SOAW–West News for December, 2003
1) SOAWW-Kathy Kelly's Arrest, Requested Action, Local Report Backs.
School of the Americas Watch–West ~ SOAW–W
December 3, 2003San Jose Website - http://teachers.bcp.org/llauro
Los Angeles Website - www.soaw-la.org
National Website - www.soaw.org1) "Hog-tied and Abused at Fort Benning" by Kathy Kelly, Nov. 27 and Letter,
Dec. 3
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Letters seeking an investigation of the tactics used by US Military Police at Fort Benning (and in other places) can be directed to the US Senate Committee on Armed Services:Senator John Warner (Chairman, Virginia)You can also write to Senator John Warner and Senator Carl Levin online at: www.senate.gov/~warner/*.htm and www.levin.senate.gov/*/
Senator Carl Levin (Ranking Democrat, Michigan)
US Senate Committee on Armed Services
228 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
2) The list of those charged with trespass onto Fort Benning on Nov. 23 includes:
Leisa Faulkner Barnes, SacramentoMore names gathered from news stories are given below.
Elizabeth Bradley, Sacramento
Louise Lynch, Fremont
Betsy Lamb, Columbia, MD (formerly of South San Francisco)
3) Derrlyn Tom of San Francisco will be released on Friday, Dec. 5 after serving the six-month sentence given upon conviction for trespass onto Fort Benning in Nov. 2002. SOAWW acknowledges, with gratitude, Derrlyn's commitment to justice and her efforts to close the SOA.
4) Included below is the text of the letter that Buzz Sherwood, aka Lt. Col. (ret.) Byrne Sherwood Jr., attached to his army uniform and hung on the gate at Ft. Benning during this year's vigil. Late in the day on Sunday, Nov. 23, Fr. Bill O'Donnell, Fr. Roy Bourgeois and others who watched Army personnel remove all the crosses from the gate and throw them in the trash said that the soldiers took the uniform and letter with them--clearly it made an impact.
5) San Francisco -
Report Back from SOA Watch Vigil in Georgia
Thurs. Dec. 4, 7:00 pm
First Unitarian Universalist Society
1187 Franklin Street at Geary Blvd., San Francisco
Contact Dolores Perez Priem at doloresmp@aol.com
6) Larkspur -Report back on SOA and FTAA protests, including screenings of "Trade Secrets, the Hidden Costs of FTAA" and "Hidden in Plain Sight," and fair trade holiday shopping Sat. Dec 13, 6:00 pm, Redwood Presbyterian Church, 110 Magnolia, Larkspur.
Sponsored by the Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas.
Contact mitf@igc.org or 415/924-3227.
Schedule given below.Published on Thursday, November 27, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
"Hog-tied and Abused at Fort Benning" by Kathy KellyOn Sunday, November 23, I took part in a nonviolent civil disobedience action at Fort Benning, GA, to protest the U.S. Army's School of the Americas (SOA, now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation -- WHISC). Shortly after more than two dozen of us entered Fort Benning and were arrested, US Military Police took us to a warehouse on the base for "processing."
I was directed to a station for an initial search, where a woman soldier began shouting at me to look straight ahead and spread my legs. I turned to ask her why she was shouting at me and was ordered to keep my mouth shut, look straight ahead, and spread my legs wider. She then began an aggressive body search.
When ordered to raise one leg a second time, I temporarily lost my balance while still being roughly searched and, in my view, "womanhandled." I decided that I shouldn't go along with this dehumanizing action any longer. When I lowered my arms and said, quietly, "I'm sorry, but I can't any longer cooperate with this," I was instantly pushed to the floor. Five soldiers squatted around me, one of them referring to me with an expletive (this f_ _ _ er) and began to cuff my wrists and ankles and then bind my wrists and ankles together. Then one soldier leaned on me, with his or her knee in my back. Unable to get a full breath, I gasped and moaned, "I can't breathe." I repeated this many times and then began begging for help. When I said, "Please, I've had four lung collapses before," the pressure on my back eased. Four soldiers then carried me, hogtied, to the next processing station for interrogation and propped me in a kneeling position. The soldier standing to my left, who had been assigned to "escort" me, gently told me that soon the ankle and wrist cuffs, which were very tight, would be cut off.
He politely let me know that he would have to move my hair, which was hanging in front of my face, so that my picture could be taken. I told him I'd appreciate that. I was then carried to the next station. There, one of the soldiers who'd been part of pushing me to the floor knelt in front of me, and, with his nose about two inches from mine, told me that because I was combative I should know that if I didn't do exactly as instructed when they uncuffed one hand, he would pepper spray me. I asked him to describe how I'd been combative, but he didn't answer.
