CPTnet
October 16, 2004

IRAQ UPDATE: September 30-October 9, 2004

[Note: Normally teams do not report on office work in their updates, but the current Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq is spending more time in the team's apartment for reasons of security.]

Thursday Sept. 30, 2004
   Matthew Chandler and Tom Fox spent the day getting the final drafts  of the September Report on Iraqi Detainees and updated Adopt-a-Detainee campaign ready for distribution. Chandler and Fox  released the report to media contacts, Iraqi provisional government officials, Multinational Force (MNF) officers, and CPT's Chicago office for posting on the CPT website.

Late that evening Chandler and Fox visited a friend of the team who has a small video/CD shop.  His shop had been damaged by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) several weeks ago. The blast apparently was targeting the Iraqi Police.  His right arm was in a sling; a stray bullet injured him during a shoot-out in Sadr  City (where he and his family live) between MNF troops and the militia of Moqtada al Sadr, the Mehdi Army.

Friday Oct. 1,2004
Several friends of the team stopped by (one bringing dinner for Chandler and Fox).

One friend told them that several weeks earlier a US tank going down his neighborhood street damaged his parked car significantly.  He was filling out paperwork for compensation and a large crowd of neighbors gathered to see what was going on.  One of the soldiers on the tank yelled at the people to move back because they were making him nervous.   The friend's uncle yelled back, "What are you nervous about, you're the one inside the tank!" Another soldier complained that the friend's car was in the tank's way.  The uncle said, "What are you talking about? Your tank is the thing in the wrong place!"

Saturday Oct. 2, 2004
Chandler and Fox decided that their commitment to nonviolence did not apply to  the large number of roaches that had taken up residence in the team's kitchen.  They spent most of the day stripping, cleaning,  spraying and re-cleaning the kitchen as well as the rest of the apartment.

Sunday Oct. 3, 2004
A released detainee visited Chandler and Fox.  He was interested in having CPT  help him locate his nine-year-old son whom U.S. soldiers took into custody at the time of his capture.  He had only seen his son once during his nine-month detention and the boy is now missing.  They set up an appointment to take his testimony as the first step in assisting him.

Fox and Chandler walked to a local church that evening for a service and met a friend of the team who was a great fan of both classical and country music.  He was delighted to receive hard-to-find (in Iraq) cassette tapes that Anita David, a CPT reservist, had sent with  Chandler.

Monday Oct. 4, 2004 Chandler trained Fox on the CPT project financial accounting system so he could take over as the team's finance point person. Both caught on up emails and paperwork.

Tuesday Oct. 5, 2004
Chandler and Fox accompanied the released detainee they had met several days earlier to meet with an international organization's human rights representative.  Both Fox and the representative took his testimony and then all had a follow-up discussion on the next steps they would take.

Wednesday Oct. 6, 2004
Chandler and Fox took a follow-up testimony from the released detainee they interviewed the previous day.  The released detainee reported additional complications that had arisen overnight.  Chandler and Fox let him know what assistance they could provide, depending on what steps he decided to take.

A friend of the team who has a brother in detention at Abu Ghraib prison came to visit.  He recently spent several days in Sadr City, which has been the site of almost nightly battles between MNF troops and the Mehdi Army. The friend told Fox and Chandler that the MNF were using cluster bombs on the densely populated urban area resulting in a high number of non-combatant casualties.

Chandler and Fox also got a call from Doug Pritchard, co-director of CPT and the Iraq project support person.  He wanted to let them know that he had received several contacts from media representatives regarding the September Report on Detainees.  One representative from a national media outlet did an extensive phone interview on both the detainee project and CPT in general.

Thursday Oct. 7, 2004
Chandler and Fox had another follow-up meeting with the released detainee and communicated some information they had gotten from the human rights officer of the international organization.  Chandler received word from the nephew of a detainee that was part of the team's detainee roster that his uncle had been released from prison.  The nephew wanted to thank CPT for their efforts in following his uncle's case.

At about 8:00 p.m. insurgents launched two rocket propelled grenades towards the Sheraton Hotel, which is about a half-mile from the team's apartment.  Team members clearly heard the motors of the rockets, which struck the hotel and did  significant damage.  No one was seriously injured, according to news reports.


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Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations. Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world is its mandate. Contact CPT, POB 6508 Chicago, IL 60680; Telephone: 773-277-0253 Fax: 773-277-0291; e-mail: peacemakers (at) cpt.org.

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