The first interview with Voices in the Wilderness co-coordinator Kathy Kelly since being released from the Women’s Detention Center in Pekin, Illinois for charges resulting from her protest at the School of the Americas last November.

The interview was conducted by Chuck Mertz from This is Hell, a radio program that is broadcast every Saturday morning live from 9 am till 1 PM (central time), in Chicago on WNUR 89.3 FM , and live on the web via RealAudio and Windows Media Player through WNUR’s website. Just go to WNUR’s website and click on “live webcast.”

Stream the Interview (43:29 - 19.9 MB)

or Download (43:29 - 19.9 MB)

July 5, 2004
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your emails of encouragement!

Life is plugging along here under the July sun. The air outside is like a hair dryer, and the clothes one puts on in the morning feel like they’ve been cooked in an oven! Everyone is talking about Saddam’s appearance in court. Most want him to be executed. Others talk about the power transfer and what has changed and what hasn’t. CPT work has not changed much. This week we’ll accompany a woman to a hospital in the Green Zone where she hopes to find her detained husband. A young man from Sadr City wants to report the wrongful death of his brother. And we’re looking forward to attending the opening of a new organization for women’s rights.

I wrote the following reflection after speaking to a man who spent nine months in detention. CPT speaks to many such people and their families. Most are innocent. Some were well-treated, others were abused. I have never heard a story to match what follows, though. It is hard to read at first, but just persevere to the end.

Much peace to each of you, and to your families,
Sheila

---

The Balance of Love

He has two sons now.

Mr. Najib is 59 years old. His health is fragile: he has a history of heart trouble. On Saturday, June 26, Mr. Najib sat in a bare room in Kerbala, Iraq, and shared his story with Christian Peacemaker Teams.

On May 15, 2003, the then-governor of Kerbala sent him on a business trip. When he returned, US intelligence officers were waiting. To this day, Mr. Najib does not know why the Iraqi governor wanted to get rid of him. Perhaps because he had criticized local corruption. Regardless–the US soldiers imprisoned him without charges within the occupation’s vast detention system.

Mr. Najib held back tears as he told us about his first night at the military base at Kerbala University. “The soldiers there threw a party to make fun of me,” he said. “They beat me and spit in my face. When I asked for water, they poured it over my head.” He hesitated, apologized for what he was about to say, and then told how one soldier opened his own pants, put his penis in Mr. Najib’s mouth, and said, “Now you can drink!” They stretched Mr. Najib face-down on the ground and danced around him, yelling obscenities and shouting, “Tomorrow, Guantanamo!”

By Anna Bachmann
Voices in the Wilderness

The following is the best, most comprehensive, most complete (but maybe not exactly the last word) list of my people for the trip on Sunday that I sent to the Iraqi Police and US Military (I’ve removed part or all of their names in the list below). At the last second CNN was begging me to come to, but I was cruel to them and told them that unless they could find room in the police boat they were out of luck (hah, never thought I’d be in a position of saying ‘No’ to a major network!) … anyway, I guess they sweet talked the Iraqi Police into it. Cause I got the call that they were coming too.

Lastly, because the press came out in droves for this project (yippee) we’ve decided to end it with a press conference. I found this big house owned by Sheik Ayad Jamal Al-Din on the river in Jadriyah with a Mudhif (a traditional Arab house) in the back yard. That will be our drop off point and the location of the press conference, and then our boats (now empty) will return up-river.