SOAW-W ~ Reports from Ft. Benning
1) News from Georgia #1 (Sat. and Sun.)
2) News from Georgia #2 (Monday.)
3) News from Georgia #3 (Tuesday.)
School of the Americas Watch–West ~ SOAW–W
Nov. 17, 2002 ~ News from Georgia #1 (Sat. and Sun.)Check out full coverage of the SOA Watch Vigil at the gates to Ft. Benning on www.ledger-enquirer.com.San Jose Website - http://teachers.bcp.org/llauro
Los Angeles Website - www.soaw-la.org
National Website - www.soaw.org
Check out the Live Coverage from Columbus, GA on www.atlanta.indymedia.org.**** Selected articles below:
1) Police Brace for Marchers, mentions the "Father Bill O'Donnell Replacement
Brigade"
2) Matter of Faith: Groups represent many different faiths at annual SOA
Watch protest
3) The Policy Behind the Annual ProtestPOLICE BRACE FOR MARCHERS
Police defend use of hand-held metal detectors while protesters grumble
Tony Adams, Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer
Sun. Nov. 17, 2002Amid a heavy police presence, several thousand protesters gathered at Fort Benning's main gate Saturday to stage a rally against a school they claim is a teacher of brutality in Latin America.
Taking place under overcast, drizzly skies, the demonstration came across more like a peaceful street festival than an agitated call to stop alleged torture and murder south of the U.S. border.
A blend of young college students and more mature activists strolled Fort Benning Road back and forth, stopping to view puppet shows and buy bumper stickers, T-shirts and posters with slogans such as "Don't Attack Iraq." The crowd was estimated by the Columbus Police Department at 4,000. That number is expected to surge today as protesters return to the edge of the military installation that harbors the object of their disdain -- the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
Columbus Police Maj. Julius Graham said his force is bracing for some type of "civil disobedience" during today's demonstration. In its 13th year, the protest has typically culminated with demonstrators crossing the boundary of Fort Benning and being charged with trespassing. That changed last year when a fence was installed along the post's boundary as part of the increased security after the 9/11 attacks.
No arrests were made Saturday, Columbus police and Fort Benning authorities said. There was grumbling, however, about the decision to use metal-detector wands to screen those attending the two-day demonstration. One protester held up a sign proclaiming, "I will not consent to this search." SOA Watch officials also instructed those in attendance to fill out slips of paper saying they did not consent to the searches. "We need you to fill out the non-consent forms in case we need to contact you if we file a lawsuit," SOA Watch official Jeff Winder told the crowd from the main stage.
Graham defended the decision to make the searches.
"What we're trying to do is not necessarily control it, so much as we want to make sure that those participants that come in do not bring any weapons on site," he said. "We want it to be as safe as we can make it without intruding on anybody's rights or denying them freedom of speech or having equal access to this site."
This year, police also have set up a mobile "sky watch" booth that hydraulically lifts spotters about 25 feet high. The booth is set up near the main stage, giving authorities a bird's-eye view of Saturday's rally and today's protest.
On Saturday, they saw the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, the founder of SOA Watch, call for the closure of the institute, the successor to the U.S. Army School of the Americas.
"Once again, we gather at this main gate to keep alive the memory of our brothers and sisters who were killed by graduates of a school not more than three miles from here," he said. "We are here to call for the closure of this school."
There have been 99 protesters to serve prison sentences -- typically six months in duration -- for trespassing on the post. There are currently 26 serving time. Mary O'Donnell's brother, Father Bill O'Donnell, both of Berkeley, Calif., is one of those behind bars.
"I'm going to send a photo of me to Judge Faircloth, showing him I'm a replacement for the cause as my brother promised the judge there would be," said O'Donnell, after having a photograph snapped of her with fellow protesters in front of the Fort Benning welcome sign. All were wearing T-shirts that read, "Father Bill O'Donnell's Replacement Brigade."
While most of those wearing U.S. Army camouflage uniforms remained on the Fort Benning side of a 12-foot-high chain link fence, some ventured among the demonstrators. They included Col. Joe Torres, the post's garrison commander, who was looking to speak with those on the opposite side of the institute issue. Torres said he respects the activists' right to free speech, but added they also should learn about the military and its mission.
"This is my third year with these things," he said. "My first year, people were amazed that we were normal people, just in uniform. We're a product of society, also."
