Contact: Juan Michel, World Council of Churches, +41 22 791 6153, +41 79 507 6363, media@wcc-coe.org

MEDIA ADVISORY, June 24 /Standard Newswire/ -- Two international ecumenical bodies called on the UN, the South African Development Community and the African Union "to increase [their] efforts to address the rapidly deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe". Emergency aid, postponement of the run-off election and the responsibility of the international community to intervene in protection of the people are amongst the main concerns.

In a joint letter issued in Geneva today, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) requested the three international bodies to pay "urgent attention to the humanitarian needs of the people of Zimbabwe, their freedom to exercise religion, the destabilization of the political situation and the need to end human rights abuses".

The joint letter refers to the need of "international intervention" in order to distribute food aid, as Zimbabweans face "the imminent threat of starvation in some areas". It also mentions the need for a political solution that "may involve a postponement of the election", as well as the importance of bringing perpetrators of violence to trial. "There can be no impunity", the letter says.

"We have learned from our Zimbabwean brothers and sisters that some churches have been kept from offering worship while other church services have been violently dispersed. This situation, which is underreported in the media, is unacceptable and must receive urgent attention from the world community", states the letter signed by WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia and WSCF general secretary Michael Wallace.

The letter makes a point of reminding that "in extreme situations" the international community "has the duty […] to intervene in the internal affairs of a state in the interests and safety of the people", a principle known as "responsibility to protect".

Full text of the joint WCC-WSCF letter: www.oikoumene.org/?id=6055

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 349 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.