After the processing, I was unbound, shackled with wrist and ankle chains, and led to the section where other peaceful activists, also shackled, awaited transport to the Muskogee County Jail.
At our bond hearing on Monday, Nov. 24, a military prosecutor told the federal judge that the military was considering an additional charge against me for resisting arrest. I explained my side of the story to the judge, grateful that there are at least several witnesses upon whom I could call.
The federal judge determined that most of us were "flight risks" and increased by 100% the cash bond required before we could be released, from last year's $500 to $1000.
Today I have a black eye and the soreness that comes with severe muscle strain. Mostly, I'm burdened with a serious question, "What are these soldiers training for?" The soldiers conducting that search must have been ordered not to tolerate the slightest dissent. They were practicing intimidation tactics far beyond what would be needed to control an avowedly nonviolent group of protesters who had never, in thirteen years of previous actions, caused any disruption during the process of arrest. Bewildered, most of us in the "tank" inside the Muskogee County Jail acknowledged that during the rough processing we wondered, "What country do we live in?" We now live in a country where Homeland Security funds pay for exercises which train military and police units to control and intimidate crowds, detainees, and arrestees using threat and force.
This morning's aches and pains, along with the memory of being hogtied, give me a glimpse into the abuses we protest by coming to Fort Benning, GA. As we explore the further invention of nonviolence in our increasingly volatile time, it's important that we jointly overcome efforts to deter our determination to stand together against what Martin Luther King once called, "the violence of desperate men," -- and women.
[Editor's Note: Kathy is a petite woman.]Letters to US Senate Committee on Armed Services
Dec. 3, 2003Dear Friends,
In a recent article, "Hog-tied and Abused at Fort Benning," I described how US Military Police treated me following an arrest for peacefully entering the Fort Benning military base. I was part of a non-violent protest, held annually for the past 13 years, calling for an end to Fort Benning's training of Latin American soldiers at an institution called WHISC (Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). The article, posted on the School of the Americas Watch website (soaw.org) and on our website (vitw.org), tells how US Military Police responded when I quietly refused to continue cooperating with an extremely aggressive search procedure. I was pushed to the floor, hog-tied, kneed while begging for relief because I couldn't breathe, hauled while still hog-tied to the next "stations," and threatened with pepper spray if I didn't cooperate when they un-cuffed me for fingerprinting.
Public Relations spokespeople for the WHISC claim that the school has been reformed and now teaches Latin American soldiers the same standards of respect for human rights and civil law practiced by the US military. How can they possibly teach respect for human rights or set a good example for
Latin American soldiers when, for purposes of intimidation, they themselves respond to non-violent protest with physical abuse? If this is what US Army MPs will do, with witnesses present, to someone connected to a large body of supporters, what would they do in secret to voiceless and unknown victims?Christian Peacemaker Team members in Iraq recently recorded testimony of a teenager in Baghdad who experienced much worse punishment than what I've described:
"At 2:30am, US troops came to our house, and ordered our entire family outside. They ransacked the house searching for something, but they didn't tell us what they wanted. They broke the locks to our cabinet [a large storage chest and display case along one wall of the front room] and threw the contents onto the floor, even though our father gave them the cabinet key so they wouldn't have to do this. They took our money and a gold wedding necklace belonging to my mother. My father, cousin, older brother, and I were tied and taken away. We were not told why we were being taken."We were taken to the soldiers' military base at a palace within this district and kept in a small dark room. Our wrists were tied with plastic ties behind our backs the entire night. In the morning, we were put out into the sunlight, as a type of punishment. The soldiers were verbally abusive towards us. We asked for shade, but the soldiers refused. We were squatting in the sun all day [temperatures at the time were 110-120F]. When I was taken, I was only wearing my underwear because I was sleeping. I was embarrassed. These were my only clothes during the time I was in custody.
"The first day, our hands were still tied behind our backs with the plastic ties. Because of this, we were unable to drink any water. We explained this to the soldiers, and they refused to re-tie us so we could drink. We asked if just one of us could be re-tied with his hands in front of him so that he could help the rest of us to drink. The soldiers refused. The soldiers re-tied us with the plastic ties in front of us on the next day.
"The water they gave us for drinking was also kept out in the sun with us. This way it was too hot to drink. Another day I asked a soldier for water, because I hadn't had anything to drink for the entire day in the sun. He beat me on my back and chest, while another soldier kicked me in the back. Both were verbally abusive towards me during the beating."
Please also visit www.commondreams.org/views*.htm and read an account by Rev. John Dear, SJ, of US military harassment outside his home in northeastern New Mexico. 75 soldiers from a nearby National Guard base assembled in front of his home shouting and screaming war slogans and chanting, "Swing your guns from left to right, we can kill those guys all night."(recorded by CPT members Le Anne Clausen and David Milne, www.cpt.org/iraq/testimonies/*.htm)For reports about abusive treatment of FTAA protesters in Miami, Florida, please visit www.democracynow.org.