MATTER OF FAITH
Groups represent many different faiths at annual SOA Watch protest
By Allison Kennedy
Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer
Sun. Nov. 17, 2002The people who gathered at the front gate of Fort Benning on Saturday appeared bound by several common threads -- solidarity with the poor, a search for justice and respect for creation.
The faith groups represented are vast and varied. Some demonstrators in town this weekend claim no faith. But most do, perhaps because the victims of the violence they decry were people of faith themselves. One of them, Archbishop Oscar Romero, was killed 22 years ago in El Salvador, and protesters who gathered near the gate of Fort Benning hold the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly named the U.S. Army School of the Americas) directly responsible.
Protesters say the institute teaches soldiers violent tactics used to maintain power. The institute, located at Fort Benning, has repeatedly denied the charges.
The School of the Americas Watch founder, the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, is a priest in the Maryknoll order. SOA Watch supporters include Buddhists, Christians, Jews and pagans. Some are laypeople. Others, like Bourgeois, are ordained. Many Christian protesters believe Jesus would be in town this weekend if he were still walking the Earth.
"If Jesus was for anything, it was justice and faith," said the Rev. John Quinn of (San Francisco) California. "The power of the (Holy) Spirit is at work and alive. It's very much central to why we're here." About 20 protesters headed toward Fort Benning on foot Saturday afternoon. They spent the past week walking from Atlanta to the protest. "The walk is our basic practice for our order," said Sister Denise Laffan, a Buddhist nun walking with the group along Veterans Parkway near Victory Drive. The walkers toted banners and drums. Passersby honked their horns and waved.
"We believe it's our work to protect life and honor the sacredness of life. And we speak out against policies that negate that," Laffan said.
On both sides
However, some protesters recognize there are people of faith on both sides of the equation -- people who support the work of the institute as well as people who don't. John Quinn's father, for instance, is a retired general who once served at Fort Benning. Quinn, a Jesuit priest, graduated in 1967 from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic grade school in south Columbus. "I think there can be Christians on both sides," said Quinn. The father of Bill Masterson, a Jesuit layman from California, received officer's training at Fort Benning. Quinn and Masterson came to protest the School of the Americas when they met people involved in the movement. Masterson is friends with a man who was imprisoned for illegally crossing onto the post in 1995.
"That whole experience was pivotal. That's how I got involved," said Masterson, here for his sixth protest. "It's how most of us are impacted -- through personal relationships."
Col. Richard Downie, commandant of the institute, is an Episcopalian and a member of St. Thomas Church on Hilton Avenue. He has said the institute offers the most extensive human rights training of any school in the Department of Defense.
Local Catholic priests are on his side. Before the 2001 protest, the Rev. Lawrence Lucree of Our Lady of Lourdes in Columbus sent a letter to Mayor Bobby Peters that distanced the local Catholic churches from the work of Bourgeois. While acknowledging "a Catholic face to the protest," Lucree said Bourgeois is not associated with the Catholic Diocese of Savannah or the local priests.
An Episcopal laywoman in Columbus, Miriam Tidwell, is also a military supporter and has a tent and sign near the protest site on Benning Road. She said Saturday she's showing her support to military personnel and their families.
Tidwell said "faith in God, my country and my family" compel her to offer another voice.
"I'm only here to let the soldiers know we support what they're doing," said Tidwell, a member of Trinity Episcopal Church. "I want them to feel supported in the middle of all this. I say, 'Thank God for Father Roy' because he reminds us to be appreciative of our military."
Questioning support
Yet some protesters here don't understand how people of faith, in good conscience, can further the work of the military through the institute. "I don't have to live in their skin. I only have to live in mine, but I don't know how they reconcile it -- the senseless killing, that they're doing it in the name of our country," said Rosie Pudish, a Catholic laywoman from upstate New York who's protesting against the institute for the first time. A priest from her parish, the Rev. Tim Taugher, works with the Diocese of Syracuse's Social Action Ministry. Also a hospital chaplain, Taugher has a ban-and-bar letter from Fort Benning for trespassing during a past protest. If he crosses onto post again, he faces arrest and perhaps fines and a prison sentence.
"The heart of Jesus' spirituality was justice," said Taugher. "Over time I have discovered that the heart of my spirituality should be justice too. Justice is about right relationships -- with God, ourselves, creation. It's a re-ordering of relationships."
