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.