Christian Peacemaker Teams announces delegation to the Kurdish North of Iraq, 18 April - 2 May, 2009. (Applications must be received by March 2.) Delegates will meet with representatives of human rights groups, displaced persons, government officials, and others. They will gain perspective on the challenges facing people in northern Iraq and the impact there of violence in other areas of Iraq and along the border. They will participate in the work of CPT's longer-term project of building bridges and human rights reporting.

I went for a walk by myself a couple mornings ago to buy some tomatoes for lunch and ran into between fifty and seventy-five soldiers in downtown Goma.

"We can't stay here!" the leader of the Zharawa displaced person tent camp in the Suleimaniya Governorate near the Iranian border told us. "There is bombing back in our villages (1 to 4 kilometres away) day and night. And we are afraid being here too. Last year bombs hit this area."

During November, members of human rights organizations in Barrancabermeja (Barranca) experienced further threats and risks to their safety as they continued their work. CPT-Colombia supported these organizations and leaders through their presence at various gatherings and workshops. In addition, the team continued accompaniment work in the Middle Magdalena region, visiting communities in neighboring municipalities.

After the mayor of Pshdar told IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) that it was illegal for them to buy houses in town and that they should go home, the team prepared a letter to Mr. Bakhtiar Amin, a former Minister of Human Rights Iraq.

Dear Senator Obama, President Elect of the United States,

Since 2007 the US military has provided military intelligence and opened Iraqi air space to Turkish forces along the northern border of the Kurdish Regional Governorate for operations against the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party). Because of these military incursions, thousands of civilian villagers have been displaced, many killed or wounded, and a great many endure inadequate and deplorable living situations.

Goma is very quiet. From the news, one might think that bullets are whizzing by our heads in this city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is hard to imagine that militias and Congo’s army are conducting a war 30 miles from here, and that armed men are raping women, abducting children as soldiers, and shooting unarmed men.

Christophe Mutaka, from Groupe Martin Luther King, told us that visiting Goma is almost like being in North America—you can't really see the impact of the conflict without going to the villages and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps surrounding the city. War has displaced 250,000 people since August 2008, due to the recent surge in the conflict among General Laurent Nkunda's militia, the national army, and other groups who struggle to control this resource-rich area.

Saturday 15 November 2008
Benvie and Knight were accompanying shepherds on Mshaha hill when twelve to fifteen masked settlers appeared on the ridge above them.  The masked settlers made a loud cry as they began to run down from the ridge, throwing stones and wielding sticks.  They pursued the shepherds, sheep, and CPTers into Mshaha valley, and up and over Khoruba ridge, still throwing stones.  The stones injured Knights’ left arm and ankle.  The attacking settlers also temporarily stole two donkeys belonging to the Palestinian shepherds.  The villagers later found one donkey stabbed in the neck, who survived, while the other donkey was stabbed in the lung and bled to death on the hillside.  (See “AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian shepherds, kill donkey, injure internationals,” http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2008/11/17/tuwani-israeli-settlers-attack-palestinian-shepherds-kill-donkey-injure-internatio)

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Wed., Dec. 10, 2008

Pray for the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, Quebec. They blockaded the highway again calling on Canada and Quebec to honour the resource sharing agreement signed with them, but police responded with threats and arrests.

Doug Pritchard
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto, Canada

“What are you doing here as Christians?” one man asked after we introduced ourselves as members of Christian Peacemaker Teams.  Three members of the Iraq team were leading a one-day nonviolence and reconciliation workshop in Suleimaniya for fifteen young adult leaders from the conservative Muslim city of Halubja.