Rebecca Kanner, a Jewish woman from Ann Arbor, Mich., recently served six months in an Illinois prison for trespassing onto post. Back this year, Kanner said the Jewish concept of "Tikkan Olam" or "the repair of the world" compels her to act. In her hometown of Cleveland, Kanner also was influenced by a rabbi who was involved in social justice and acts of civil disobedience. "He made a big impression on me," said Kanner, aligned with both the Reform and Reconstructionist movements of Judaism. Prison changed her life, she said, allowing her to see the need for prison reform. "Now it's important to do the work on the outside," said Kanner. Some protesters are from less mainstream faiths, but they see their presence as equally influential. One man, 42-year-old Zot Lynn Szurgot from Gainesville, Fla., follows pagan beliefs, which teach a deep respect for all of creation -- primarily four elements, earth, water, air and fire.
"Like so many here, our conscience asks us to act in the name of justice and protecting life," said Szurgot, who's one of nine pagans here from Florida.
Speaking out
The Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, senior minister of the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C., spoke from the stage Saturday urging the group to "continue the struggle."
He said that his faith's emphasis on justice compelled him to travel to Columbus for the first time to support the SOA Watch. "The foundation of the faith is justice and love, and that means neighbor to neighbor. That means not exploiting but respecting others' dignity and worth," said Hagler, one of the few African-Americans at the protest.
A Benedictine Catholic nun in the crowd Saturday was listening to Hagler's speech. Sister Merle Nolde said she was protesting "a system, a school, whose graduates are not only complicit but responsible" for human rights abuses in Latin America. Over her rain gear, Nolde wore a poster-board sign reading "Benedictines for Peace."
"It's important for us to try and change those structures," Nolde said, referring to the institute, the military and the U.S. government in general. "Our foreign policy now looks like we want to bully the world. The gospel I know and follow doesn't allow for that."
Bourgeois, the founder of SOA Watch, has been spreading that message to college and high school students around the country. "I'm amazed at how sensitive the youth are," said Bourgeois. "They are integrating their faith, the justice and the peacemaking. It's so good to see so many students whose faith is being put to work." One of those students is 25-year-old Sarah Stafford of Bowling Green University in Ohio. A member of the pacifist Church of the Brethren, Stafford believes "all war is sin," and the SOA is promoting the war on terrorism. "It's pretty clear cut to me," Stafford said.
THE POLICY BEHIND THE ANNUAL PROTEST
By S. Thorne Harper
Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer
Nov. 15, 2002 (Fri.)In 12 years of demonstrations at Fort Benning, SOA Watch managed to close down the U.S. Army School of the Americas. The movement has since set its sights on SOA's successor -- the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation -- with an even more ambitious effort.
The institute has come to represent a U.S. foreign policy that the movement argues caters to Latin America's rich at the expense of its poor, training soldiers at the institute to enforce this aim. SOA Watch now wants to change U.S. policy to more directly reflect the interests of the poor in the Western Hemisphere.
Columbus has a direct link to that foreign policy. The city's Latino population more than doubled during the last decade. Latin American immigrants now make up 4.5 percent of Columbus' population.
Furthermore, Columbus-based TSYS, Matsushita Battery Industrial Corp. of America and Diaz-Verson Capital Investments LLC conduct business in Latin America, according to the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce. Atlanta, meanwhile, is competing with other cities in the Americas to become the trade center of the hemisphere.
"This is a marathon, not a sprint," Hans Gant, senior vice president of economic development at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, told GlobalFax, an Atlanta business journal, after a business forum earlier this month in Quito, Ecuador. "This was Atlanta's first big effort outside the U.S. to introduce itself as a contender for being the hemispheric trade hub, and we have a lot of follow-up to do."
Foreign policy analysts, meanwhile, say Latin America is also experiencing the difficulties caused by economic weakness and terrorism as is the United States, but to a far greater degree. And, they say, those two concerns are at the front of U.S. policy in the region.
An 'overarching framework'
SOA Watch-led protesters say U.S. policy in Latin America is based on the economic interests of U.S. corporations operating in the region, and that military power -- including officers trained at the Fort Benning institute -- provides the muscle to protect those interests.
On a "simplistic" level, that argument carries some credence, said Julia Sweig, senior fellow and deputy director of Latin American studies with the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan, New York-based public-policy organization.
For example, Sweig said, the demonstrators have "a pretty strong case" in terms of a recent Bush Administration decision to provide Colombia with $96 million and U.S. military advisers to protect an oil pipeline -- frequently targeted by rebels -- owned by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum. But, Sweig said, "I think it's really too simplistic to say that the express function of our security policies in the hemisphere is to make the region safe for American corporations."
