Search results

Justice should not be secondary to peace, and both should go together, according to Dr Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She made her comments in an encounter with the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

By Naveen Qayyum (*)

The participants of a World Council of Churches (WCC) sponsored hearing on the misuse of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have urged the Pakistani government to “take realistic and solid steps to stop abuse of the blasphemy law that are causing massive human rights violations.”

“No state should take away the right of its citizens to debate a law that affects them gravely. Therefore, there is a growing need of dialogue on the blasphemy law and its negative impacts on religious minorities in Pakistan,” said I.A. Rehman, veteran human rights activist and director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a side event at the United Nation’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

While accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan have once again captured the news headlines, Bishop Samuel Azariah, moderator of the Church of Pakistan, hopes for the Pakistani government to consider repealing the controversial clause in the Pakistan Penal Code which, he says, invokes misuse of the blasphemy law.

“The misuse of blasphemy law is contrary to the vision of Pakistan as a moderate and democratic country,” said Mohammad Tahseen, in a public hearing on the “Misuse of blasphemy law and religious minorities in Pakistan” organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland.

South Africa, Australia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, French Polynesia (Maohi Nui), Pakistan, Syria and Myanmar have provided the subjects for statements and minutes of concern voiced by the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) as part of public issues actions during a recent meeting of that governing body at the Orthodox Academy of Crete in Kolympari, Greece.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee has adopted a statement expressing concern on abductions, forced marriages and forced conversions of young women from Christian and Hindu communities in Pakistan.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) “ is defined by all the three key words in our name. We are global, in all continents, and therefore also in solidarity with one another, seeking peace in all its meaning for the whole earth,” said the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

An international public hearing highlighting the plight of religious minorities and misuse of blasphemy law in Pakistan will be held from 17 to 19 September in conjunction with the 21st Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

By Naveen Qayyum (*)

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.

A consultation organized by the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) called for the church to become involved in wider advocacy initiatives to protect rights of the stateless people.

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.

In a letter to the prime minister of Pakistan, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) expressed “great shock and dismay” at the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistan government minister for Minority Affairs. Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit noted that reports indicate that Bhatti “was assassinated by religious extremists because he was critical of the controversial blasphemy law in Pakistan.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee has set October 2013 as the date for the Tenth WCC Assembly which will be held in Busan Korea.

"Great dismay" at the shooting and killing of two young Christians in Faisalabad on 19 July was expressed by the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in letters to Pakistan's president and its prime minister.

The WCC Central Committee called on the government of Pakistan to “guarantee the rights of all religious minorities in the country”.

The World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia appealed to Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari to "ensure the safety and security" of Christians in the Punjab province, where three attacks against Christian communities were carried by militant Islamic groups in the last two months. He demanded that the government "take necessary actions against the perpetrators".

An international ecumenical consultation has appealed to the government of Sri Lanka and the rebel movement Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to halt fighting in order to free tens of thousands of civilians trapped in a war zone in the north of the country.