently targeting civilians. Whatever happens in the coming
days or months, we believe life will ultimately claim victory over death, and
what we are sowing in tears we will one day reap
with songs of joy (psalm 126.) Should we be caught in the
middle of a conflict situation or taken hostage, we reject the use of force
to save our lives. In the event that we die as a result of violent
action, we reject the use of violence to punish the people who killed
us. We ask that people regard our deaths as no more
tragic than the murders of tens of thousands of Colombians over the past fifty years and we ask that all legal nonviolent means be taken to ensure that these deaths do not continue. All of us who are part of CPT
recognize there are certain risks inherent in this work. We believe that
until people committed to nonviolence are
willing to take the same risks for peace that soldiers are willing to take for war, people will always choose violence as the most viable solution to their problems. If we are harmed, we ask that
the perpetrators be held accountable for their actions. At the same
time, we ask that people who care about us look
into the root causes of violence found amongst oppressed peoples struggling for liberation, justice and peace. If more blood is shed on our account, then our deaths will have been in vain. If we are killed, we hope that
our deaths will promote the sort of soul-searching that leads to a rejection of
armed conflict characteristic
of the violence here. Following the central tenet of our faith, we refuse to hate the people who harm us (Matthew 5). We believe that those best able to love their enemies will ultimately emerge as victors in this bloody conflict. Scott Kerr (Downers
Grove, Illinois, U.S.A.)
Lisa Martens (Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA) William Payne (Toronto, Ontario, CANADA) Matt Schaaf (Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA) Carol Spring (Palo Alto, California, U.S.A.) Charles Spring (Palo Alto, California, U.S.A.) August 12, 2002
CPT is an
international initiative of the Mennonite Church, the Church of the
Brethren, Quakers (Society of Friends) and other followers of
Jesus
Christ, Catholic and Protestant who share the goal of reducing violence in situations of war or conflict. CPT is founded on the principle of "love of enemy." The membership of CPT believes that all conflicts can be resolved without the possession or use of weapons or of any form of violence or coercion, including and especially lethal violence. CPT invites all armed actors to lay down their weapons and engage in the creative process of searching for nonviolent ways of attaining their goals. POSSIBLE ACTION IDEAS FOR
PEOPLE IN NORTH AMERICA WHO WISH TO SUPPORT THE CPT TEAM AT THIS
TIME:
Monday, August 12,
2002
In recent weeks, armed conflict
involving legal and illegal armed groups in the area around Barrancabermeja
has caused new displacements of civilians. Also, last week, Christian
Peacemaker Teams' Colombian team was
informed of a possible plan to kill a member of the team here. CPT calls for actions to draw
attention to and reduce violence against national and international
civilians in the area. Actions may include
prayers, phone calls and letters to officials, as well as public witness actions. We believe it is important to remind the Colombian government that it is their role to make sure that nationals and internationals do not become victims of violence perpetrated by illegal armed groups. Actions done collectively by church communities are especially encouraged. Possible
actions:
Phone or write one or more
people (Congressperson, member of parliament,
your embassy in Colombia, Colombia's embassy or consulate closest to you, the Colombian president, etc.) and call for nonviolent measures to make life safer for the civilian population in the Opon township and the Cimitarra Valley in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia, and for internationals working in these areas. Contact U.S. government
representatives and ask for the closing of the U.S. Army School of the
Americas (now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security
Cooperation or WHISC), the school where many Colombian soldiers have been
trained in methods that continue to harm the Colombian civilian
population.
Contact your embassy in
Colombia and ask them what they are doing to call on the Colombian
government to protect nationals and internationals in the area of
Barrancabermeja.
Gather together with other
concerned people in some public place (in front of the Colombian consulate or
embassy or some other symbolic place) for a time of prayer. Read the
CPT team's statement of conviction. Invite the local
media.
Join an upcoming CPT delegation
to Colombia (the next delegation is in October, 2002.)
Pray.
Some contact information to get
you started:
Canadian
Parliament: Look for parliamentarian's contact info. at
www.parl.gc.ca/ U.S. Congress: Tel. 202-224-3121 (ask for your Representative or Senator by name) Canadian Embassy in
Bogot�: Tel. 011-57-1-657-9800 Fax
011-57-1-657-9910
U.S. Embassy in Bogot�:
Tel. 011-57-1-315-0811 Fax
011-57-1-315-2163
Ambassador Ann Patterson Colombian Ambassador to the
United States: Luis Alberto
Moreno Fax: 202-232-8643 Embassy of Colombia, 2118 Leroy Pl. NW, Washington DC 20008 President of Colombia:
�lvaro Uribe, Palacio de Narino, Carrera 8 No. 7-26
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia [EMAIL PROTECTED] Barrancabermeja City Hall:
Julio Cesar Ardilla Torres (mayor) 011-57-7-621-4809
National Police in
Barrancabermeja: Coronel Orlando Pineda
G�mez
011-57-7-622-3828 Ejercito Nacional:
Av. El Dorado Cra.52 CAN Bogota,
Colombia [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sharon
onen Gathering Place First Nations Canadian News http://gatheringplacefn.tripod.ca/ Never befriend the oppressed unless you are prepared to take on the oppressor. (Author unknown) If your not living on the edge ...
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