Members of a Winnipeg church recently brought their faith to an Esso station on the city’s busiest street. Their large banner, fashioned after the Esso logo read, “Condemned: Moral Repairs Needed.”

“We declare Esso condemned because it is unsafe for the global community,” explained Lisa Martens, who was in Baghdad during the bombing this time last year with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). The event coincided with the anniversary of the start of bombing.

“Bush: Freeing the world one oil well at a time,” read another of the signs used during the three day (March 22 -24) fast and rush-hour protest by the group from Hope Mennonite Church.

The event was inspired by a January 2004 CPT report on human rights abuses related to the detention of an estimated 15,000 Iraqis captured and held by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority that now rules Iraq. The violence reduction organization has had staff in Iraq since October 2002.

The Winnipeg group chose the Esso location because of the almost incestuous links between oil interests and Bush’s foreign policy. Esso’s parent company ExxonMobil — the second biggest corporation on the globe — is a heavy financial backer of Bush, as well as of several Washington think tanks that pushed for the Iraq war.

The pre-war words of the U.S. Under Secretary for Commerce, Grant Aldonas, leave little doubt about links between war and oil: “[War] would open up this spigot on Iraq’s oil.”

“Like we say with our signs, we’re asking Winnipeggers to ‘Read Between the Pipelines’ and recognize the link between oil consumption and perpetual military campaigns to secure oil supply,” said event co-organizer Aiden S. Enns. “You have a corporate Goliath, backed by the largest army in history — that’s simply not good news for humanity,” he said.

“The oil has been liberated, but thousands of Iraqis are detained,” said Martens. Human rights violations noted in the CPT report include: detention without charge, denial of access to a lawyer, capture of detainees in house raids, using excessive force against unarmed civilians and physical mistreatment including torture. Many family members of detainees have no idea where their loved ones are, or even if they are alive.

“I guess it’s a taste of Guantanamo Bay-style democracy for them,” said Martens.

The church group believes it is essential that the faith community have something to say in response to the powerful politico-economic forces converging on Iraq.

The report on detainees is available at Christian Peacemaker Teams.