WCC Recognises Protection is a Responsibility

WCC Media Release (23/02/2006):

PROTECTING VULNERABLE POPULATIONS IS ECUMENICAL RESPONSIBILITY

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The 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), meeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil, 14-23 February, today said prevention must be the key tool and concern of the churches regarding the responsibility to protect endangered populations.

The Assembly adopted a statement on the Responsibility to Protect, which proposes criteria for limited use of force in protection of the vulnerable, as a last resort.

The Responsibility to Protect is a concept focusing on the needs and rights of the civilian population and on the responsibilities of sovereignty, not only on the rights of sovereignty.

The statement says, "The responsibility to protect the vulnerable * is an ecumenical responsibility, conceiving the world as one household of God, who is the creator of all."

It says it means "above all prevention * prevention of the kinds of catastrophic assaults on individuals and communities that the world has witnessed in Burundi, Cambodia, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other instances and locations of human-made crises."

The statement distinguishes between prevention and intervention and says, "The fellowship of churches is not prepared to say that it is never appropriate or never necessary to resort to the use of force for the protection of the vulnerable."

It says, "States can no longer hide behind the pretext of sovereignty to perpetrate human rights violations against their citizens and live in total impunity."

The Assembly calls upon the international community and the individual national governments to strengthen their capability in preventive strategies, and violence-reducing intervention skills together with institutions of the civil society. Such a move will contribute to and develop further international law, based on human rights, and support the development of policing strategies that can address gross human rights violations.

The statement says when there is failure to carry out the responsibility to protect, whether by neglect, lack of capacity, or direct assaults on the population, "the international community has the duty to assist peoples and states, and in extreme situations, to intervene in the internal affairs of the state in the interests and safety of the people."

The Assembly says it joins with other Christians around the world in repenting for collective failure to live justly and to promote justice. "Critical solidarity with the victims of violence and advocacy against all the oppressive forces must also inform our theological endeavours towards being a more faithful church."

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

Vulnerable populations at risk

Statement on the responsibility to protect

Introduction

1. In January 2001, the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) received the document “The protection of endangered populations in situations of armed violence: toward an ecumenical ethical approach”. The document, which requested the churches to further study the issue, was also the beginning of a study and consultation process within the WCC, carried out by the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA). A deeper reflection on ethical and theological aspects of the Responsibility to Protect is not only of concern to the churches. In a meeting in New York City in 1999, UN General Secretary Kofi Annan asked the WCC General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Konrad Raiser, to contribute to the international debate on “humanitarian intervention” by bringing a theological and ethical perspective on the issue of intervention for humanitarian purposes.

2. The use of force for humanitarian purposes is a controversial issue in most intellectual and political spheres. While some believe that the resort to force must not be avoided when it can alleviate or stop large-scale human rights violations, others can only support intervention by creative, non-violent means. Others again, give a very high priority to territorial integrity and sovereignty. Churches too have necessarily entered this debate and the current dilemma among the WCC’s constituencies has prevailed since the very beginnings of the Ecumenical Movement. During the 1948 WCC first Assembly in Amsterdam, the Assembly restated the opposing positions:

“a) There are those who hold that, even though entering a war may be a Christian’s duty in particular circumstances, modern warfare, with its mass destruction, can never be an act of justice.

In the absence of impartial supra-national institutions, there are those who hold that military action is the ultimate sanction of the rule of law, and that citizens must be distinctly taught that it is their duty to defend the law by force if necessary.

Others, again, refuse military service of all kinds, convinced that an absolute witness against war and for peace is for them the will of God, and they desire that the Church should speak to the same effect.”

3. In history, some churches have been among those legitimising military interventions, leading to disastrous wars. In many cases, the churches have admitted their guilt later on. During the 20^th century churches have become more aware of their calling to a ministry of healing and reconciliation, beyond national boundaries. The creation of the WCC can be interpreted as one result of this rediscovery. In the New Testament, Jesus calls us to go beyond loving the neighbour to loving the enemy as well. This is based on the loving character of God, revealed supremely in the death of Jesus Christ for all, absorbing their hostility, and exercising mercy rather than retribution (Rom 5:10; Luke 6:36). The prohibition against killing is at the heart of Christian ethics (Mt 5: 21-22). But the biblical witness also informs us about an anthropology that takes the human capacity to do evil in the light of the fallen nature of humankind (Gen. 4). The challenge for Christians is to pursue peace in the midst of violence.

4. The member churches of the World Council confess together the primacy of non-violence on the grounds of their belief that every human being is created in the image of God and shares the human nature assumed by Jesus Christ in his incarnation. This resonates with the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The WCC has therefore initiated an ecumenical “Decade to Overcome Violence 2001-2010: Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace” parallel to the United Nations “Decade for the Culture of Peace. 2001-2010”. It is in those who are most vulnerable that Christ becomes visible for us (Mt 25: 40). The responsibility to protect the vulnerable reaches far beyond the boundaries of nations and faith-traditions.