Alleged CPT Captors Held for Trial

Three Christian Peacemaker Teams members who were held captive for 118 days in Iraq met in Britain last December—after police asked them to testify in the trial of their alleged captors—and issued a joint statement of forgiveness. James Loney, Harmeet Singh Sooden, and Norman Kember appealed for clemency from the Iraqi courts and objected to the death penalty for their alleged captors. "We have no desire to punish them. Punishment can never restore what was taken from us," the CPT members said in the joint statement. Those held in connection with the kidnapping face trial before the central criminal court in Iraq, where kidnapping is a capital offense. "In our view," the CPT members continued, "the catastrophic levels of violence and the lack of effective protection of human rights in Iraq is inextricably linked to the U.S.-led invasion and occupation. … [T]he actions of our kidnappers were part of a cycle of violence they themselves experienced."