Now, as numerous reports are circulating about abuses of police power, the unnecessary brutality toward nonviolent protesters, and training that de-humanizes members of the US military and local law enforcement agencies, we urge you to contact your local media and elected representatives to request
investigations.Letters seeking an investigation of the tactics used by US Military Police at Fort Benning (and other places) can be directed to:
Senator John Warner (Chairman (Virginia)You can also write to Senator John Warner and Senator Carl Levin online at: www.senate.gov/~warner/*.htm and www.levin.senate.gov/*/.
Senator Carl Levin (Ranking Democrat, Michigan)
US Senate Committee on Armed Services
228 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510We're very grateful for the numerous letters of concern which flowed in during the past week. Many people asked what we can do. Let's act, in concert, to raise our concerns on behalf of those who are voiceless and most vulnerable to violent intimidation.
Sincerely, Kathy Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness-- Chicago
Kathy Kelly is the founder of Voices in the Wilderness, a human rights group based in Chicago that worked to lift the economic sanctions against Iraq.List (partial) of others charged with trespass onto Fort Benning on Nov. 23:For more information, contact info@vitw.org, call (773) 784-8065, or visit
www.iraqpeaceteam.org or www.vitw.org.
Gary Ashbeck of Baltimore, MDLetter of Lt. Col. (ret.) Byrne Sherwood Jr., attached to his army uniform when hung on the gate at Ft. Benning on Sun. Nov. 23 during this year's vigil.
Sr. Cynthia Brinkman of Ellington, MO
Alice Gerard of Buffalo, NY
Fr. Ben Jimenez (SJ) of Cleveland, OH
Sarah Jobe of Durham, NC
Edward Lewinson of Newark, NJ
Peg Morton of Eugene, OR
Fr. Joe Mulligan (SJ) of Detroit, MI and Managua, Nicaragua
Fr. Michael O'Grady (SJ)
Fr. Bernie Survil of Bradford, PA
Mary Vaughn of White Bean, MN
Shirley Way of Stanley, NY
Fr. Jerry Zawada (OFM) of Burlington, WI
Don Beisswenger of Nashville, TN had his case dismissed.
Dear Fort Benning,
It is with regret and sorrow that I return my uniform to you, for in doing so I am handing back most of my adult life with all of its hopes, dreams and aspirations. Fort Benning, the infantryman's home, is where I learned the art and science of war; is where I became a Ranger and a paratrooper. Fort Benning is where I returned at intervals to hone my skills and prepare for the next level of command.What happened?
When I retired from the Army and entered civilian society, my first reaction was "Is this what I have defending?" I was struck by the greed, selfishness and materialism of our society. I also began to see in a new way what U.S. foreign policy is all about. When I was a soldier, my interest in world affairs did not extend beyond wanting to know where I might be deployed to and what the mission might be. After I retired and was freed from the narrow focus of a soldier, I began to see a systematic pattern of U.S. foreign policy that sponsors and supports repressive right wing regimes around the world. These regimes are typically sympathetic to our worldwide corporate interests and materialistic life style, and in many instances promote human rights abuses against labor organizers, clergy and anyone else who gets in the way of the corporate agenda. I realized that I had not been a soldier of democracy but, to use the words of two-time Medal of Honor winner, Gen. Smedley Butler, (USMC), "I was a racketeer for capitalism."
Now, all I can say is "Not in my name." Not in my name will these things be done.
Respectfully,
Byrne Sherwood, Jr., Lieutenant Colonel, USA (retired)[Editor's Note: Buzz is a history teacher at Richmond High School in the East Bay. This year he and 3 colleagues brought a group of 12 high school students to Ft. Benning to continue work on an extra-curricular project making a documentary about USF college students becoming activists for social justice.]Larkspur -
Making the Connections: Economic and Empire Building and Military Repression Across the Hemisphere
A Report-Back from the FTAA protests, Miami and SOA vigil, Ft. Benning, GA
Saturday, December 13, 110 Magnolia, Larkspur Redwoods Presbyterian Church6:00: Doors Open
6:20: Screening; "Trade Secrets, the Hidden Costs of the FTAA" (16 min.)
6:45: Reports from Miami protests against the FTAA
7:15: Break for shopping and refreshments
7:30: Screening; "Hidden in Plain Sight" (71 min.)
8:45: Report from Ft. Benning, GA vigil against the School of the Americas Fair Trade Christmas gifts for sale and RefreshmentsFor our Fair Use of Copyrighted material Notice, please click on the ©.
[For archived news from previous posting,
click on: August.]
