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Simona Torretta(R) and Simona Pari
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Two
Italian female aid workers, one Iraqi woman, and one Iraqi man
were kidnapped in
Iraq
on
September
7, 2004
and are currently held hostage. Simona Pari, Simona Torretta
(Italian) and Raad Ali Abdul Azziz (Iraqi) work for the Italian
aid organization A Bridge to Baghdad (or Un Ponte per Baghdad),
and Mahnoaz Bassam (Iraqi) worked for Intersos, another Italian
organization.
Appeals
for their release have been issued by several
organizations/groups.
Click
here
to read more appeals.
A
Statement by the Centre for Democratic Studies and Human
Rights in Falluja
In
the Name of God the Most Merciful …
And
now the
US
occupation
forces are once again betraying the civilians in Falluja and
breaking all the agreements and the conventions that the world
has known.
As
a result of the frequent mistakes of the US administration,
careless and criminal towards our people, and in the midst of
the river of blood which is what the occupation forces want,
today, 7 September 2004, heavy and violent bombing has begun,
with the use of all types of weapons, including those prohibited
by international convention, such as cluster bombs. Under this
bombing, the occupying military forces are advancing from many
points, revealing once again their brutality, after all the
blood that was spilled in the Holy City of Najaf.
We
ask all religious and political organizations, of all
tendencies, local, Arab and international, to condemn this new
massacre, today being perpetrated against the heroic Falluja,
and to raise their voices to prevent this renewed violation of
human rights, as occurred in April this year in this city.
We
further ask all honest Iraqis to stand together and not to allow
the occupiers and their stooges to violate the symbol of our
honour. We ask them to refuse the occupation and to defend the
victims, even simply with their words.
Despite
the fierce aggression and the tragedy we are living through, we
heard of the kidnapping of two Italian women, Simona Pari and
Simona Torretta, aid workers for “A Bridge to
Baghdad
”, and of
two Iraqis with them.
We
want the kidnappers and the whole world to know that these women
are among the few who helped the people of Falluja and the Iraqi
people and even helped the wounded.
Their
good deeds speak for themselves. Therefore, we want those who
are holding them captive to know that it is not in the tradition
of honest Arabs and Muslims to take woman hostage or to
speculate on them.
There
is no reason at all that could ever justify violence against
innocent human beings to avenge the crimes of guilty rulers or
mercenaries.
For
this reason, from the liberated city of
Falluja
, we demand
that you immediately release the hostages unconditionally.
Otherwise you will be damaging the reputation of the patriotic
and honest resistance and you will place yourselves in an
ambiguous position, a position that suggests your collaboration
with foreign forces whose aim it is to leave Iraqi soil in the
hands of foreign occupiers.
The
best example we can give you of the goodness of these two women
is the support they provided to the people of Falluja during the
fighting last April when, together with some journalists and
peace activists, they offered themselves as human shields in the
attempt to rescue some civilians who were besieged in the
Al-Askari neighbourhood.
Is
this the reward they deserve? God the most merciful and
compassionate said that those who perform an act of goodness
shall reap its benefits, while those who perform a bad deed will
see it turn against themselves.
God
spoke the truth.
An
Appeal From the Iraqi Community in
Italy
We,
the members of the Iraqi Community living in Italy, address this
appeal to those who are holding the two Simonas and the two
Iraqi aidworkers to remind you that many of us, in recent years,
have had the opportunity to get to know these two women and the
organization they work with very well. We have learned to love
them for everything they have done for our people.
These
two women stood against the embargo declared against
Iraq
and since
then, and all the members of “A Bridge to
Baghdad
”, have
always worked to mitigate the suffering of our people. They
firmly and with great conviction opposed the war, precisely
because they did not want our people to suffer its consequences.
They were in
Baghdad
to help our
children, to deliver medicines, to restore our archaeological
heritage, to provide drinking water … They have spent—and
will continue to spend—the best years of their lives for our
people.
They
have had nothing to do with all the suffering of our people: no
one more than them is further away from the agents that have
caused our suffering. If
Iraq
is ever to
live in peace and independence it will be thanks to people like
our dearest, beloved Simona and Simona.
WE
BESEECH YOU, IN THE NAME OF GOD THE MOST MERCIFUL AND
COMPASSIONATE, ON BEHALF OF OUR POOR AND DESPERATE PEOPLE,
RENOUNCE ALL YOUR EVIL INTENTIONS.
FREE THE TWO IRAQIS AND RELEASE THE TWO SIMONAS, SEND
THEM HOME, BACK TO THEIR FAMILY, WHICH ARE THE CHILDREN OF
IRAQ.
