For more information about the School of the Americas and SOA Watch, see http://www.derechos.org/soaw/ or send email to soaw@derechos.org
>From the SOAW homepage:
School of the Americas Watch Close the School of Assassins
Vigil to Close the SOA Begins Today!! The US Army School of Assassins, based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. Graduates of the School of Assassins have been responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. Among the SOA's nearly 60,000 graduates are some of the most notorious dictators of Latin America: Manuel Noreiga and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia.
Lower-level graduates of the School of Assassins have been responsible for some of the most notorious massacres and human rights abuses including the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the El Mozote Massacre.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ CNN Weather Forecast for Columbus - looks good!! Symbol of Protest - Nov 13, 1997, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer The Making of a Protester - Nov. 13, 1997, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Left of Center - Nov. 13, 1997, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Hundreds to risk arrest to Close the SOA Download a petition - in Adobe PDF - It's free! SOA Awareness Walk - October 19 to November 13, 1997 Protest Schedule and places to stay - Special airfare from Dallas and good car rental deal at Atlanta airport! Going to the November Protest or looking for a ride? - This page may be able to help you SOA Funding Vote Loses 210-217 - September 4, 1997 - See how your Representative voted - Read the Floor discussion on the SOA North Central New York Conference United Methodist Church Resolution on the Closure of the School of the Americas - May 31, 1997 Demonstrate to close the SOA - Nov. 13-16, 1997 at Fort Benning, near Columbus, Georgia Join SOA Watch Delegation to Guatemala and El Salvador - Nov. 22 to Dec. 5, 1997
Act Now!!
Current cosponsors of HR 611 and S. 980 , the bills that would close the SOA - 122 so far for HR 611 and seven for S. 980!! Compose your letter online, print it out and send it your Congressional Representative. On February 5, 1997, Rep. Joe Kennedy introduced legislation in the US House of Representatives that would close the School of the Americas. On June 27, 1997, Senator Durbin introduced a companion bill in the Senate. You can help by writing your Congressional Representative and asking him/her to support HR 611 and asking your Senator to support S. 980. You can download an ASCII text version or a PDF version of HR 611, the House bill to close the School of Assassins. You can also get the ASCII text or PDF versions of S. 980. You need Adobe Acrobat in order to read the PDF documents. Who voted to close the SOA in 1993 and 1994? Click here!
News and Press Releases
The School of the Americas - Up Close - by Texas journalism student Joshua Fischer In Focus: U.S. Military Training for Latin America - by SOA Watch supporter and California State University Professor Robert Brophy School of Americas - by Linda Panetta, May 1997, in The Platypus New York Times Calls for Closure of the School of the Americas - April 4, 1997 Working to Close the 'School of Assassins' - by Carol Richardson, in Jan/Feb 1997 issue of Sojourners A Litany of Shame - Texas Observer editorial on the SOA, December 6, 1996 Father Roy Writes from Jail - from Catholic Digest Open Letter to the School of the Americas By Arnold J. Oliver, Vietnam Veteran and Professor of Political Science Fr. Bourgeois' letter to the Washington Post - Oct. 8, 1996 Fr. Bourgeois' letter to the New York Times - Oct. 8, 1996 Amnesty International USA Statement on School of the Americas - Oct. 4, 1996 School Bully - Creative Loafing, March 25, 1995 IC activists work to close training school for Latin American Military - Icon, an Iowa City weekly - Dec. 1995 Uncle Sam's School of Assassins - Washington Free Press, Aug./Sept. 1995
Reports
Rep. Joe Kennedy's Report on the SOA and Executive Summary - March 6, 1997 Rep. Joe Kennedy's Response to Pentagon Report - Feb. 21, 1997 Pentagon Admits School of the Americas Taught Torture - September 20, 1996 Government Accounting Office Report on the School of the Americas - text (August 1996) In Adobe Portable Document Format Intelligence Oversight Board cites SOA - July 1, 1996 UN Truth Commission Report on El Salvador - 1993
Previous Protests
Seven Arrested in SOA Protest - Sep. 29, 1997 Capital Campesinos and Pentagon Police - Paddy Inman's story of the Pentagon SOA Protest, May 21, 1997 NPR's All Things Considered Coverage of the Pentagon protest - April 29, 1997 (RealAudio needed.) Grave Diggers Arrested at Pentagon for Protesting SOA - April 28, 1997 One Thousand Expected for Protest of the US Army School of the Americas - April 22, 1997 Schedule of Events for Vigil and Lobby Action to Close the School of the Americas - April 19 to 29, 1997 Protest to close the School of the Americas, April 19-29, 1997 in Washington, D.C. Article by Ed Kinane about his experience being arrested for protesting to close the SOA My Trip to the School of Assassins Protest - by Andy McKenna Bury My Cross at the SOA - Paddy Inman's story of the Nov. 16, 1996, SOA Protest at Fort Benning Sixty arrested at vigil to close the School of the Americas - Nov. 16, 1996 Three Hundred Religious Leaders Hold Prayer Vigil to Close the School of the Americas - August 16, 1996
Interviews with SOA Watch
NPR's Talk of the Nation - 7/23/97 with Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, author of School of Assasins and Steven M. Schneebaum, Board of Visitors of the SOA (RealAudio needed.) Transcript of Interview with Father Bourgeois - January 21, 1997 Interview with Carol Richardson of SOA Watch on Mike Thornton's Full Logic Reverse radio show [You need RealAudio to listen to the interview]
Books and Videos
School of Assassins A 200-page book on the SOA and the efforts by SOA Watch to shut it down. School of Assassins an 18-minute documentary about the School of the Americas; nominated for an Academy Award in 1995. Inside the School of Assassins A 1-hour documentary that updates and expands School of Assassins with testimony from those trained by the SOA and victimized by its graduates.
The U.S. Army SOA Site by the SOA Public Affairs Office. See what the SOA has to say about its human rights record and its use of manuals that taught torture, extortion, and other illegal methods. (Hint: Don't spend too much time looking - they don't have anything to say)
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Contact SOA Watch
For more information or to donate or help, please email us or contact: School of the Americas Watch Fr. Roy Bourgeois P.O. Box 3330 Columbus, GA 31903-0330 (706) 682-5369SOA Watch - DC Office Carol Richardson 1719 Irving Street NW Washington, DC 20010-2612 Phone/Fax (202) 234-3440
The SOAW homepage is maintained by Mike Katz-Lacabe and Margarita Lacabe. Last Updated November 13, 1997.
For more information about the School of the Americas and SOA Watch, see http://www.derechos.org/soaw/ or send email to soaw@derechos.org
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Peace!
Rob, Sector Air Raid Warden at Rob's Place A SITE DEDICATED TO SPIRIT, TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE, AND FREEDOM http://www.vom.com/rc/home.htm
WHEN SPIDERS UNITE, THEY CAN TIE DOWN A LION --Ethiopian Proverb
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