Also, said Philip Brenner, professor of international relations at American University in Washington, D.C., "One of the things the demonstrators get wrong is that they attribute all of the sins of Latin America to the United States, and they don't see the way local elites have sometimes used the United States for their own benefit."
The United States does not have distinct policies for each country in the region. Rather, there is an "overarching framework" that addresses the primary policy issues in the Western Hemisphere: trade, military security, immigration, democracy development, environmental protection, narcotics trafficking, disaster relief, human rights and, more recently, terrorism. U.S. policy issues are primarily devised within the State Department at the behest of the president. And that policy remains basically the same for the
region regardless of who is in the White House. However, analysts say, the president can change the priorities among those issues.President Clinton, for example, connected problems in Colombia with narcotics trafficking; President Bush connects them with narcotics trafficking and terrorism, said Gabriel Marcella, professor of strategy and Latin American security affairs at the U.S. Army War College.
"But I would say there is greater continuity than change," Marcella said. "You have an example of that close by. WHINSEC replaced SOA and the curriculum changed, but not completely."
For its part, the Fort Benning institute notes that it must teach its students how democracy works.
"We must present to our students -- military and police -- how to operate under a democratic system," said Lt. Col. Thomas Key, the institute's chief of staff. "We teach them that there is a right way to do things. And we're supposed to do that by example. The protest is an absolutely fabulous example of that. The protest for our students shows them that, under a democratic system, you can disagree. And you can do it nonviolently."
Rules of the game
"Democratic and Republican presidents have articulated a sense that the United States needs to be the dominant force in the 21st century globally," said Brenner. "The United States has to be totally instrumental in setting the rules of the game by which everyone else plays."
To set the rules globally, the United States first must "get its act together" in its own hemisphere, he said. And that begins with the creation of a free trade zone, extending from Alaska and Canada to Chile and Argentina, by January 2005.
But to establish the so-called "Free Trade Area of the Americas," all the countries in the hemisphere must agree to conform to a U.S.-style economy, Brennan said.
One difficulty: How to address the region's dire poverty and reconcile huge earning disparities between Latin America's rich and poor. Brenner noted that the top 20 percent of wage earners in the United States make about 9.5 times more than the bottom 20 percent. By contrast, the upper 20 percent in Latin America earns more than 20 times that of the bottom 20 percent, while in Mexico and Colombia that figure reaches 30 times more. Those disparities contributed greatly to Argentina's recent financial meltdown, Brenner said, adding that it was all the more shocking because Argentina had been operating under a U.S.-style economy. More recently, faced with its own economic catastrophe, Brazil -- which also operates under a U.S. style and accounts for 40 percent of South America's economy -- overwhelmingly elected left-wing labor leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva president. Lula has said he opposes the free trade zone because it would be "tantamount to the annexation of Brazil by the United States."
Furthermore, Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp. announced in September that it had withdrawn a plan to sell up to $1 billion of its Latin American Group common stock because of economic and political turmoil in the region.
And, following a Nov. 2 meeting of Latin American nations discussing the free trade zone, U.S. trade representative Robert B. Zoellick said, "I recognize that this is a time of economic and political uncertainty in the region."
From the Cold War to 9/11
During the Cold War, anti-communism was the driving force behind U.S. policy in Latin America. Compared to current policy, it was fairly simple: Prevent the spread of communism in the hemisphere, even though it often meant backing brutal -- but devoutly anti-communist -- dictators, some of whom attended the former U.S. Army School of the Americas.
But that policy fell with the Berlin Wall.
"The end of the Cold War has left the U.S. Latin American dynamic without much of a clear direction, a fact that dogs the enhancement of democratic values and makes it difficult for the U.S. to respond to new threats," said Thomas Whigham, professor of Latin American history at the University of Georgia.
"What has really changed," said Marcella, the War College professor, "is that we find is what we call 'the threat' is not a strong enemy, like Russia, but weak states -- Colombia, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, Yugoslavia -- and other states that are falling apart internally and become havens for narco-traffickers, terrorists, internationally organized criminals." Policy became even more complicated after Sept. 11, 2001.
"After Sept. 11, it was about getting rid of terrorists and narco-terrorists," the Council on Foreign Relations' Sweig said. Brenner said narco-terrorism in Latin America is directly linked to poverty issues. But, he said, the United States has not made a viable plan to address those issues.
Simply put, Latin American farmers can make more money growing coca -- the base element of cocaine -- than growing legal crops, Brenner said, noting that -- of the $1.8 billion the United States is spending on the drug war in Colombia -- only $300 million is directed toward crop substitution. U.S. policy, meanwhile, can sometimes "flounder between competing goals," Whigham said, citing the United States' handling of last April's attempted coup in Venezuela as one example.
