U.S.
TERRORIST TRAINING FACILITY DRAWS
OVER 10,000 PROTESTERS
More
Than 50 Arrested After Penetrating Ft. Benning's High Security
Fence ~
Columbus Police Suite Up in Full Riot Gear to Arrest 30 Encamped
at Entrance
School of the
Americas Watch/NE
Contact: Linda Panetta (215) 473-2162
Over 10,000 united in protest of the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA), located at Ft. Benning, GA -- 50 were arrested after penetrating Ft. Benning's high security fence on November 18. An additional 30 who were encamped in front of the entrance were arrested by Columbus police.
The civil disobedience occurred simultaneously as thousands partook in a solemn funeral procession to commemorate the lives of victims of SOA-trained soldiers. Participants, carrying crosses inscribed with the names of those killed, photos, flowers, and other memorabilia created a massive memorial at the gate. The march was led by a group dressed in black shrouds and at the end of the procession, a beautifully choreographed puppet pageant filled the streets with high energy. Major Joseph Blair, a former instructor at the SOA was a puppetista at Saturday's SOA Watch gathering and joined the procession on Sunday.
The spirit of those gathered were charged throughout the day as thousands danced in the streets to the collective of musicians from across the US, the Andean group Llajtasuyo, and the drum beating of a contingent of "black block" protesters. The diversity was incredible as young and old stood side by side to demand the closure of the SOA/WHISC.
A variety of affinity group actions added many different creative components to the vigil. The first action involved those donned in black shrouds. As they approached the gate carrying coffins, they fell to the ground and covered themselves with red paint, symbolizing a massacre. Throughout the afternoon approximately fifty human rights activists, poised in a variety of affinity group clusters, were arrested by military police after they penetrated the Ft. Benning base in an attempt to reach the School of the Americas. Many who went limp while being arrested were detained at the Muscogee County Jail and held until Monday afternoon. Another group of approximately 30 activists who were encamped in front of the main entrance of the base were arrested Sunday night around 10 PM by Columbus police and released the following day.
Ft. Benning is a U.S. Army infantry-training base. It hosts the School of Americas (renamed the "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation" (WHISC)). Since 1946, SOA/WHISC has trained tens of thousands of Latin American soldiers in counter-insurgency tactics.
Human rights organizations have linked hundreds of SOA grads to widespread terrorism, including civilian-targeted killings, torture, and disappearances. SOA-trained soldiers have targeted the poor and indigenous groups in Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and elsewhere throughout Latin America.
The growing opposition to the SOA includes more than 150 U.S. bishops, including 15 Archbishops, and over 140 Latin American bishops who have called for its closure. The New Jersey and New York State Assemblies, the Philadelphia City Council, the national council of the NAACP, the AFL-CIO, and hundreds of other churches and organizations have passed resolution to close the SOA.
Human rights activists--who are part of the 26 who received sentences of up to a year in federal prison for participating in the 2000 protest--are still incarcerated in prisons around the country. Over the years, 70 SOA Watch activists have cumulatively served 40 years in prison.
Although the Pentagon has attempted to recast the SOA as a center for counter-narcotics, only a small minority of soldiers have actually taken counter-narcotics courses. Furthermore, former SOA instructor, Major Joseph Blair, states "The SOA was the best place a Latin American officer could go to launder his drug money."