Secret Trial Detainees Call for CPTers' Release

The following media release came today from Homes Not Bombs and the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada. In it, three Muslim men held illegitimately by the Canadian state call for the release of Jim Loney and other CPT members held in Iraq.

Here's the full text:

MUSLIM DETAINEES IN CANADA CALL FOR RELEASE OF JIM LONEY AND OTHER CPT MEMBERS HELD IN IRAQ

DECEMBER 3, 2005 -- The following open letter has been written by the secret trial detainees held in Toronto, and is being sent to Arab media outlets around the world in the hope that it will add to the millions of voices calling for the release of Toronto's Jim Loney and other Christian Peacemaker Team members currently held in Iraq:

To the people holding James Loney and the other Christian Peacemaker Team Members in Iraq,

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and Merciful,

Our names are Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohammad Mahjoub and Hassan Almrei, and we have been detained without charge for between four and five and a half years. Some of us have spent as many as four years in solitary confinement as well. We are being held captive under security certificates because the government of Canada alleges we are linked to terrorist organizations and that we pose a threat to the national security of Canada. Allah is witness to our innocence of these allegations.

We are suffering a great injustice here in Canada because the government stereotypes Muslims and because of our strong faith and daily attendance to mosque. We have been suffering innocently.

Many Canadians have heard of our injustice and have been supporting us in our fight for freedom by contacting politicians, by holding demonstrations in front of the jail, by writing letters to authorities and spreading the word all over Canada by way of media.

James Loney of the Christian Peacemaker Teams is one of thousands of people who have been fighting to right this wrong. He is a person who has organized and motivated people to participate in this struggle for what is right. We have recently seen a photo of him in the newspaper and it has saddened our hearts to learn that he is being held captive in Iraq.

This is the same James Loney who has travelled to Iraq on more than one occasion to help the people of Iraq. This is the same James Loney who has reached out to the families of the Abu Ghraib prisoners. This is the James Loney who was against the U.S. invasion and is against the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

It pains our heart to know that a person of this calibre is being held captive. We care about his freedom more than we do our own.

If you love Allah, if you have goodness in your heart, please deal with this matter as righteous Muslims and not let these kind, caring, compassionate and innocent people suffer. Prophet Mohammad, Peace be upon Him, said, "If you do not thank the people, you do not thank Allah." The Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, also said, "If someone did a favour to you, try to return his favour."

We hope and pray to see these captives freed as much as we hope and pray for our own freedom here in Canada, a freedom for which James Loney has worked so hard.

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For further information: Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada, (416) 651-5800, tasc(at)web.ca