Faith Leaders Release Open Letter on Behalf of Christian Hostages in Iraq

An open letter has been released on behalf of the Christian peacemakers held hostage in Iraq since November 26, 2005. The letter, which was signed by a multi-faith list of 42 leading religious leaders, was presented Monday Feb. 6th, at the Foreign Press Association in Central London.

|PIC1|The letter comes following the most recent video footage of the four peacemakers - Norman Kember, Tom Fox, James Loney, and Harmeet Singh Sooden- shown on Al Jazeera on Jan. 28th.

Hosted by the International Catholic Movement for Peace organisation, Pax Christi, the presentation included speakers Rev. John Rackley, former President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland, Bruce Kent, a personal friend of Norman Kember and Vice-President of Pax Christi, and Anas Altikriti , former president of the Muslim Association of Britain.

Mrs. Pat Kember, wife of British hostage Norman Kember, also sent a message backing the letter saying, “I am happy to endorse this message and appeal. All our adult lives, Norman and I have actively supported a variety of peace groups. We should like to see out country lead by the example of overcoming evil with mercy and by serving the suffering people of Iraq. In this way, we believe that peace is possible.”

The letter was signed by more than 40 prominent figures from Christian and Muslim communities.

Rev John Rackley, the former President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland explained to Christian Today how Kember had gone to Iraq passionately to help the Iraqi people that were suffering. He said, “Speaking from the Christians I know, there was a degree of surprise that Norman Kember was in Iraq and to the ones that knew him he had taken his own commitment of peacemaking to that step, he wanted to actually do something that may help.”

|TOP|The former BUGB President also told Christian Today what Christians could do in the tense situation: “They can go back to the Bible and go back and see what Jesus said about peacemaking, and how Jesus tried to show us that there are other ways that we can live realistically in this world with non-violent means.

“I think that we need to then go to prayer and work with God in prayer for the support and care for those beyond our reach, and that does make a difference.”

Rev Rackley continued, “Christians also must recognise that part of our discipleship is to take up the sort of peacemaking work that Norman had taken up.

“It is at the beginning there when Jesus said in Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the peacemakers, they are the children of God. Unfortunately, we read the first few Beatitudes of Matthew 5, and when you get the last ones then it is about peacemaking and about persecution, and sometimes when you are a peacemaker you may face persecution.”

In conclusion, Rev Rackley said, “So those are the illustrations, Jesus was not just saying something for effect, but it is a deeply demanding thing to do and to understand, and this is what makes Jesus distinctive as he died on the cross for us, and that is why we can live ourselves.”

|AD|The Open Letter released at the conference in full is as follows:

Open letter on behalf of Norman Kember, Tom Fox, Harmeet Singh Sooden and James Loney, Christian Peacemaker Team

6th February 2006

The release of a new video showing Norman Kember, Tom Fox, Harmeet Singh Sooden and James Loney, working in Iraq with Christian Peacemaker Teams, is cause for relief as well as anxiety. Relief that the long silence with no news of their well-being has been broken, in mixed with apprehension at the continued threat to their lives.

Since their abduction on 26th November 2005 religious leaders and religious groups throughout the world have spoken in their support- acknowledging that they are men of non-violence and urging that they may be released to continue their work for peace and human rights on behalf of the people of Iraq. At this urgent moment in times we wish to reaffirm this support and invite those who hold them to return them to their families.

At the same time we know that thousands of Iraqis have been held without charge and detained since the war in Iraq began almost three years ago. The practice of detention without charge, sometimes exacerbated by torture and abuse, cannot be allowed to continue as it heightens the level of fear and feeds into a terrible cycle of violence. Just as we are concerned for our brothers with Christian Peacemaker Teams we are also concerned for Iraqi detainees and for their families.

We long for true peace to be restored to the people of Iraq and we ask our government to do all it can to secure this peace. This must include:

-clear condemnation of detention without charge and the abuse of prisoners
-accountability on the part of all UK military personnel for their treatment of prisoners and of the Iraqi people
-work with the Iraqi authorities to ensure that the highest United Nations human right standards of treatment and due process for detainees are met

With people of faith throughout the world we pray that we may be united and steadfast in our work for peace for the people of Iraq.