Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world. These teams believe that they can lower the levels of violence through human rights documentation, acting as human shields, and nonviolence training. CPT sums their work up as "...committed to reducing violence by getting in the way ". CPT has a full time corps of over 30 activists who currently work in Colombia, Iraq, the West Bank, the United States–Mexico border, and Kenora, Ontario, Canada. These teams are supported by over 150 reservists who spend 2 weeks to 2 months a year on location. Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... Human shield is a military term describing the use of civilians to deter an enemy from attacking certain targets—in particular military targets. ... Nonviolence (or non-violence) is a set of assumptions about morality, power and conflict that leads its proponents to reject the use of violence in efforts to attain social or political goals. ... The international border between Mexico and the United States runs from San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, in the west to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, in the east. ... Kenora (2001 population 15,838) is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in northwestern Ontario, Canada close to the Manitoba border, about 200km east of Winnipeg. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages English (French has some legal status) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 106 24 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked...

CPT has its roots in the historic peace churches of North America, and its four supporting denominations are the Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Church Canada, Church of the Brethren, and Friends United Meeting. It is also sponsored by the following Christian groups Every Church a Peace Church, On Earth Peace, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, and the Society of St. Basil. In conflict areas it works in partnership with Jewish, Muslim and secular peace organizations, such as the International Solidarity Movement and Peace Brigades International. Another component of CPT's work is to engage "...congregations, meetings and support groups at home to play a key advocacy role with policy makers." [1] A peace church is a Christian group in the pacifist tradition. ... Mennonite Church USA logo. ... Mennonite Church Canada logo. ... The Church of the Brethren was organized by Alexander Mack, a miller, in Schwarzenau, Germany, in 1708. ... Friends United Meeting is an association of yearly meetings of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) encompasing twenty-six yearly meetings in North America, Africa, and the Caribbean. ... The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (BPFNA) is an organization of Baptist Christians for uniting in efforts for peace throughout the world. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) is an adherent of Islam. ... The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) was founded in 2001 by Ghassan Andoni, a Palestinian activist, Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American, Adam Shapiro, a Jewish New Yorker, Neta Golan, an Israeli activist and others. ... Peace Brigades International (or PBI) is an NGO, founded in 1981, which protects human rights and promotes nonviolent transformation of conflicts. It primarily does this by sending volunteers to accompany human rights workers whose lives are at risk in areas of conflict. ...

On occasion, Christian Peacemaker Teams have been accused of having a one-sided approach to international conflicts. For example, critics note that Christian Peacemaker Teams are quick to interfere in Israeli actions in the West Bank and advocate divestment campaigns, but tend to turn a blind eye toward Palestinian terrorist attacks against civilians within Israel proper. [2] In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset, for either financial or social goals. ...

History

The inspiration for the group came from Ron Sider at the Mennonite World Conference in 1984. At it, Sider criticized Mennonites and Brethren in Christ for reducing their peace witness to simple conscientious objection: Ronald J. Sider is a Canadian-born American theologian. ... The Mennonite World Conference (MWC) is a body that attempts to bring fellowship and communication to diverse Anabaptist bodies across the world. ... The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations based on the teachings and tradition of Menno Simons. ... The Brethren in Christ Church (often called B.I.C. Church) is an evangelical Christian denomination with roots in the Mennonite church, pietism, and Wesleyan holiness. ... A conscientious objector is an individual whose personal beliefs are incompatible with military service, or sometimes with any role in the armed forces. ...

Unless we Mennonites and Brethren in Christ are ready to start to die by the thousands in dramatic vigorous new exploits for peace and justice, we should sadly confess that we really never meant what we said... Unless comfortable North American and European Mennonites and Brethren in Christ are prepared to risk injury and death in nonviolent opposition to the injustice our societies foster and assist in Central America, the Philippines, and South Africa, we dare never whisper another word about pacifism to our sisters and brothers in those desperate lands... Unless we are prepared to pay the cost of peacemaking, we have no right to claim the label or preach the message.[3]

After a series of meetings, Gene Stoltzfus was hired as the first staff person for the new organization in 1987. Over the next few years CPT trainings and conferences explored various models for international peacemaking. In 1990, just before the Gulf War, CPT sent a team of 13 to Iraq for 10 days. This delegation proved to be the first of a number the group sent its first delegations to Haiti, Iraq, and the West Bank. 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. ...