The Bush Administration's initial positive response to the coup against democratically elected President Hugo Chavez sent a contradictory message throughout the region about the U.S. commitment toward democratic reform, Whigham said.
"The fact that the coup failed, and the U.S. had initially applauded it, brought a lot of bad press in Latin America," the University of Georgia professor said.
Demonstrators, meanwhile, have been influential in one aspect of foreign policy, analysts say. Since the protests began, for example, the State Department has become more attentive to issues of human rights.
School of the Americas Watch–West ~ SOAW–W
Nov. 18, 2002 ~ News from Georgia #2 (Mon.)1) Approximately 90 protesters were held overnight, with arraignment scheduled for Monday morning in Columbus. Those who intended to be arrested include Derrilyn Tom, Don Haselfeld, and Laura Slattery of San Francisco and Rachel Montgomery of Oakland. Andrew Olive of San Francisco was also arrested unexpectedly. Four students from USF were among those detained overnight.San Jose Website - http://teachers.bcp.org/llauro
Los Angeles Website - www.soaw-la.org
National Website - www.soaw.org
2) East Bay SOAW meeting
Wed. Nov. 20 7:00-9:00 pm
World Ground Cafe, 3726 MacArthur Blvd.
(about 1-1/2 blocks south of 35th Ave. next to KFC)
Contact Bob Nixon at robertnixon@mindspring.com 510-533-3120 or Rachel Montgomery 510-205-3956
3) San Francisco SOAWW Meeting
Thurs. Dec. 5, 7:00 pm
Unitarian Church, Franklin at Geary
Contact Dolores at doloresmp@aol.com4) News sources on the web
4a) Check out news stories of the SOA Watch Vigil at the gates of Ft.5) Selected articles below:
Benning on www.ledger-enquirer.com
4b) Check out the photos and video/audio stories on www.atlanta.indymedia.org
4c) Use www.google.com (or your usual search engine) and search under "News" and then "Western Hemisphere Institute"Thousands converge on Army base housing former School of the Americas; nearly 100 arrested
5a) Posted 11/17Caption for Photo in New York Times on Page A15: Protesters March at Fort Benning. Roman Catholic nuns marched yesterday with about 6,500 protesters at Fort Benning, GA, to oppose an Army school that they say trains Latin American soldiers who violate human rights. More than 90 marchers, including six nuns, were arrested in the annual protest, accused of entering the Army base.
5b) Posted 11/18
5c) Interview with Col. Richard Downie and Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton with notation of how to order Amnesty International Report of March, 2002, which has a section on the School of the Americas/WHISCPage A5, Caption for San Francisco Chronicle: Five Roman Catholic nuns march and carry crosses on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2002, during a demonstration in Columbus, Ga., against a school at nearby Fort Benning that trains Latin American soldiers. From right are, Dorothy Pagosa of St. Mary in the Woods, Ind., 48; Rita Clare Gerardot, 76, of Chicago; Joann Quinker, of Oaklawn, Ill.; Kathleen Long of Chicago; and Cathleen Jessick, of Chicago. All five risked jail by stepping Fort Benning property to protest. (AP Photo/Elliott Minor)
Version posted on 11/17/02More than 90 arrested in protest at Army base housing former School of the Americas
Elliott Minor, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, November 17, 2002
URL: www.sfgate.com/*(11-17) 14:01 PST COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) --
More than 90 people, including at least six nuns, were arrested for marching onto Fort Benning grounds Sunday during an annual protest of a U.S. military program that trains Latin American soldiers.
"I feel anger at the deliberate teaching of violence," Caryl Hartjes, a nun from Fondulac, Wis., said as she entered the compound, where she was arrested.
About 6,500 protesters gathered for the 13th annual demonstration by the School of the Americas Watch, which continues to protest the Nov. 16, 1989, killings of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador. Protesters said they demonstrate because people responsible for the killings were trained at the School of the Americas, a Fort Benning-based program that was replaced last year by a new institute. Protesters say the change was only cosmetic. The demonstrators Sunday passed through the base's gates, including one where they cut the padlock and slipped through fence posts to get onto the property.
Inside, a line of military police guided protesters up a hill where they were arrested. Illegally entering base property is a federal offense that can carry up to six months in prison.
