December 7, 2005

ELGIN, IL – Statements calling for the release of the four volunteers from Christian Peacemaker Teams who were abducted in Iraq on Nov. 26 have been issued by On Earth Peace and a group of Church of the Brethren leaders.

Christian Peacemaker Teams also is calling on supporters around the world to sign an online petition for the captives' release and to hold prayer vigils on their behalf.

The four men – Tom Fox, Norman Kember, James Loney, and Harmeet Singh Sooden – are being held by a previously unknown group called Swords of Righteousness Brigade, which has threatened to kill the hostages unless all prisoners in US and Iraqi detention centers are released by Dec. 8.

"We call upon all concerned Christians to pray for the release of these men, and for their safe return to their families, " said Bob Gross, co-director of On Earth Peace, in a statement released Dec. 3.

"We join with Christian Peacemaker Teams in calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq and the violence carried out against its people," Gross saild. He added that "we know the work of CPT and we know that these men are not spies nor are they involved in religious missionary work. They are working on behalf of the Iraqi people, especially those suffering from the occupation of their country." (See http://www.brethren.org/genbd/newsline/index.htm for the full statement.)

"We are deeply saddened and brought to a place of clear conviction by the Nov. 26 kidnaping of four Christian Peacemaker Team members in Iraq," said the statement from the three Brethren leaders – Ronald Beachley, moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference; Stan Noffsinger, general secretary of the Church of the Brethren General Board; and Phil Jones, director of the Brethren Witness/Washington Office.

"It is imperative that we continue to lift in prayer our concern toward the active violence that remains a part of the foreign policy of our nation, and our support for the faithful witness of those who seek to serve all humankind in nonviolent and peaceful ways," the statement continued. "We lift in prayer today those who are captured in the cycle of violence that war brings whether they be innocent civilians in the fields of war, the human tools of war as soldiers, relief and humanitarian workers, or non-governmental contractors and support persons. We pray for the immediate families of those affected by deep pain and grief of war...."

The statement went on, "Even as we express concern for our own Christian peace workers, we acknowledge that over 225 persons have been kidnaped during this time of war in Iraq, thousands have died on both sides of the fields of battle, civilian and military. Our prayers are for all persons affected by the violence of this war." (See http://www.brethren.org/genbd/newsline/index.htm.

According to CPT, others calling for release of the men include three Muslim detainees in Toronto, Canada – Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohammad Mahjoub, and Hassan Almrei-who said they have been detained without charge for up for five and a half years under security certificates by the government of Canada, which alleges that they are linked to terrorist organizations. They identified Loney as "one of thousands of people who have been fighting to right this wrong," and said, "This is the same James Loney who has reached out to the families of the Abu Ghraib prisoners. It pains our heart to know that a person of this calibre is being held captive. We care about his freedom more than we do our own."

Also leading Palestinians such as Ikram al-Sabri, the head Mufti of Palestine; Wasif Abu-Yousef, a representative of the National and Islamic Forces in Palestine; and the National and Islamic Forces in Hebron, which held a press conference on Nov. 30, have joined in calling for the peacemakers' release, as well as villagers from At-Tuwani, where CPT has had an accompaniment team for two years. Among other groups calling for the captives' release was the World Council of Churches, which said that the hostages' "prolonged captivity is not in anyone's interest and is likely to further embitter and polarize Iraqi society, causing anger and frustration" and reiterated its assessment of the war on Iraq as being "immoral, illegal, and ill-advised." The National Council of Churches called on members to take time in their Sunday worship services to offer special prayers for the peacemakers, and invited other religious communities meeting to "remember our brothers."

Church of the Brethren congregations holding prayer vigils for the four peacemakers include First Church of the Brethren in Chicago, Ill., which held a vigil on Dec. 2; and Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren in Elgin, Ill., which plans a candlelight prayer vigil for 7:30-8 p.m. today.

To register a vigil so that others may join from the community, go to http://peace.mennolink.org/prayervigils.html. For a list of planned vigils see http://peace.mennolink.org/vigillist.html.

Those wishing to register support for the captured peacemakers are invited by CPT to sign an online petition. Go to http://freethecpt.org/ for a petition in English or to http://electroniciraq.net/news/2210.shtml for a petition in Arabic.

For more information about Christian Peacemaker Teams go to http://www.cpt.org/.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.

Church of the Brethren Newsline