During our recent visit to the Province of the United States, Marisa Sacerdote, Son In Sook and I were privileged to join a teleconference organized by the Province’s Justice and Peace Committee, marking the anniversary of the outbreak of war in Iraq, giving Anne Montgomery rscj the opportunity to speak about her experience of working for peace there. The continuing conflict and occupation of that country, with all that this implies for the Iraqi people, is of concern to us, urging us to prayer and impelling many to action for peace. We therefore want to share with you something of what Anne has been living, as she described it to us, since we know that where one rscj is, there is the Society.

Anne has long been a peace activist in her own country, and in recent years she has been a member of the Christian Peacemakers Team working for peace in Colombia, Haiti, Canada and more recently in Hebron, Israel as well. On her first visit to Iraq, Anne was on the border in a neutral area, trying with others to avert the first Gulf War. She then visited Iraq about fifteen times between the wars, to be in solidarity with the ordinary people in their suffering and despair. In May of last year Anne returned to Baghdad with three other members of the Team where they were greeted with friendliness and expectation. She found it a strange experience to have the privileges which her US passport afforded her, and she had to make very clear what her presence was about.

The team of six to eight people met together, prayed together, lived in a rented apartment among the Iraqi people, and did what they could to support the people’s rights, to give them a voice. On the Team there was a balance of both sexes, so that they could approach the Iraqi people, both men and women. They went out into the streets, to universities, gas stations, and in the poorest areas asking questions that people were eager to answer. They learned that the primary concern was security; the people wanted the US soldiers to leave but they needed protection. The army was disbanded, there was looting and burning of books in the universities, teachers were working without pay, children were afraid to go to school, women and children were being kidnapped. After security, the pressing needs were for medical and material help, since the cumulative effect of sanctions has resulted in a scarcity of food, medicine and other basic necessities. In addition, there is the impossibility for many of securing jobs, or continuing in their professions.

Anne and her group lobbied for payment of teachers and for the restoration of some infrastructure that could make life more possible – telephone lines across Baghdad had still not been restored, repair to school buildings were only cosmetic, plumbing was in urgent need of attention. The team also went out to the airport detention camps run by the Coalition Provisional Authority, where many people were taken following house raids using excessive violence. The team asked to enter the camp but were refused permission, so they worked with the families who arrived in taxis, seeking their fathers and brothers, not knowing why they had been detained by the occupying forces. Because they had US passports, the Team members were eventually able to obtain lists of the prisoners, so that families could identify the camp in which their men were being held and the reasons for which they were being charged, if any. (Currently there are 15,000 Iraqis being held without charge.) Some middle-ranking officers agreed that the situation was ‘a mess’, and that there had been no preparation for occupation.

The team also tried to reach out to the soldiers, victims of the situation too, many suffering post traumatic stress, afraid and angry. The team talked to them, as they stood at checkpoints or sat on top of tanks, enduring the August heat of 130 degrees and working shifts of fourteen hours. Since they had learnt from the prisoners of the human rights violations in the camps, where the Iraqi men were beaten, stepped on, denied food and water, the team distributed leaflets to the soldiers, reminding them of the human rights of the Iraqis and encouraging them to treat the prisoners humanely.

Anne told us that the Christian Peacemakers Team forms a close community, praying together each day, and checking in with each other. They enjoyed good relationships with the Shiite and Sunni leaders who asked the group to accompany them to celebrate their feasts. They were also respected by the Muslims, who welcomed them, knowing that they were not there to proselytize.

Anne also made contact with the Dominican sisters who run Christian schools and she has been invited by them to return to Iraq in September to teach English to future teachers. She is planning to do this, but of course at the moment it is all tentative because of the situation. She will count on our prayers when this becomes a reality for her. Anne encouraged us to pray that a solution may be found to the worsening situation in Iraq, as well as to be advocates for justice and healing for the Iraqi people, as they seek their right to control their own lives. The Christian Peacemakers Team website is: www.cpt.org, where you can learn about the ‘adopt-a-detainee’ campaign.

The thoughtful questions that followed her presentation was a measure of how much Anne had touched us, and how significant for us is her presence among these anguished and increasingly desperate people. As our sister, we want to assure her of our gratitude for her commitment, and our support for her as she continues her peacemaking mission.