"I don't want to give up my freedom and I would enjoy peace and justice more, but as a person of faith, I can't stand back and watch the atrocities," Dorothy Pagosa, a 48-year-old nun, said as she was arrested. "The atrocities that have happened have brought shame on this country," she said.
Post officials called the demonstration an example of American democracy at work and said they'd use it as a teaching tool for students from Latin America. "It is America at its finest," said Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, post commander. However, he said he was "duty bound and legally bound to apprehend those who violate the law."
About 7,000 people took part in the protest last year. Twenty-eight later pleaded guilty or were found guilty of trespassing -- including three nuns over the age of 67 -- and most of them served their sentences in federal prison.
Demonstrators Sunday carried American flags and crosses honoring the alleged victims of the abuses in Latin America. Three protesters carried a mock-coffin draped in black. Others wore shirts that said "No War in Iraq." "We're here to support the voices that are trying to make our country's international actions more just," said Bill Quigley, a lawyer representing the protesters.
The Army's School of the Americas was replaced last year by a new institution operated by the Department of Defense and supervised by an independent 13-member board that includes lawmakers, scholars, diplomats and religious leaders.
Officials say the new school, known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, still trains Latin American soldiers, but also focuses on civilian and diplomatic affairs. Human rights courses are mandatory.
Version posted on 11/18/02More than 90 arrested in protest at Army base housing former School of the
Americas
Elliott Minor, Associated Press Writer
Monday, November 18, 2002
©2002 Associated PressURL: www.sfgate.com/*
(11-18) 02:14 PST COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) --
With supporters cheering her on, Caryl Hartjes squeezed through a 10-inch opening in a chain-link fence to risk jail for her beliefs. The frail, 67-year-old Roman Catholic nun from Fond du Lac, Wis., was among nearly 100 demonstrators, including at least 7 nuns, who were arrested for entering Fort Benning to protest a U.S. military program that trains Latin American soldiers.
About 7,000 protesters gathered Sunday for the 13th annual demonstration by the School of the Americas Watch, which conducts the protests to mark the killings of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador on Nov. 16, 1989. Some of the killers had attended the Army's School of the Americas, which moved from Panama to Fort Benning, an Army training center, in 1984. "I go in solidarity with the men and women -- especially the children -- of South America who were just whisked away and continue to be whisked away," said Hartjes, a hospice worker. "I feel some anger at the outrage of it all. I feel angry at the deliberate treachery and violence."
A line of military police officers awaited Hartjes and the others who crossed the boundary into Fort Benning. The protesters were directed up a hill, where they were arrested.
"This decision to go in is a spontaneous thing. There was no planning," said Bill Quigley, a lawyer representing the protesters. "We're here to support the voices that are trying to make our country's international actions more just."
The protesters who were arrested could face up to six months in jail for trespassing on U.S. government property. Bond hearings were scheduled for Monday.
The School of the Americas was replaced last year by a Department of Defense school called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. It still trains soldiers, but also focuses on civilian and diplomatic affairs. Human rights courses are mandatory.
But Roy Bourgeois, founder of School of the Americas Watch, said the change in the school was only cosmetic. "It's still about men with guns," he said.
Army officials called the protest a positive example of American democracy at work and said they use it as a teaching tool for the students from Latin America. The institute hosted an open house on Saturday for about 300 protesters.
"The peaceful protest today outside the gates is a celebration of democracy," said the institute's commandant, Col. Richard Downie. "At a time when our nation is engaged in a war on terrorism, it is absolutely crucial that we build friendships. We try to teach our students that their duty is to protect and serve their citizens, not abuse them."
5c) Independent Media Interview with Col. Richard Downie and Major Gen. Paul
Eaton, Sun. Nov. 17, 2002The School of Americas, which the Commandant Colonel Richard Downie likes to remind press and visitors is now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), has been at Fort Benning, Georgia for decades. Previously located in Panama, the school moved to the United States after popular Panamanian dissent. The School of Americas Watch has protested the school for 13 years on the anniversary of the massacre of the Jesuit priests in El Salvador in 1989. Col. Downie said he welcomed the protest as a fine demonstration of democracy, and the school uses the protest as an educational tool for its students. Major General Paul Eaton described the demonstration as a "proper protest that we allow". Eaton reminded press that he was legally and duty bound to apprehend those who violated the federal law of trespass. He defined the protest to be successful when all parties behave in a civilized human fashion and when all can go to bed in peace and security.
For the fiscal year 2003, the school currently has 978 soldiers from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States. Chile, Colombia, and Bolivia currently have the most attendees. Colonel Downie expressed the desire to recruit more Mexican soldiers since this year there are only 19.
