Free the Captives: Witness Against Illegal Detention and Torture

Sorry we've been remiss in updating the site over the past few days. We imagined that the rescue of Christian Peacemakers Harmeet Sooden, James Loney, and Norman Kember would lead to some conclusion to our work here, but that does not seem to be the case. Chuck and I are now assessing the work that lies ahead. Can we make a practical contribution to the big picture of continuing witness on behalf of our friend Tom Fox, slain in captivity, and countless thousands of others in Iraq being detained without due process by various armed groups?

It is with great joy that we welcome journalist Jill Carroll home from her own captivity in Iraq, which overlapped that of the CPT members.

Langley Hill Friends Meeting, the community where Tom Fox was most grounded (though he had ties throughout the Quaker network), has posted an epistle calling on US Quakers and others who support Tom's work in Iraq to visit with Congressional delegates:

One piece of Tom's important work in Iraq was to try to help Iraqi families learn the whereabouts and safety of loved ones who they believed were being detained by the Iraq government or U.S./Coalition forces. Having one of our own held captive has helped us have a deep appreciation for the suffering of those Iraqi families who have missing loved ones.

We have decided on one important thing we can do to further Tom Fox's work and to advance the cause of human rights. We are meeting with our U.S. Senators and Representatives to ask them to abandon current US/Coalition practices, and to begin publishing routinely the names and locations of all detainees in their custody and to information those in detention of the charges against them. We passed a minute to this effect (printed on the back of this letter), and have already begun our visits.

In our meetings with our own congressional representatives we are emphasizing the spiritual basis of our concern, and communicating our empathy for families who do not know the whereabouts or safety of their loved ones.

While this outreach is important, I would add one thing. Knowing Tom in the workplace, I have seen that peacemaking for him was an everyday-life commitment based on servanthood and communion. Before he was elevated into management, he was a baker, and throughout my work with him, he seldom laid demands on his subordinates, whom he regarded with "mutual learning and respect." He was adept at diffusing tension and building fellowship through sharing meals and serving others.

In order to be faithful to Tom's example, I hope that those who are moved to make contact with Congressional delegates can be moved by the same spirit of fellowship that guided Tom's work at home and abroad. Perhaps friends of Tom can bring fresh-baked bread from their own ovens to share in their visits with Senators, Representatives, and Congressional staff.

Peacemaking on the foundation of faithful community demands significant discipline and humility; "the disciple is not above his teacher," and our Teacher went to the Cross. Few are ready to follow in those footsteps, and the way is both disreputable and difficult.