The World Council of Churches has urged its members in the United States to lobby President Barack Obama to abandon "Plan Colombia", a package of financial and military assistance to Colombia's repressive government.

Church activists participating in the World Council of Churches' United Nations Advocacy Week meetings in New York delved deeply into the tragedies and injustices of the current bloody conflict in Colombia. Mark Beach tells the human story behind the politics.

Human rights campaigners have welcomed the decision of the Colombian Supreme Court to allow citizens to opt out of obligatory military service because of religious, moral or philosophical objections.

Colombia's Mennonite churches are calling on congregations in Canada and the United States to join together in a unified cry for justice, peace and healing in the war-torn South American country.