CPTnet
28 January 2006

CHICAGO/TORONTO: Statement regarding video showing missing Peacemakers alive
in Iraq

[Note: Press conferences will be held today regarding the new video released
on Al Jazeera that shows Harmeet Sooden, Norman Kember, Tom Fox and Jim
Loney:

Chicago -- Water Tower Park, 820 North Michigan Ave., 2:00 P.M. CST

Toronto -- 25 Cecil St., 1:00 P.M. EST]

We are so grateful and heartened to see James, Harmeet, Norman and Tom alive
on the videotape dated January 21. This news is an answer to our prayers.
We continue to hope and pray for their release.

All of us in Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) remain very disturbed by the
abduction of our teammates. We pray that those who hold them will host them
with the grace that so many of us in CPT have received as guests in Iraq.
James, Harmeet, Norman and Tom are peace workers who have not collaborated
with the occupation of Iraq and who have worked for justice for all Iraqis,
especially those detained.

We continue to believe that what has happened to our teammates is the result
of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. governments in their illegal attack on
Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people. We
continue to call for justice and human rights for all who are detained in
Iraq. The innocent should not suffer in the place of those who have done
wrong.

CPT has organized public actions for peace and justice for Iraqi detainees.
This weekend major events are scheduled for Washington DC, Toronto and
Chicago. See www.cpt.org or http://www.cpt.org/iraq/shinethelight.php for
details.

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has long worked for the rights of Iraqi
prisoners who have been illegally detained and abused. We were the first to
publicly denounce the torture of Iraqi people at the hands of U.S. forces,
long before the western media admitted what was happening at Abu Ghraib. We
are among the few internationals left in Iraq working for human rights and
peace. We hope that we can continue to do this work and we pray for the
speedy release of our beloved teammates.

Christian Peacemaker Teams has been present in Iraq since October 2002,
providing first-hand, independent reports from the region, working with
detainees of both United States and Iraqi forces, and training others in
non-violent intervention and human rights documentation.

Christian Peacemaker Teams sends violence-reduction teams of trained
peacemakers to work areas of lethal conflict around the world.

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Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) seeks to enlist the whole church in
organized, nonviolent alternatives to war and places teams of trained,
peacemakers in regions of lethal conflict. Originally a violence-reduction
initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonite, Church of the Brethren
and Quaker), CPT now enjoys support and membership from a wide range of
Christian denominations.

 To express concerns, criticisms or affirmations to CPT's Chicago office
send messages to peacemakers@cpt.org. To express concerns, criticisms or
affirmations to CPT's Canadian office, send messages to
guest.996427@MennoLink.org.

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