This post is also available in: Spanish
Steve Plenert is the co-representative for MCC Bolivia.
Part of what makes MCC work fascinating is that as a foreign NGO work we are to tread carefully around “politics” but are called to engage with social issues like poverty, women’s empowerment and child protection, while subject to local laws. Here in Bolivia “politics” are erupting in a big way. Supreme court elections happened just days after that same body approved changes to term limit regulations which will allow the current president to run for additional terms. Many votes in the Supreme Court election were labelled “nullo” in protest of the court’s ruling. Now the state is introducing a new penal code and once again “politics” are at the forefront of public life. Last week Friday there was a civic strike and the city of Santa Cruz was eerily silent as transit shuddered to a halt and more bicycles than taxis came onto the street.
Bolivian flags. Anna Vogt.
The new penal code has some very controversial bits to it. The most dramatic are the very harsh punishments for doctors around issues of malpractice. But there are others as well. Some churches, both in Bolivia and internationally, have taken significant issue with Article 88 in the new code, which on the face of it is a fairly strong indictment of human trafficking. However, the wording does mentions “religious sects”, even though it does not specifically refer to Christian churches.
Here is the article in question, in Spanish:
Será sancionada con prisión de siete (7) a doce (12) años y reparación económica, la persona que, por sí o por terceros, capte, transporte, traslade, prive de libertad, acoja o reciba personas con alguno de los siguientes fines…
Reclutamiento de personas para su participación en conflictos armados o en organizaciones criminales o de culto.
And in English:
Any person, will be punished with imprisonment of seven (7) to twelve (12) years and economic sanctions, who, by themselves or by use of a third party, captures, transports, transfers, deprives of liberty, takes in or receives persons with any of the following ends: Recruitment of persons for their participation in armed conflicts or in criminal or religious sects.
In discussing this with Bolivians who pay close attention to local context, I have heard them say that Christians and churches should be in favor of this article because it is not aimed at legitimate churches at all. It is trying to strengthen the law around the heinous practices of human trafficking which tragically impacts this culture to an extent. There is very little likelihood of the local government arresting pastors for preaching the good news of the gospel to people who are looking for some peace and liberation in their lives and communities. This is not the apparent intention of the decree.
Street art in Cochabamba. Anna Vogt.
The director of MCC Bolivia partner Paz y Esperanza, an evangelical church based organization that works on gender-based violence, Eva Morales, tells us,
“This sanction is for crimes against humanity and human trafficking. Religious freedom and freedom of worship are not being sanctioned.”
Eva says that strengthened regulations, such as this one, are called for and appropriate. “It is right that this activity is forbidden, because any type of person can commit this crime, including religious groups, cultural groups, or sects that are known to capture people for sexual exploitation, labour, organ trafficking, etc.” Paz y Esperanza does not fear the government or the penal code on this particular issue. They would much rather that churches be less fearful on this type of “politics” and engage more with the thorny issues of the day, such as human trafficking, child labour, and gender-based violence.
“The church has read and interpreted this article in an alarmist and mistaken way because they believe that they will be persecuted and limited in their evangelizing acts and mission.”
Eva says, reminding us that it matters to pay attention to context. In fact, the new penal code itself is an attempt to replace the previous system, put in place during the dictatorship in the 1970s. “This new system tries to make progress on human rights issues.” Eva states. For Eva then, her biggest criticism is not Article 88 but in practice how the code was produced, without sufficient citizen participation in its construction.
It always behooves us to play careful attention to politics. We do not turn a blind eye to what the government does or what legislation it enacts. Yet our role as peacebuilders encourages us to read about and engage with issues with a critical lens. Part of this process, especially in an era of fake news, means taking the time to gather data and facts about an issue. What are partner organizations, such as Paz y Esperanza, or other people who work closely on these themes, saying? Have we taken the time to read through the entire document in question, in this case the entirely of Article 88? We may be forced to sift through a lot a data, but this can be a helpful process of critically engaging, instead of jumping to conclusions that may be manipulated. Perhaps the wording of Article 88 could be improved, and this is can be a point for dialogue, but can we all agree on the importance of protecting human dignity and ending human trafficking? Through paying careful attention, we can focus on what is really at stake: human lives impacted by crime.
When we engage we do so on behalf of those who we are called to serve and together with those who have asked us to work with them. There are always threats to the existence of the church but those are usually when the church is primarily concerned about its own existence. When MCC and the churches are seeking to, as MCC’s vision statement says: “to share God’s love and compassion for all in the name of Christ by responding to basic human needs and working for peace and justice,” then we have very little to fear.
Street art in Cochabamba. Anna Vogt.