'Outraged' Kirk attacks violence in Zimbabwe

Published on Friday 16 May 2008 21:47

A YEAR after it refused to denounce Robert Mugabe's regime, the Church of Scotland has finally expressed outrage at events in Zimbabwe.

Last year the General Assembly said that to attack the dictator would endanger the lives of Christians living there.

Yesterday, with the encouragement of churches in Zimbabwe, the Kirk "vehemently condemned" Mr Mugabe's rule and called on the British government to act with urgency to bring the regime to a peaceful end.

The Rev Colin Renwick, convener of the Kirk's World Mission Council, which deals with international policy, said members could no longer keep silent over a situation he described as "heartrending".

"We have been circumspect in statements in the past, recognising the danger that careless words might pose, even from this distance, and heeding the caution of Christians in Zimbabwe itself," he said. "However, now is the time to take up the challenge they have issued."

World Mission's report "vehemently condemned" the violence perpetrated by the Mugabe regime on its people after last month's presidential elections.

The assembly voted unanimously to "express outrage and urgent concern in regard to the extreme privation and suffering being inflicted on the people of Zimbabwe; and encourage all who work for justice, peace and reconciliation in that beautiful country."

It called on the British government to work to bring a swift end to the "violence and intimidation being endured in many parts of the country".

Mr Renwick read out a warning from the Zimbabwean Council of Churches, which has rarely spoken out against the regime for fear of violent backlash.

It said: "We warn the world that if nothing is done to help the people of Zimbabwe from their predicament, we shall soon be witnessing genocide similar to that experienced in Kenya, Rwanda and other hot spots in Africa and elsewhere."

The Rt Rev William Pool, moderator of the United Presbyterian Church in South Africa, read out a letter from two ministers in Zimbabwe, describing the persecution church members had faced. He said children who were members of Zanu PF had arrived for services bleeding, having been beaten for asking permission to go to church, while whole congregations were being ordered not to attend services and to go to government rallies instead.

Concluding the debate, Deputy Moderator Sheilagh Kesting led the assembly in a prayer, saying: "We have heard the cries of those who suffer in Zimbabwe. We have been moved, we are outraged and we desperately want to do something for them."

&#149 Gordon Brown is today expected to draw on his experience of growing up as a minister's son when he addresses the assembly on the

theme of "sons and daughters of the manse".