Incidentally, Canada does not have any attendees and aside from the Dominican Republic, neither do the Caribbean islands.
Note: the next paragraph begins with Col. Downie commenting on a new Amnesty International report which analyzes US military training with a major section on SOA/WHISC. The report is:When asked about the Amnesty International report in 2002 recommending that training halt until the curriculum is thoroughly reevaluated, Downie claimed to be a card carrying member of Amnesty International and deeply embarrassed by the report. He said the researchers had been "tainted" by the School of Americas Watch due to similar wording and accusations. Downie stated the report published factual errors, but when asked to specify he deferred with a joke."Unmatched Power, Unmet Principles: The Human Rights Dimensions of US Training of Foreign Military and Police Forces," March, 2002. Download copies (66 pages) for free from www.amnestyusa.org/arms_trade/
Confronted with the human rights violations in Colombia, Eaton stated that the most respected institution in Colombia was the military and refuted the allegation that the Colombian military frequently works with the right-wing paramilitaries. Press members could not further the issue since Eaton was "out of lane" to discuss Colombian affairs.
Downie stated it was unfair to identify the School of Americas graduates with human rights violators in El Salvador since many of the atrocities happened 10 to 20 years after the SOA training. Current graduates are trained to encourage U.S. morals, ethics, and values. The school works in conduction with the National Security strategy to strengthen democracy, promote economic prosperity, and promote security cooperation throughout the hemisphere.
Downie continually drew attention to the school's name change and the Congressional requirement that all students are required 8 hours of human rights education, though Downie could not relate this in a percentage of total training. The school has also implemented a civilian review board, including the following four Congressional members: Senator Carl Levin, Senator Jeff Sessions, Representative Saxby Chambliss (Senator in Jan. 2003), and Representative Loretta Sanchez.
When asked if the CIA recruited graduates, Downie replied no with a shake of his head and a chuckle. A WHINSEC PR representative intervened and suggested the press conference soon end since questions were beginning to "degrade". Downie closed reassuring members of the press that the school teaches U.S. military doctrine to military and civilian police to encourage democracy throughout the hemisphere and that even members of NGO's and religious organizations have attended some courses. PR representatives later clarified the latter part of the statement. Allegedly, members of the International Red Cross and Rotary International have delivered instruction and participated in conferences, but none have actually attended any WHINSEC course. WHINSEC is open for tours, though not for public dissent.
School of the Americas Watch–West ~ SOAW–W
Nov. 19, 2002 ~ News from Georgia #3 (Tues.)1) Arraignments proceeded alphabetically on Monday. USF students Linda Aguilar, Sunny Angulo and Guadalupe Chavez as well as Don Haselfeld of San Francisco were released on $5,000 bonds, meaning that $500 cash was required for release. Those released have been given a trial date for the week of Jan. 27. USF student Margaret Rossi, Christine of Berkeley, Rachel Montgomery of Oakland, Andrew Olive, Laura Slattery and Derrilyn Tom of San Francisco are expected to be released on Tuesday.San Jose Website - http://teachers.bcp.org/llauro
Los Angeles Website - www.soaw-la.org
National Website - www.soaw.org3) San Francisco SOAWW Meeting
4) News sources on the web4a) Check out news stories of the SOA Watch Vigil at the gates of Ft. Benning on www.ledger-enquirer.com
4b) Check out the photos and video/audio stories on www.atlanta.indymedia.org
4c) Use www.google.com (or your usual search engine) and search under "News" and then "Western Hemisphere Institute"
5) "Hidden In Plain Sight," a new documentary directed by John Smihula of San Francisco (and Reno), was very well received by activists in Columbus. The audio portion was broadcast on 11/18 on Democracy Now. To hear the program, you can go to www.democracynow.org. If you need more information you can write to info@hiddeninplainsight.com. In a few days there will be a website as well.6) Selected article below mentions Linda Aguilar of USF:
Jailed protesters find this year is different experience time in jail, amount of bond unlike previous 12 years
By Jim Houston
Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer
www.ledger-enquirer.com
Tues. Nov. 19, 2002One by one, the protesters arrested on Fort Benning this weekend were called Monday to stand before U.S. Magistrate G. Mallon Faircloth. One at a time as their names were read, the women dressed in yellow jail clothes and the men in similar blue attire shuffled to the bench of the Recorder's Court courtroom in jail-issue slippers.
