American Mennonite UN peace worker abducted in Congo

[Tanuki]

http://mennoworld.org/2017/03/14/news/mennonite-un-worker-abducted-in-congo/
"United Nations worker Michael J. Sharp has been kidnapped by an unidentified militia group while traveling by motorcycle in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On March 13 the Congolese government confirmed Sharp, 34, and his team were abducted by “negative forces not yet identified” near the village of Ngombe in Kasai Central province, but offered little more information.

The area is home to multiple militias and rebel groups, including those that utilize child soldiers. A spokesperson said the government was told at least 100 people were killed in fighting between the army and rebels in the region over four days in February. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights indicated three mass graves have also been discovered in the area.

Sharp is coordinator with the U.N. Group of Experts for the Democratic Republic of Congo, a panel investigating conflicts simmering since civil war in the mid-1990s created dozens of armed groups. Others who were abducted included U.N. colleague Zahida Katalan, of Swedish citizenship, and four Congolese people — three drivers and a translator.

According to U.N.-funded Radio Okapi, Sharp’s group had been instructed by the U.N. Security Council to investigate armed groups, human rights violations and possible violations of an arms embargo in the country.

“We hope for good news,” said his father, John Sharp, a history and Bible and ministry faculty member at Hesston (Kan.) College. “I have said on more than one occasion that we peacemakers should be willing to risk our lives as those who join the military do. Now it’s no longer theory.”
He said Mennonite Central Committee and its partner organizations are mobilizing their resources in efforts separate from those of the U.N.

Sharp is no stranger to conflict. He has worked for the U.N. in Congo since 2015. Before that, he spent three years as MCC’s Eastern Congo coordinator, working to facilitate repatriation of Rwandan refugees and negotiating with militia leaders.

As a Mennonite Mission Network worker with the German Mennonite Peace Committee, he was director of the Military Counseling Network from 2005 to 2008 in Bammental, Germany. In addition to assisting U.S. service members pursue conscientious objector status during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he took part in a delegation to Iraqi Kurdistan.

When not working overseas, Sharp has been making his home in Albuquerque, N.M. Mountain States Mennonite Conference coordinated a candlelight vigil March 15 at various locations across North America.

A call to prayer compiled by the conference seeks to “shine a light at that time and focus your thoughts and prayers on the people of the DRC, M.J., his family and the families of others involved.”

The Associated Press reports the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa is aware of reports about Sharp, and the State Department is monitoring the situation.

“The U.S. Department of State has no higher priority than the protection of U.S. citizens overseas,” said a statement from the embassy. “When a U.S. citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities and cooperate fully in their search efforts,” the statement said.

Sharp is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., and Bethany Christian Schools in Goshen, Ind.

Alumni of EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding with connections to Congo have also been notified.

“I have mobilized all of our Mennonite members in Congo for prayers but also for advocacy,” replied one alumnus in an email March 15 to CJP executive director Daryl Byler.

This story was updated March 15, 2017.

[gratuitous]

1. Damn

Best wishes and fervent prayers for Michael Sharp, my brother in Christ.

[Tanuki]

2. Very sad news. Sharp, his UN colleague Catalan, and their Congolese translator were killed.

https://www.google.com/amp/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN16Z1FL