Will ecumenical groups that backed despot show 'integrity' to renounce him? By John H. Adams The Layman Online Thursday, April 20, 2000 WASHINGTON – Diane Knippers, the president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, has called on the World Council of Churches to plead "publicly and privately" with Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to end attacks by his supporters on white farmers and their hundreds of thousands of black workers. Through grants that eventually went to Mugabe's guerrilla forces – some contributing indirectly to the murders of missionaries – the World Council of Churches played a key role two decades ago in helping Mugabe come to power during a bloody revolution. The council has continued over the years to reassert its unflagging support for Mugabe despite his government's corruption and instability. It has supported Mugabe's "redistribution" of land – essentially allowing former guerrillas and squatters to drive farmers from their land so that blacks can take it over without paying any compensation. In 1999, at its 50th anniversary meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, the World Council of Churches gave Mugabe a center stage and its leaders continued to applaud his government. The Presbyterian Church (USA), which has contributed more money to the council than any other U.S. denomination, has never repudiated the council's approval of Mugabe's leadership. Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, is the leader of the Presbyterian delegation to the body. The World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches in the U.S. have both been quick to support socialist and sometimes communist regimes. However, they rarely repudiate the leaders of those regimes even after actions that result in bloodbaths, religious persecution and other human rights violations. In an interview with The Presbyterian Layman, Knippers said the World Council of Churches, being among "those who helped put Robert Mugabe in power," has a "particular obligation … to insist that he observe fundamental human rights. Integrity demands that." Dr Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, was quoted by Ecumenical News International expressing concern that recent developments in Zimbabwe, including the property invasions, gave the impression of a "massive breakdown" of the rule of law. "Combined with the already tense economic situation, they appear to threaten widespread chaos," Raiser said. But Raiser did not criticize his friend Mugabe, who has supported the squatters attacking farmers and farm employees. A stronger statement of disapproval was issued by Dr. Ishmael Noko, a Zimbabwean who is general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Noko said that "illegal occupations of properties, violence and intimidation cannot, in my view, be condoned." Mugabe has encouraged the violence despite a ruling by the Zimbabwe High Court. The court ordered Mugabe ally, Chenjerai Hunzvi, a Polish-trained physician and chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, to "actively strive to assist in the peaceful vacation by veterans of occupied farms." According to The Washington Post, Hunzvi has nicknamed himself "Hitler" and is leading the invasions to redistribute land without compensation to farmers, many of whom are the sons and daughters of many generations of farmers in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). Mugabe appeared unfazed by the court ruling. He went on national television to characterize the country's white farmers as "enemies of the state" – further escalating farmers' and workers' fears of being attacked by government gangs. Armed by the government, "Hitler" Hunzvi's forces have attacked an estimated 600 farms. The London Electronic Telegraph published a first-person account of two sisters who were raped by a gang of government supporters hours after Mugabe called farmers the enemy of the state. Black workers on the farms are being attacked as viciously as the owners. Including their family members, an estimated 1 million blacks work and live on the farms. The farm owners provide schools, education assistance and medical clinics. Many of attacks are motivated for political purposes beyond land redistribution. Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF Party faces opposition from the six-month-old Movement for Democratic Change. Thousands of black workers back the Movement for Democratic Change, in hopes that the end of Mugabe's rule will restore economic and political stability to the nation. More than 50 percent of the population is unemployed and 2,000 people die of AIDS every week. The Clinton administration has supported Mugabe "and has shown scant interest in the showdown he was building between Zimbabwe's white farmers and state-sponsored black squatters," according to The New York Times.

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