A
Call by the Palestinian National Initiative
Ramallah
The
Palestinian National Initiative calls for the immediate release
of the two Italian women kidnapped in
Iraq
, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, who have been working for
years as part of the organization “A Bridge to
Baghdad
” in support of Iraqi children.
The
Palestinian forces ask the kidnappers to release the two Italian
women who are part of a humanitaian organization that is
well-known for its positions against the embargo and against the
war on
Iraq
.
Palestinian
Patriotic and Islamic Forces also called for the release of
Ra’ad Ali Abdul-Aziz and Minhaz Bassam, Iraqi aidworkers
active Italian NGOs and who were also kidnapped.
The
same forces also stressed that the Italian women being held
never abandoned
Iraq
, not even during the war, never interrupting their work aimed
at helping Iraqi children under the bombings, and risking their
own lives especially in Falluja.
The
Palestinian forces also called for the release of the two French
hostages, stressing once again that the release of both the
French and the Italian hostages would be in the interest of the
Iraqi People, of their brothers and sisters.
7
September 2004.
Union
of the Islamic Communities in Italy
FREE
THEM!
“Free
them!”. This is the Appeal addressed by UCOII, the Union of
Islamic Communities and Organizations in
Italy
,
to the kidnappers, as soon as they heard of the capture of
Simona Pari and Simona Torretta.
“Whoever
you may be, and whatever may be the motivations that induced to
commit this deed, release Simona Pari and Simona Torretta
immediately and unconditionally. Do not allow suffering to be
added to suffering, bear witness to the debt of gratitude that
is due to those who shared the suffering of the Iraqis during
the years of the sanctions, who stayed in the country while
bombs were raining down, who refused to abandon the country even
during these last, horrible months of confusion and violence,”
their Appeal continues.
“Our
Islamic Community in
Italy
,”
concludes UCOII, “will accept from you no other solution than
the speedy release of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta and their
Iraqi co-workers. In the name of the God of mercy and peace, if
there is still a grain of faith in you, in the name of the
solidarity that these women gave to those who needed it most, in
the name of the justice between all God’s children which our
religion and heritage demand of us all.”
7
September 2004
.
An
Appeal for the Liberation of Simona Pari, Simona Torretta, Ra'ad
Ali Abdul-Aziz and Mahnaz Bassam—From the Italian “Stop the
War” Committee
Appeal
for the Liberation of Simona Pari, Simona Torretta, Ra'ad Ali
Abdul-Aziz and Mahnaz Bassam—from the Italian Peace Movement.
We,
the Italian peace movement, we who are the brothers and
sisters of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, peaceworkers in
Iraq
, ask those
who are holding them and their two Iraqi co-workers, Ra’ad Ali
Abdul-Aziz and Mahnaz Bassam, to release them immediately. We
beg you to consider the untold damage your actions are
inflicting on the cause of peace and of the Iraqi people.
We
endorse the words of the Union of Islamic Communities in
Italy
: “Bear
witness to the debt of gratitude towards those who shared the
suffering of the Iraqis during the years of the sanctions, who
stayed in the country while bombs were raining down, who refused
to abandon the country even during these last, horrible months
of confusion and violence.”
We
entreat you not to sever the bond of solidarity which—despite
and against the economic sanctions and war, despite the
decisions of our Italian government—people like our sisters
have built and strengthened, bravely and with determination, for
example organizing the delivery of drinking water to the
inhabitants of the besieged cities of Falluja and Najaf.
“A
Bridge to
Baghdad
”, their
NGO, together with hundreds of social and political
organisations in our country, were the organizers of enormous
demonstrations in favour of peace and calling for the withdrawal
of all foreign troops from
Iraq
; they did
everything they could to avoid leaving the Iraqi people alone
under the arbitrary rule of the occupying forces.
In
the name of this struggle, in the name of truth, we beg you:
release them immediately.
We
ask the Iraqi people and all peace-loving people in the world,
and in
Italy
, to help us
in the effort to save the lives of Simona Pari, Simona Torretta,
Ra’ad Ali Abdul-Aziz, Mahnaz Bassam. They were in
Baghdad
in our name,
in the name of us all. Today, we are all captives, we are all in
their prison with them.
Their
release would shed a ray of light in this dark night of
violence. As we write, in many Iraqi cities, war is still
causing innocent victims. For this reason we continue to call
for an end to all fighting, an end to the occupation.
Mobilization,
pressure, lobbying, appeals, candlelight vigils, messages to
governments—these are the tools we, the peace-loving people,
can use. Let us use them all, now.
We
ask the Italian peace movement to take to the streets, in every
city, immediately, with the rainbow colours of our peace flags
and in the name of our sisters and brothers who have been
kidnapped in
Iraq
.
7 September
2004
.
The
Italian “Stop the War” Committee, which organized the mass
demonstrations on
15 February
2003
and
20 March 2004
.
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