After more than 18 hours behind bars -- a fate not required of most demonstrators detained during SOA Watch protests of the last 12 years -- the protesters learned the court also would require each to post a $5,000 bond to guarantee return to Columbus for trial the week of Jan. 27.
This came moments after spectators filling the courtroom stood and began applauding as the first detainees filed in, only to be shouted into silence by U.S. Marshal's Service officers, who threatened to eject those who did not sit down and remain quiet.
There was a different air about this court than in the past, when protesters and their family and friends had occasionally applauded comments and even burst into song or chants.
The shock of the bond requirement was stirred when the first protester, Linda M. Aguilar, a 19-year-old San Francisco college student, pleaded not guilty and attorney Bill Quigley asked for her release on her own recognizance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mel Hyde and U.S. Army Capt. David Anglin asked Faircloth instead to require a $5,000 bond, with at least a $500 deposit to
guarantee Aguilar's return."There's nothing to indicate she will not return," argued Quigley. The Loyola University law professor reminded Faircloth that 13 similar cases last year were handled with personal recognizance bonds, and all returned for trial. But these cases are different, with the government prosecution set within a matter of weeks, rather than months, said Anglin.
When Faircloth ruled the bond would be required, Quigley argued the protesters were being punished for involvement in a political activity and asked for the arraignments to be halted so he could immediately appeal that decision to U.S. District Court.
"This is for a criminal violation," Faircloth replied. "They're certainly not being punished for participating in a political dissent."
He denied the motion and called the next case.Other protesters promised Faircloth he could trust them to return without the bond requirement, but the judge told them he had known them for such a short time he would insist on a bond.
More than eight hours after the arraignments began, 50 of 85 jailed protesters had been before Faircloth. None were released without bond; two were denied bond.
John Doe, who said he would also answer to "Peace," told Faircloth he would not participate in the process by giving authorities his name. "With a little minor sleuthing, they can find out very easily who I am," he told the judge.
But Doe also asked Faircloth to release him on his own recognizance, based on his promise to return for trial.
"I'd love to come back here to trial and to put the School of the Americas on trial as well," he said.Faircloth denied bond and ordered him held pending trial. Eloy J. Garcia, 33, of Las Vegas, N.M., objected to giving marshals personal information he considered intrusive, although marshals told Faircloth the information has been required for decades by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and is needed before bond is posted.
Garcia relented, filled out most of the form and had posted the $500 deposit for release before marshals brought him back into the courtroom. The defendant refused to complete part of the form, Faircloth was told. "I don't think it's relevant where my parents live," said Garcia. The Mexican-American said he listed the names of an uncle and other relatives and friends who could be contacted concerning his whereabouts or activities, but would not give his parents' names or location.
Faircloth revoked Garcia's bond until he could research the issue. Michelle Lynn Lavalley of Boston originally refused to provide personal information, but relented, then protested that most of the protesters who are being required to post bond are church or charity workers who cannot afford it. The measure is "punitive and intended to cause inconvenience and nothing else," she told Faircloth.
Asked by the judge how she came to Columbus, she said her church supporters paid for her to come. Faircloth suggested the protesters' friends, colleagues and family could search for a means to help those who could not afford to post the $500 deposit. For those who cannot find a way to post the bond, he'll "revisit" the matter later in the week, he said.
The protesters, if convicted of trespass, face up to six months in federal prison and a $5,000 fine for the Class B misdemeanor faced by all except one protester.
Rachel Diane Shively, who was arrested Saturday on Fort Benning, faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted of the Class A misdemeanor with which she is charged.
Also facing a Class A misdemeanor, as well as the Class B offense, is Jeremieh Matthew John, who is accused of using a bolt cutter to cut the lock on the gate at the main entrance to Fort Benning on Sunday. Another protester, Karl Henry Meyer, 65, of Nashville, Tenn., pleaded not guilty Monday in Muscogee Municipal Court to obstruction of a law enforcement officer after he crossed into the restricted protest area on Fort Benning Road after refusing to be scanned by a metal detector.
Judge Haywood Turner set a $250 bond and bound the misdemeanor case to State Court for trial.
Meyer said he expects to win the trial, because the search violates the U.S. Constitution's protections guaranteeing the right to peaceful assembly and prohibiting intrusive searches. "If I am convicted, I'm confident I'll be exonerated on appeal," he told Turner.
Faircloth will resume arraignments for the remaining 35 jailed protesters at 9 a.m. today in Columbus Recorders Court Courtroom 2.
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