A courageous Iraqi man who risked life and property to work with Americans now must seek refugee status in Lebanon. Can you lend a hand?
Abu Ghraib Prison: In the daily lineup outside Abu Ghraib prison, family members gather to try and find word of detained loved ones. Sattar translates for a CPT worker in a red cap.
Sattar translating in Abu Hishma
Sattar Hatem Hasan, tall and lanky, with an easy smile, for several years translated for Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Iraq. He arranged trips for them all over central Iraq (most in the misnamed “Sunni Triangle”) and accompanied CPT delegations as they recorded first-hand accounts of human rights violations and helped Iraqis find loved ones who had disappeared into the U.S.-run prison system.
In early 2004, I returned to Iraq for two months, after having been there for a month immediately before the invasion a year earlier. I accompanied CPT on several of their trips. Some of the stories I heard thanks to Sattar’s translation skills, are included in my book, “Inside the Red Zone: A Veteran For Peace Reports from Iraq.”
Because of an incident of wrongful arrest during his work with CPT, Sattar now finds it impossible to find a job in Baghdad’s devastated economy. To survive he must leave. The process to gain UN refugee status is lengthy and requires staying in Lebanon for many months. Sattar has managed to come up with enough funds to pay his transportation to Beirut, but there are many other expenses involved which he simply cannot bear.
This is a rare chance for people who have spoken out against the war, and others who have just boiled inside, to directly assist someone who has lived six years under the hell of our bombs and now must abandon his home. I hope you will join with me to raise $2,500 so Sattar can begin a new life in Lebanon.
Please contribute what you can and ask your friends and family members to join us in this effort. We can make an enormous difference in the life of a very good man.
Thank you.
Mike
TO CONTRIBUTE TO SATTAR HATEM HASAN’S REFUGEE FUND:
By check or money order:
Send to 2975 113th St., Toledo OH 43611. Make the check out to Mike Ferner and put Sattar’s name in the memo blank.
OR
By PayPal:
Thank You!
