Please don't forget about my friends.
Over eight weeks have passed since four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams were kidnapped in Baghdad (one American, two Canadians, and one Briton). As a friend and colleague of the missing CPTers, I remain concerned for well-being.
On their behalf, I continue to speak about why Tom, Jim, Harmeet and Norman and other members of CPT are in Iraq. CPT has been in Iraq since October 2002, first reporting on the effects of sanctions and trying to prevent the war. CPTers remained in Iraq once the war started, witnessing the bombings and telling the world of the brutality of war.
When the bombing ended and the occupation began, CPT remained in Iraq, working to document the abuses of Iraqi detainees by the multinational forces (MNF). CPT released a report on their findings four months before the Abu Ghraib photos were released. Still today while also working for the release of the four CPTers, other CPTers in Baghdad are assisting Iraqi families in finding their detained loved ones, visiting prisons, and taking the testimonies of tortured Iraqis.
CPTers in Iraq (and those of us who work in Palestine and other locations) have the privilege of leaving our homes and entering countries under occupation. We understand the risks associated with our work but choose to do so on behalf of those who do not have this choice. Our choice to put ourselves in harm's way reflects our belief that all human lives are of equal value and interdependent. Our work takes us into the streets, fields, homes and thus lives, of people living under armed occupation.
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What gives us strength in steadfastness are the relationships we form with victims of violence, victims whose humanity embraces ours and makes us brothers and sisters.
But in this strength is also weakness, and today an incalculable portion of my heart aches for my four friends, Tom, Jim, Harmeet and Norman, and the Iraqi people who live amidst such insecurity and danger.
Kristin Anderson
Willmar
