In the next few weeks the U.S. State Department will decide whether or not to certify that the Colombian government is doing enough to prioritize human rights to merit continued U.S. military aid.

The U.S. government can send a strong message to the new Colombian administration by telling the truth: Colombia's government has not sufficiently respected human rights in the past year to deserve certification.

Click Here to send your message to Secretary Clinton

Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled invalid the agreement signed last October allowing the United States to use at least seven military bases in Colombia. In a ruling issued on Tuesday, the high court said the agreement is an international treaty, and must be approved by the Colombian Congress and its constitutionality reviewed by the court itself.

Click here to read the full article

The IPMN is sponsoring a trip to Israel/Palestine in early November, 2010. The trip will be co-led by Rev. Marthame Sanders, Peter Mann, and Don Mead. IPMN is issuing a warm invitation to PPF friends to help fill out their roster!

Please click here to see a brochure about the trip with extensive details.

A detailed report released today by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) describes how U.S. funding to the Colombian military has been supporting army units whose members have killed hundreds of civilians.

Read a summary and download the full report.

Drawing on extensive data from the Colombian Attorney General’s and Inspector General’s offices, 20 human rights organizations, the U.S. State Department, and the Colombian military, the report shows that massive military training, equipment and intelligence provided under the rubric of Plan Colombia have abrogated U.S. human rights law and contributed to the killing of thousands of civilians by the Colombian Army.

“The U.S. has provided more than $6 billion in support to Colombia since 2000,” said John Lindsay-Poland, FOR’s research and advocacy director. “This money is used to support military units that have been proven to murder innocent civilians. That is outrageous and needs to stop.”

"Find Your Voice: Music for a Just and Caring Church"

http://www.stonypointcenter.org/article.php?story=20100526131543662

Recently Rev. Gradye Parsons (Stated Clerk) wrote to the President of the Philippines in support of releasing Judilyn Oliveros with the birth of her son, and all of the Morong 43 community health workers. Our partners in the United Church of Christ in the Philippines have seen this letter and are grateful for our support as partners.

Now is the time to get the word out to send letters/emails on the immediate release of Judilyn and others in medical need, and all the Morong 43 as soon as possible. Can you join in this witness for justice in the Philippines?

The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, in consultation with Mark Koenig of the Presbyterian Peace Program, requests your action regarding the new START treaty that President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed on April 8, 2010. Ratification requires approval first of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and then the support of at least 67 senators on the floor.

We ask you to write members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee immediately (it may come out of committee on July 27) and your own Senators before August 3 (when it may come to a vote).

By Jan Orr-Harter

The long-awaited GA plenary session on Peacemaking and International Issues came and went, with excellent results, but not quite as we expected the process to go. We'll take the results.