FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For contact information: 
Nancy Mancias, CODEPINK, [email protected]
Terra Winston, Christian Peacemaker Team, [email protected]

CODEPINK will join the Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation to Iraqi Kurdistan May 5-20, 2017. The group has hosted female Iraqi delegates to the U.S. and an international Tribunal to hold Bush-era politicians accountable for the invasion. The delegation will be based in Sulaimani, in Kurdistan, and will meet with representatives of non-governmental organizations, human rights groups, displaced persons, and government officials. They will gain a perspective on the challenges facing people in northern Iraq and the impact of the violence in other areas of Iraq and along the borders of Kurdistan. The delegation will participate in the work of Christian Peacemaker Teams longer-term project of reporting on human rights abuses and supporting local reconciliation. 

CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs. Founded in fall 2002 as a grassroots effort to prevent the US war on Iraq, we continue to organize for justice for Iraqis and to hold war criminals accountable. We actively oppose the continuing U.S. war in Afghanistan, torture, the detention center at Guantanamo, weaponized and spy drones, the prosecution of whistleblowers, U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine and repressive regimes. http://www.codepink.org/

Christian Peacemaker Teams has had a presence in Iraqi Kurdistan since 2006 following a four year presence in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq. Past work focused on the security of the Iraqi people and their struggle for peace in the midst of war and ongoing occupation. CPT Iraqi Kurdistan partners with and accompanies mountain village and shepherd communities as they struggle for a peaceful existence, resisting displacement and destruction caused by Turkish and Iranian cross-border military operations. CPT documents and reports on the effects of the attacks on the civilian population, calls Kurdish and international attention to them, and advocates for an end of the attacks. http://cpt.org/work/iraq