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In a recent visit to Pakistan, a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation met with prime minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, religious leaders, civil society organizations and UN representatives urging protection of religious minorities, especially against the misuse of blasphemy law in the country.

During his recent visit to Pakistan, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit urged for the protection of religious minorities and the need for the state to take necessary measures against religious intolerance.

Substantial information on torture and other human rights abuses was entrusted to the Brazilian attorney general at a ceremony in São Paulo on 14 June 2011. There was also a call for a national truth commission in Brazil to shed more light on past atrocities during the ceremony.

During a two-decade period of brutal dictatorship, in 1979, Brazilian church workers and dissenting lawyers found a loophole in the legal system allowing them to gather evidence of atrocities and other abuses committed by the military regime.

The Rev. Joachim Mukambu Ya'Namwisi, who represents both the Mennonite Church and the Church of Christ in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said he has watched churches develop increasing strength when it comes to standing up for basic human rights.

As peace advocates from around the world relayed heartrending stories of violence and oppression, they also expressed their ongoing hope that a movement of peace will prevail during the proceedings of the second day of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) being held in Kingston, Jamaica.

At a time when there are signs of hope emerging from the churches in the Middle East around the conflict in Palestine and Israel, a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation led by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit will be travelling to the region to emphasize the need for a “just peace”.

By Doris R., Ecumenical Accompanier in Yanoun, and the EAPPI summer team 2010

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has denounced the extrajudicial killings of Benjamin Bayles and Jovelito Agustin, both lay ministers of the Philippine Independent Church.

An ecumenical delegation including Fr Rex Reyes (general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and a president of the Christian Conference of Asia) and Marie Hilao-Enriquez (chairperson of the human rights group Karapatan) presented the human rights situation in the Philippines at a lunch discussion with staff at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, 7 June 2010.

A Living Letters team of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will pay a solidarity visit to Nigeria from 15-20 May 2010.

An international ecumenical delegation visiting Turkey at the end of November has encouraged the country's authorities to improve the situation of religious minorities. The exercise of religious freedom, the legal status of churches, including property issues, and the right to religious education were on the agenda.

By Patrick Franks and Miranda Rosoux (*)

An international ecumenical delegation has urged stronger action against human rights abuses in Honduras at a meeting with the general secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS) and representatives of the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., 22-23 October.

Ecumenical Delegation to Meet With High-Level Officials to Promote Peace and Reconciliation

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia urged the Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to "ensure the safety of all citizens" as well as seeing that "all perpetrators [of] acts of violence and human rights violations are brought to justice".

By Fredrick Nzwili (*)

Dispelling the myth of "a little peaceful country", an international ecumenical Living Letters team visited Uruguay and discovered how violence manifests itself at the levels of family life, the state and youth, and how the churches in this South American country seek to overcome it.

A team of church representatives from Europe, Latin America and Africa will pay a solidarity visit to churches, ecumenical organizations and civil society movements in Uruguay and Bolivia from 9 to 16 July. A second team will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo at the same time.

By Maurice Malanes (*)