Quaker Groups Express Concern Over Kidnapped Peacemakers
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Friends Service
Committee (AFSC) and the committee and staff members of Friends Committee on
National Legislation (FCNL) are deeply concerned for the four kidnapped
members of Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq and we appeal to the captors for
their safe return. The four, Tom Fox (USA), Norman Kember (UK), James Loney
and Harmeet Sooden (Canada), are actively engaged in the work of Christian
Peacemaker Teams and have publicly opposed the U.S.-led invasion and
occupation of Iraq.
Christian Peacemaker Teams arrived in Iraq in 2002 in opposition to the
coming war and continue to work for the rights of Iraqi prisoners who have
been illegally detained by U.S. occupation forces. The non-governmental
organizations, founded in 1986, were amongst the first to document and expose
the abuses at Abu Ghraib and other U.S. operated prisons and detention centers
in Iraq.
Christian Peacemaker Teams are one of the few remaining international
humanitarian organizations working in Iraq. Their presence maintains a
critical, nonviolent public witness to the violence and uncertainty which
persists in the country. Team members knowingly work at great risk to their
own health and security. Christian Peacemaker Teams hold religious beliefs
but are not missionaries and do not proselytize.
The kidnappings have caused enormous suffering and pain to the captives,
their families, associates, and friends. We appeal to those responsible for
the kidnappings to release all four peacemakers unharmed.
The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), a non-partisan
Quaker lobby in the public interest, opposed the invasion of Iraq. FCNL
believes there is no military solution to the conflict in Iraq. More troops,
more guns, and more killing will not bring about peace. FCNL works in the
United States for an end to the U.S. occupation and the withdrawal of all U.S.
military forces and bases.
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is an international social
justice organization and a co-recipient of the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize, which
honored Quakers' historic work to relieve the suffering of war. Since 1917,
AFSC has aided millions of people around the world through its peace, economic
development, and human rights programs. AFSC was a leader in the movements to
end the Vietnam War and to dismantle apartheid in South Africa and remains a
leader in international movements for peace and justice.
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Mary Lord
http://profnet.prnewswire.com/ud_public.jsp?userid=10009375
SOURCE American Friends Service Committee
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Related links:
http://www.afsc.org
CONTACT:
Janis D. Shields, American Friends Service
Committee, +1-215-241-7060, After Hours: +1-302-545-6596; or Rick
McDowell, Friends Committee on National Legislation,
+1-202-957-6886
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