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Tom Fox Remembered Around the World as Dedicated Activist
Who Devoted His Life to Peace
Slobodan Milosevic Found Dead in Hague Prison Cell: A Look
at the Serbian Leader's War Crimes and the U.S. Role in the
Balkans
Tom Fox Remembered Around the World as Dedicated
Activist Who Devoted His Life to Peace
The body of American peace activist Tom Fox has been found
in Baghdad, over three months after he was kidnapped along
with three other members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams.
The whereabouts of the other three hostages remains unknown.
We speak with one of his close friends and colleagues and
hear from mourners around the world. [includes rush
transcript]
Tom Fox, the lone American among the four Christian Peacemaker
Team members kidnapped in Iraq, has been found dead. Iraqi
police said his body was discovered in Baghdad on Thursday
with gunshot wounds to the head and chest. There were conflicting
reports over whether he also showed signs of having been tortured.
Police officials quoted by several news agencies said bruises
on his body appeared to be inflicted by electrical cables.
But an anonymous police official told the Washington Post
that Fox showed no signs of torture.
Tom Fox was 54 years old. He came to Iraq with the Christian
Peacemaker Teams -- a non-missionary organization that has
been documenting the abuse of Iraqi detainees, working with
the families of prisoners and promoting peace. The CPT were
the first to publicly denounce the torture of Iraqi people
at the hands of U.S. forces, long before the media revealed
what was happening at Abu Ghraib.
Fox and three others -- Harmeet Sooden and Jim Loney, both
of Canada, and Norman Kember, of Britain --- were abducted
in November. Last week, Al Jazeera broadcast the first video
of the hostages seen in a month. The footage included the
three others but not Tom Fox. The kidnappers have made repeated
threats on the Peacemakers' lives unless all prisoners in
US and Iraqi detention centers are released.
According to Newsweek, 45 kidnapped foreigners, including
14 US citizens, remain missing in Iraq. 430 foreigners have
been kidnapped in Iraq since the US-led invasion. At least
54 of them have been executed by their captors. Meanwhile,
Newsweek reports Iraqis are kidnapped at a rate of 10 to 30
people per day.
From the United States to Iraq, Tom Fox was remembered as
a dedicated Christian pacifist who devoted his life to peace.
- Donna Hicks, Christian Peacemaker Teams.
- Kryss Chupp, Christian Peacemakers Teams.
- Abu Hasaneen Al-Qaissi, Baghdad resident.
Tom Fox's longtime friend, Isabella Bates, was among those
who gathered this weekend at Langley Hill Friends Meeting
in McLean, the Quaker community in Virginia where Fox had
been a member for many years. Bates read aloud words Fox wrote
about his mission in Iraq.
- Isabella Bates, longtime friend of Tom Fox, speaking
in McLean, Virginia.
Here to help us remember the life of Tom Fox is Michele Naar-Obed.
She's a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, and a friend
and colleague of Tom Fox. She joins us on the line from Duluth,
Minnesota, where she has just returned after two months in
Iraq.
- Michele Naar-Obed, member of the Christian
Peacemaker Teams. Friend and colleague of Tom Fox. She
speaks to us from Duluth, Minnesota, where she has just
returned from a two-month stay in Iraq.
Slobodan Milosevic Found Dead in Hague Prison Cell:
A Look at the Serbian Leader's War Crimes and the U.S. Role
in the Balkans
Former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was found dead
Saturday in his prison cell near The Hague. He had been charged
with genocide and crimes against humanity in a number of indictments
spanning from the wars in Croatia and Bosnia to the fighting
in Kosovo. We host a roundtable discussion on Milosevic with
a Yugoslav dissident from Belgrade, and two journalists who
covered the war in the Balkans: Jeremy Scahill and Chris Hedges.
[includes rush
transcript]
Former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was found dead in
his prison cell Saturday at the Hague. The cause of death
was reported as a heart attack.
- Alexandra Milenov, spokesperson for the International
Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia.
Milosevic had been charged with genocide and crimes against
humanity in a number of indictments spanning from the wars
in Croatia and Bosnia to the fighting in Kosovo. His trial
was in its fourth year. Prosecutors called nearly 300 witnesses.
The former Serbian leader chose to represent himself at the
trial. His death comes just weeks after had had called on
former President Bill Clinton to testify. Clinton, who with
British Prime Minister Tony Blair led the NATO bombings of
Kosovo and Yugoslavia, declined to appear.
As news of Milosevic's death spread across the world, some
of his victims said the jailed ex-Serbian leader had escaped
justice.
- Hatidza Mehmedovic, lost two sons, husband and brother
in 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
Meanwhile, some of Milosevic's supporters are claiming he
was poisoned. Zdenko Tomanovic, Milosevic's attorney, cited
a letter he said the former Serbian leader wrote just one
day before his death.
- Zdenko Tomanovic, Slobodan Milosevic's attorney.
Milosevic supporters also cited a medical reports that found
traces in his sytem of drugs that would have off-set pills
he has been taking for high-blood pressure. The UN dismissed
speculation Milosevic had been deliberately poisoned. Hague
officials involved in his prosecution said Milosevic had a
history of manipulating his own health and taking unprescribed
medication.
We speak with three guests who know the Balkan region well:
- Andrej Grubacic, a Yugoslav dissident, originally from
Belgrade. He's a historian currently researching at SUNY-Binghamton.
- Jeremy Scahill, independent journalist and currently
a Puffin Writing Fellow at the Nation
Institute. He covered the NATO bombings of Kosovo and
Yugoslavia for Democracy Now in 1999. His latest article,
available on AntiWar.Com, is "Rest
Easy, Bill Clinton: Milosevic Can't Talk Anymore."
Speaking to us from Sacramento, where he will be appearing
with Dahr Jamail at the First Methodist Church on Tuesday
night. They will be discussing "Iraq -- The Story Corporate
Media Won't Tell." For more information on the event
go to WeTheMedia.TV
- Chris Hedges, journalist and author. He was a foreign
correspondent for The New York Times and is currently a
senior fellow at the Nation Institute. He covered the Balkan
region for several years, including the NATO bombings in
1999. He is author of "War Is a Force That Gives Us
Meaning" and "Losing Moses on the Freeway."
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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