Churches forging peace in Colombia

To support the Colombian communities in Montes de María and San Onofre, faced with armed conflict and displacements, the national reference group of the Programme of Ecumenical Accompaniment in Colombia (PEAC) is planning the next steps in implementing the programme.

The PEAC is an initiative of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), in cooperation with the World Council of Churches (WCC), ACT Alliance and other ecumenical organisations. The programme emerged as a follow-up to recommendations aimed at supporting vulnerable communities in the country and made by the churches at a meeting in Colombia’s capital Bogota in 2009.

Colombia has been marred by violence for several decades, largely due to land disputes. As a result of these disputes, nearly five million people have been driven away from their lands. There have been a reported 2,520 cases of forced disappearance, out of which 35,665 were said to have been carried out by the paramilitary forces, while 2,388 mass graves were found in the country and 2,091 bodies have been exhumed.

Together with church leaders and the international coordinator of PEAC, the national reference group discussed the security situation and the implementation of the ecumenical accompaniment programme, as Montes de María and San Onofre will be an area of focus.

During the process of reflection that led to the formation of PEAC, representatives of local communities shared their experiences regarding the struggles to recover their lands, challenges in addressing violence and security threats they face on a daily basis. Their testimonies contained several cases of intimidation by armed groups who continue to threat and kill local community leaders.

Among the members of the national reference group are Bishop Francisco Duque of the Episcopal Church in Colombia and president of the CLAI Colombia Roundtable, Bishop Juan Alberto Cardona from the Colombian Methodist Church, Zoraida Castillo, representating the ACT Colombia Forum, German Zárate and Rev Milton Mejia of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, and Rev Christopher Ferguson from the United Church of Canada and PEAC’s international coordinator.

Members of Finca Alemania, a cooperative of small farmers in the San Onofre region, who have suffered intense intimidation and violence at the hands of armed groups are trying to take control of their lands. They have exprssed the urgent need for a supportive international presence in such a context of human rights violations.

Nancio Silgado-Torres, one of the leaders of the community, expresses his views on the importance of having international accompaniers in Colombia in this way.

“Not only for us at Finca Alemania, but also for the people of this entire region of San Onofre, the presence of international witnesses will bring new strength to continue working on building our lives and recovering our dignity.”

“We all have children who we dream will grow up, attend school and university. And we should be able to work with dignity. This is only possible if we live in peace,” added Torres.

In this situation, PEAC along with its network of churches and Christian organisations will attempt to address the needs of communities living under pressure from legal and illegal actors in the armed conflict.


Inspiring and difficult moments in PEAC’s work

The programme aims to accompany communities, along with local churches, affected people and the non-governmental organisations involved in humanitarian work and the struggle for just peace.

The programme will implement its vision through ecumenical accompaniers, who will be present with communities and organisations for a period of three months. They will monitor and report human rights violations, and will support nonviolent resistance and actions for peace.

The involvement of national churches and ecumenical organizations on the regional and international level in its work is very important for PEAC. Therefore churches need to develop a positive response and strengthen their commitment to accompany communities faced with violence in Colombia.

According to Ferguson, PEAC is currently experiencing an inspiring moment, yet it faces its own challenges.

“If Colombian and global partner churches don’t speak the same language, PEAC will not be able to reach the level of being an advocate for human rights. The programme is an opportunity to build new and solid ecumenical methodologies,” he said.

Ferguson believes that it is important to have adequate coordination between the PEAC team, communities and organisations.

“We also need to be aware of the scope and limitations of the programme and make sure that our accompaniers are well prepared,” he added.

PEAC intends to start with a team of four accompaniers in September, and later will expand its work to other regions with four more accompaniers joining in December of this year. It will be important for the launch of PEAC at the local level to impact the advocacy work of the churches. In this phase financial and communication support for this programme will remain a crucial point for effective implementation.

This year’s challenges for PEAC are not simple. Zoraida Castillo, Lutheran World Relief programme manager for Colombia, points out that PEAC needs to “define a flexible structure and allow a process of timely decision making”.

Castillo also believes that a good reading of the Colombian situation is important, “especially if it helps to identify the dynamics of the conflict and risks to the communities and local partners,” she added.

For Bishop Duque, the communities seek support from ethical and credible institutions such as the churches, regardless of denominational backgrounds.

“The demands of threatened and vulnerable communities have increased significantly, as these communities do not trust in government institutions. Therefore there is a great need for third parties such as churches to initiate actions and accompany public denunciation,” he said.