CPT in Iraq

CPT has operated in Iraq since October 2002. Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, they have worked with and advocated for families of people detained by the U.S. Military and collected stories of detainee abuse. In January 2004 they released a report documenting routine abuse of Iraqi prisoners held by Coalition Provisional Authority, well before the photographs of Abu Ghraib prisoners brought international attention to the issue. [4] For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... This article covers invasion specifics. ... The armed forces of the United States of America consist of the United States Army United States Navy United States Air Force United States Marine Corps United States Coast Guard Note: The United States Coast Guard has both military and law enforcement functions. ... Abuse is a general term for the misuse of a person or thing, causing harm to the person or thing, to the abuser, or to someone else. ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... The Seal of the CPA in Iraq The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States and the other members of the multinational coalition which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003. ... Map of Iraq highlighting Abu Ghraib The city of Abu Ghraib (أبو غريب in Arabic) in Iraq is located 20 km (12 miles) west of Baghdad just north of the Baghdad International Airport. ...

Hostages

Main article: 2005-2006 Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis

On 26 November 2005, four human rights workers associated with CPT were kidnapped in Baghdad: Norman Kember and Harmeet Singh Sooden were held hostage, as depicted here on Al Jazeera television. ... November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Location of Baghdad within Iraq Baghdad (Arabic: ) (Bexda in Kurdish) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ...

• James Loney, 41, of Toronto, Canada, program coordinator for CPT Canada
• Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, of Canada, an electrical engineer and former McGill student who was living in New Zealand
• Norman Kember, 74, of London, UK, a retired professor of medical studies
• Tom Fox, 54, of Clearbrook, Virginia, U.S., a leader of youth programs at Langley Hill Friends Meeting

The four had planned to visit the Muslim Clerics Association, an influential group of Sunni religious leaders formed in 2003 after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, and were about 100 metres from the entrance to a mosque where the meeting was to take place when they were abducted. Their captors are a previously unknown group, the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. The hostages were shown on a video broadcast released worldwide on 29 November by Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera. The captors branded their hostages as spies posing as Christian peace activists. The captors threatened to kill the hostages unless the US freed all Iraqi prisoners held in the US and Iraq. James Loney (born 1964) is a Canadian peace activist, who has worked for several years with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq and Palestine. ... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Diversity Our Strength Established: March 6, 1834 Area: East to West: 43 km North to South: 21 km629. ... Harmeet Singh Sooden (born 1973) is a Canadian peace activist working with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. ... McGill University (Université McGill) is a publicly funded, research-intensive, non-denominational, co-educational university located in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ... Norman Kember being held as a hostage. ... The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower containing Big Ben Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London (see Wiktionary:London for the name in other languages) is the capital of the United Kingdom and England. ... Tom Fox (born 1951) is an American peace activist, affiliated with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. ... Clearbrook is a farming community in northern Frederick County, Virginia. ... For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... The Swords of Righteousness Brigade (sometimes translated as the Swords of Truth Brigade) is a terrorist group who have kidnapped four Western peace activists in Iraq, and held them as hostages since 26 November 2005. ... November 29 is the 333rd (in leap years the 334th) day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Al Jazeera logo Al Jazeera (الجزيرة), meaning The Island or The (Arabian) Peninsula (whence also Algiers) is an Arabic television channel based in Qatar. ...

Doug Pritchard, co-director of the CPT worldwide, said the group had refused to meet any of the military rescue team, preferring to deal with diplomats. CPT declined to provide special forces with Kember’s mobile phone number. Cell site analysis could have helped rescuers to trace his last movements. [5]

A body found in Iraq on 10 March 2006 was identified later that day as being that of Tom Fox. ^[6] March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in Leap years). ...

On 23 March 2006, the three remaining hostages were rescued by United States, United Kingdom, Iraq and Canadian coalition forces [7]. Although rejoicing that the hostages have been freed, CPT places the responsibility for the kidnapping on the coalition itself; "We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq." CPT initially made no mention of appreciation to coalition forces for the rescue in its statement, but later did so in an addenda after considerable media attention.[8] March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... Coalition of the willing is a phrase which has been used since the 1980s to refer to groups of nations acting collectively and often militarily outside of United States position in the Iraq disarmament crisis and later the March 2003 invasion of Iraq (see Occupation of Iraq, 2003_2004). ...

References

• Brown, Tricia Gates Getting in the Way: Stories from Christian Peacemaker Teams, Herald Press, 2005.
• Gish, Arthur G. Hebron Journal: Stories of Nonviolent Peacemaking, Herald Press, 2001.
• ^  U.S. hostage taken with Canadians killed, Toronto Star, March 10, 2006

The Toronto Star is Canadas highest circulation newspaper, though its print edition is distributed almost entirely within Ontario. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in Leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Christian Peacemaker Teams - official central website for CPT
• Whither Christian Peacemakers? Margaret Wente in the Globe and Mail (pay per view) -also available here
• Reaping What They Sow -article critical of CPT on FrontPageMagazine.com
• Free The Captives: Sign the petition & Take Action to support the release of Christian Peacemakers being held in Iraq – includes latest news and daily updates
• Christian Peacemaker Teams: Profile on Discover the Networks -a Guide to the Political Left