05657
Dec. 8, 2005

PC(USA) officials plead for hostages’ lives

Ufford-Chase, Kirkpatrick urge
release of 4 Peacemaker Team members

by the Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE — Rick Ufford-Chase, moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the denomination’s stated clerk, have written a letter to the denomination and its Middle East partners, urging the immediate release of four Christian Peacemaker Team members taken hostage in Baghdad, Iraq.

        In the Dec. 7 letter, Ufford-Chase and Kirkpatrick wrote: “We believe that all violence is wrong, and that the action of kidnapping cannot be justified under any circumstance. We pray for those who are holding the Christian Peacemaker Team volunteers, and for all those who are unjustly detained.”

        The kidnappers, who call themselves the Swords of Justice Brigades, have threatened to kill the four by Dec. 7 unless Iraq frees all its prisoners and British and U.S. soldiers leave the country.

        The text of the letter:

To the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Church’s Middle East Partners

        Many Presbyterians in the United States are aware that four volunteers with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Baghdad have been held without communication for almost a week. We are gravely concerned about their safety, as well as the safety of all people, both Iraqi and United States, whose lives have been endangered because of the United States’ war against Iraq.

        The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has spoken forcefully about our conviction that there was no justification for the U.S. Government’s invasion of Iraq. Presbyterians pray daily for the innocent Iraqi civilians, U.S. soldiers, and all others whose lives are at risk at this time. Further, we have spoken clearly about our grave concern for those who have been detained by U.S. forces, and for their families.

        The Moderator of the 216th General Assembly (2004) is an active participant with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), and we have supported CPT in its human rights work to stand against violence all over the world. In Iraq, CPT volunteers have worked to support the families of those who have been and are still detained. We know that those who are holding these volunteers have called for the release of all detainees in Iraq. Christian Peacemaker Teams has consistently called on our government to hold no prisoner without charge, to treat all prisoners with respect and with dignity, and to provide good information about the detainees to their families.

        We believe that all violence is wrong, and that the action of kidnapping cannot be justified under any circumstance. We pray for those who are holding the Christian Peacemaker Team volunteers, and for all those who are unjustly detained.

        We ask that the volunteers be released immediately, so that we might all continue to work for peace in a troubled land.

Sincerely,