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The World Council of Churches called today for the immediate release of four peace-workers kidnapped in Iraq and asked the Iraqi government to undertake whatever steps necessary to secure their safe release.
In a statement signed by Peter Weiderud, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, the ecumenical church body expressed deep distress at the kidnapping of four members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq.
“The kidnappings have caused immense pain, suffering and anxiety amongst the families and friends of those held captive,” the statement released on Friday read.
“Their prolonged captivity is not in anyone's interest and is likely to further embitter and polarize Iraqi society, causing anger and frustration,” it added. “We appeal on humanitarian grounds to those holding them captive to ensure that while under captivity they are treated well and looked after.”
On Tuesday, the four kidnapped aid workers with the anti-war group appeared on a videotape aired by the satellite television network Al Jazeera, held captive by a previously unknown group called the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. The captors said they were holding the four, who they alleged as spies working undercover for coalition forces in the guise of being Christian peace activists, according to Al Jazeera.
Christian Peacemaker Teams later identified the four as American Tom Fox, 54, of Clearbrook, Va.; Briton Norman Kember, 74, of London; James Loney, 41, of Toronto, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, also a Canadian. They reportedly were kidnapped Saturday in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Abu Ghraib. The video bore Sunday's date.
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“The World Council of Churches calls on those responsible for the kidnappings to immediately release all four peace workers so that they can join their families and loved ones,” WCC’s statement continued.
“The Council also calls on the government of Iraq to undertake the steps necessary to secure their safe release.”
Other Christian groups, including the evangelical Christian relief and development charity TEAR Fund, also expressed “deep concern” over the kidnappings and offered their prayers for the team’s safe release.
"We want their safe return home,” said TEAR Fund New Zealand Executive Director Stephen Tollestrup, in a statement also released on Friday. “Naturally their families are extremely worried about them. We do not know who they are with, but there appears to have been a misunderstanding. They are peacemakers, not spies. CPT has consistently opposed the war and the continuing presence of multinational forces in Iraq."
According to the TEAR Fund, Christian Peacemaker Teams work throughout the world – wherever violence and injustice is present – as advocates for justice through nonviolent action.
“CPT has sought to reduce violence and advocate on behalf of the human rights of all Iraqis, and for an end to the occupation of Iraq,” said Tollestrup, who visited with CPT leadership in Canada for informal discussions and affirmed the “unequivocal commitment” to peace the group stands for.
CPT has been particularly active in supporting the civil rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories, the TEAR Fund noted.
