As people of faith, we raise our voices for the protection of life and promotion of peace by calling on all governments to end the production, transfer, stockpiling, and use of cluster bombs.
For more than 40 years, cluster bombs have killed and wounded innocent people, causing untold suffering, loss and hardship for thousands in more than 20 countries across the planet. These weapons cause death and injury to civilians during attacks and for years afterwards because of the lethal contamination that they cause. Cluster bombs hamper post-conflict rebuilding and rehabilitation and the dangerous work of cluster bomb clearance absorbs funds that could be spent on other urgent humanitarian needs. Without determined action, the civilian harm caused by these weapons both during and after conflict will continue to grow.
The voices of those whose lives have already been shattered by cluster munitions call us to take meaningful and courageous action. Our faith traditions call us to stand with those who have suffered, and to work for the well-being of the human family through relationships of respect, justice, and peace.
We are speaking out today on the Global Day of Action to Ban Cluster Bombs where people across all continents, cultures and faiths are taking action and calling for a ban on cluster bombs.
A comprehensive ban on cluster bombs can and must be negotiated one month from now in Dublin, Ireland, in May 2008. We urge governments to take up this heavy responsibility by seizing this opportunity to take concrete action for the protection of the vulnerable and for the promotion of peace.
Sincerely,
The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu
Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town
Archbishop Dermot Martin
Archbishop of Dublin, Catholic Church in Ireland
Archbishop Gunnar Stålsett
Committee World Council Religions for Peace, Lutheran Church of Norway
Archbishop Antonio Ledesma
Vice President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and Bishop-President of Pax Christi Pilipinas (Philippines)
Archbishop John Dew,
Archbishop of Wellington, Catholic Church of New Zealand
Indarjit Sing
Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, UK
Rabbi Danni Rich
Chief Executive of Liberal Judaism
Archbishop John Onaiyekan
Archbishop of the Abuja Diocese of the Catholic Church and President of the Christian Association of Nigeria
Monsignor Samuel Gandi
Apostolic Administrator, Archdiocese of Freetown and Bo (Roman Catholic), Sierra Leone
Reverend Osman J. Fornah
President, Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone
Sheik Abu Bakarr Conteh
1st Vice President, Inter Religious Council of Sierra Leone, Imam of Freetown Municipality Council and Masjid Hamdallah.
Sheik Abu-Bakarr Tejan-Jalloh
Chief Imam of Freetown Central Mosque, Sierra Leone
Monsignor Laurent Monsengwo
Archbishop of Kinshasa, DR Congo and Co-President Pax Christi International
Bishop Kike Figaredo
Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, the Catholic Church in Cambodia
Bishop Émile Destombes
Apostolic Vicar of Phnom Penh, the Catholic Church in Cambodia
Bishop Anthony Sami
Bishop Yves Ramousse Gustave
The Catholic Church in Cambodia
Jim Schrag
Executive Director, Mennonite Church, USA
Rolando Santiago
Executive Director, Mennonite Central Committee, USA
Arli Klassen
Executive Director, Mennonite Central Committee, USA
James E. Winkler
General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society, the United Methodist Church, USA
Marie Dennis
Director, Maryknoll Global Concerns, Co-President, Pax Christi International
Bishop Peter Cullinane
Bishop of Palmerston North, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand
Bishop Denis Browne
Bishop of Auckland, Catholic Church of New Zealand
Bishop Barry Jones
Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, New Zealand
Bishop David Stancliffe
Bishop of Salisbury, Church of England
Bishop William Kenny
Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham and Spokesman on European Affairs for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
Reverend Jonathan Edwards
General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain
Reverend Dr Martyn Atkins
President of the Methodist Conference, United Kingdom
Reverend Gregor Henderson,
President of the Uniting Church in Australia
Reverend Dr. Setri Nyomi
Secretary General of World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Presbyterian Church in Canada
Rabbi Steven Jacobs
Right Reverend Francis S. Nabieu
Head of Methodist Church Sierra Leone
Mary Ellen McNish
General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia, USA
Dr. Fauzy Khoury
Exarch of the Greek Catholic Melkite Church in the Galilee
Bishop Erik Norman Svendsen
Diocese Copenhagen, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
Bishop Kresten Drejergaard
Diocese Fyen, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
Bishop Elisabeth Dons Christensen
Diocese Ribe, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
Bishop Steen Skovsgaard
Diocese Lolland-Falster, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
Bishop Karsten Nissen
Diocese Viborg, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
Bishop Kjeld Holm
Diocese Aarhus, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
Bishop Søren Lodberg Hvas
Diocese Aalborg, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
Bishop Niels Henrik Arendt, Diocese Haderslev
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
Pastor Jørgen Bøytler
The Moravian Church in Denmark, member of the Provincial Board in the European Continental Province of the Moravian Church
Claudette Werleigh
Secretary General Pax Christi International
Reverend Dr Anthony Dancer
Social Justice Commissioner of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand
Reverend Brian Turner
President, Methodist Church of New Zealand, Aotearoa-New Zealand