March 20 - SOAW Rally... Commemoration

Join Us in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador to Commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Archbishop Romero's* Assassination & to Call for an End to the War in Iraq!

Let Your Voice Be Heard…
No More Victims! No to Impunity! End the Occupation of Iraq! Ya Basta!
Yes! to Closing Down the US Terrorist Training Facility - the SOA / WHINSEC!

Partial list of speakers:

Fr. Roy Bourgeois is a Vietnam Veteran, and recipient of the Purple Heart. He is the founder and co-director of School of the Americas (SOA) Watch. He travels extensively lecturing about the SOA and U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. He has spent over four years in U.S. federal prisons for nonviolent protests against the training of Latin American soldiers at Ft. Benning, GA.

Thomas M. Griffin, Esq. is a founding partner of Morley Surin & Griffin, P.C. where he practices Immigration and Nationality Law. Prior to becoming a lawyer Tom earned a Masters Degree in Forensic Psychology and he spent 10 years as a Federal Probation & Parole Officer in Brooklyn and Boston. Tom is conversant in Spanish and Haitian Creole. With a special interest in human rights, he recently was part of a delegation to Mexico, which investigated the unsolved murder of human rights attorney Digna Ochoa, and the human rights abuses perpetrated by Mexican soldiers on poor indigenous populations.

Linda Panetta: Founder of SOA Watch/NE and is an accomplished photojournalist. She has been working on issues in Latin America for the past 18 years. Over the past few years she has traveled to Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Chiapas and Haiti to document and expose the US exploits of the "War on Terrorism."

Robert McIlvaine: Steering Committee member of Sept 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. His son Bobby was killed on 9/11/01. Robert is a former teacher of the Acute Care Facility of Crozer-Chester Hospital where he worked with children and adolescents. Robert has spoken extensively about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq and recently returned from Colombia.

Alain NANA - is a survivor of torture from Cameroon where he was a medical physician and was also responsible for neuropsychological assessments and treating psychiatric illnesses. He is currently a case manager at the Liberty Center. Alain is a member of the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC) and an activist who has committed himself to speaking out against all forms of oppression and torture.

Elena Maria DiGiovanna: born in Bogotá, Colombia, Elena first became involved in the SOA issue during her undergraduate studies at LaSalle University. She has traveled to Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico to better understand human rights violations, and socio-economic situations. She will soon earn an MSW (Masters of Social Work in International and Community Development) and currently interns at the Women's Int'l League for Peace and Freedom in Philadelphia, and volunteers w/Action Aids.

Johanna Berrigan: Co-founded the House of Grace Catholic Worker House, as well as a medical clinic in Philadelphia which offers free healthcare for the poor. For the past 7 years Johanna has been committed to affecting change in Iraq and has been very active in solidarity work with Haiti.

Pat Gunn: is a Navy veteran whose son, Jason - one of triplets, was severely wounded in Iraq with leg and head injuries. He was shipped back to Iraq despite strong recommendations by doctors that he was not physically or mentally ready to return. Pat is a member of Military Families Speak Out!, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), and Veterans for Peace.

* Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of San Salvador passionately declared these words as he spoke truth to power in a time of great trial in El Salvador. In the midst of a civil war, when tens of thousands of innocent Salvadoran civilians were being murdered, Romero was a voice for the voiceless. He was a person of faith who denounced human rights abuses, advocated for the poor and never lost hope for a future of peace with justice.

On March 24, 1980, human rights champion, Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, was targeted and assassinated by graduates of the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) - located at Fort Benning, GA and renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC).

Join with labor, students, people of faith, and peace activists from around the region to commemorate his life, to remember all victims of terrorism and oppression, and to demand an end to all forms of violence!

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Boyle Energy
Brandywine Peace Community
CATA/Farmworkers Support Committee
Call to Action
Catholic Coalition for Justice & Peace
Catholic Peace Fellowship
Chestnut Hill College
Christian Association - UPenn
Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)
Delco Pledge
El Salvador Sister Cities - Los Amates
Green Party of Philadelphia
Guatemala Support Network
House of Grace Catholic Worker
International Mayan League
Jean Donovan Community Peace Center
Lehigh-Pocono Committee of Concern
Mariposa Outreach Project
Martha House Catholic Worker
Maryknoll Missioners
Pax Christi - Monmouth County
Philadelphia Catholic Worker
Romero Interfaith Center
Rosemont College
Rowan University-Progressive Student Alliance
School of the Americas Watch/NE
Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Saint Joseph
Sisters of Saint Francis
Spiral Q
St. Joseph's University Campus Ministry
St. Malachy's Church
St. Vincent DePaul Church-Peace and Justice Committee
Student Environmental Action Coalition
UFCW Local 1776
U.S.- El Salvador Sister Cities
Veterans For Peace
Villanova Univ. Cntr for Peace & Justice
White Dog Café
Women's Int'l League for Peace & Freedom
Wooden Shoe Books