Lutheran World Relief is pleased to announce the release of the U.S.-Colombia Ecumenical Petition to President George W. Bush. Through the petition, LWR joins leaders of denominations and faith-based organizations, as well as people of faith across the country, to call for a serious reassessment of current U.S. policy toward Colombia.
Since 1985, an estimated 3.6 million Colombians have been deliberately and violently forced from their homes in the country’s ongoing conflict. Colombia’s population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) is second only to Sudan’s, and the country’s humanitarian crisis is the worst in the hemisphere. Churches, religious leaders, and communities committed to peace have often been caught in the crossfire of the violence. Among these communities are the Colombian Peace Sanctuary Churches, partner organizations with LWR in both local-level peace-building and solidarity with faith communities in the United States.
Through the petition, more than 1,800 individuals and 28 organizations join in requesting humanitarian aid for IDPs, a balancing of aid for military purposes and sustainable development, measures to improve human rights, commitment to a negotiated peace process, the dismantling of paramilitary structures, and “truth, justice, and reparations” for victims of the violence.
The petition has been sent to President Bush and copied to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Colombian Ambassador Carolina Barco Isakson and all members of the U.S. Congress. Though the petition is closed to further signatures, the full text is available at www.petitiononline.com/ewg2/petition.html.
LWR commends the many organizations and individuals contributing to the imperative work of peacemaking, including those organizations in the Ecumenical Working Group on Colombia who also worked to make this petition a reality.
