GC34 War in Yugoslavia (1992W197)

The 34th General Council agrees to

1. declare its revulsion at the acts of war and atrocities carried out in the former Yugoslavia and particularly at the attacks on minorities in policies aimed at “ethnic cleansing”;

2. through the Moderator, communicate with the faith communities (Orthodox, Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Protestant) of the former Yugoslavia and their counterparts in Canada to express our grief and our support for their efforts to relieve human suffering, to withhold moral legitimacy from war-making, and to bring about reconciliation;

3. through the Moderator, express to the World Council of Churches and to the Conference of European Churches our willingness to cooperate in efforts for humanitarian relief, protection of refugees, reconciliation, and rebuilding of “civil society” after the war is over;

4. commend the efforts of international agencies, such as the International Red Cross, the UN High Commission for Refugees, UN peacekeeping forces and the UN Commission for Human Rights for their efforts to denounce the atrocities carried out on the civilian population and to provide protection and relief at great personal risk;

5. commend particularly the humanitarian efforts of [members of the] Canadian Forces who served in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina;

6. urge the Canadian government to place the priority in its foreign policy on contributing to creating the conditions for peace through pursuit of human rights, justice and real protection for minority populations within states in the former Yugoslavia and in the roughly 35 regional conflicts taking place throughout the world at this time;

7. urge the Canadian government to place the priority in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia on its contribution to UN-controlled efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to the civilian population, to secure compliance by all parties with relevant human rights conventions and to hasten the termination of the war without the use of bombing;

8. urge the Canadian government to make a case within the UN that force be used only for self-defence to protect those delivering humanitarian assistance, moving refugees, and to protect the remaining civilian population;

9. commend to United Church congregations and individual members the people caught in the war in the former Yugoslavia and encourage prayers and support of humanitarian efforts for the hundreds of thousands of others caught up in the roughly 35 regional conflicts taking place in our world at this time;

10. urge the Canadian Council of Churches in consultation with Project Ploughshares to establish relations with people living in Canada who have come from the former Yugoslavia with a view to preparing for the difficult peace-making and conflict resolution process required after the war is ended;

11. request the Moderator to send a letter of sympathy and support to the family of Sgt. Michael Ralph, the Canadian killed in the former Bosnia-Herzogovina.

GC34 1992 ROP, pp. 151-152