SOA Watch/NE
6367 Overbrook Avenue ~ Philadelphia, PA 19151
Tel: (215) 473-2162 or (215) 477-5892
www.soawne.org
For Immediate Release
March 15, 2000
1,000 to Gather in Protest of the U.S. Army School of the Americas
On Saturday, March 25, one thousand people, representing more
than 50 schools, churches, religious and community organizations,
veterans, and others are expected to gather at the steps of the
Philadelphia Art Museum to
rally for the closing of the U.S. Army School of the Americas
(SOA), located at Ft. Benning, Georgia. A procession, led by
people carrying coffins and hundreds of wooden crosses inscribed
with the names of SOA victims, will also occur.
March 25th will commemorate the martyrs of Latin America, notably, Archbishop Oscar Romero who was gunned down while saying Mass -- by soldiers trained at the SOA. We will also commemorate Guatemalan Bishop Juan Gerardi, who was bludgeoned to death in 1998, just hours after the Archdiocesan human rights report he helped produce was made public. Among the most notorious human rights violators cited in this report--including top leaders of Guatemala's death squad--were officers trained at the SOA. Just last month the Guatemalan government released the names of those responsible for Gerardi's murder. Of the three officers cited, one is an SOA graduate.
Fr. Roy Bourgeois, decorated veteran and founder of SOA Watch; Carlos Chen Osorio, a survivor of the Rio Negro massacre in Guatemala; the former roving Ambassador of Nicaragua, Magda Enriquez-Beitler; and Philadelphia Councilman Angel Ortiz will be among the speakers at the event. Folk legend Tom Paxton & acclaimed Irish musician Mick Moloney will perform during the rally and at a benefit concert that evening.
Costing US taxpayers millions of dollars annually, the SOA trains approximately 1,000 Latin American soldiers each year at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Frequently dubbed "School of Assassins," the SOA has trained some of the most notorious human rights abusers in our hemisphere. Among their ranks are military dictators, drug traffickers, and death squad leaders, including those responsible for the rape and murder of four U.S. churchwomen, the assassination of 6 Jesuit priests and two co-workers, and the massacre of more than 900 at El Mozote, El Salvador.
In 1996, the Department of Defense announced that for years manuals used at the SOA advocated the use of assassinations, extortion, false imprisonment, and the torturing of civilians. Last year, under growing congressional scrutiny, funds for the School of the Americas were cut by the House by a vote of 230-197. It was later defeated in the House-Senate Conference Committee by one vote.
The growing opposition to the SOA includes more
than 200 Catholic bishops, including over 50 from Latin America
who have called for its closure. The New Jersey and New York
State Assemblies, the Philadelphia City Council, the national
councils of the NAACP and the AFL-CIO, and hundreds of other
churches and organizations have also passed resolutions to close
the SOA.
Schedule of Events: Saturday, March
25, beginning at 2:00 PM at the steps
of the Philadelphia Art Museum. A procession to the
Basilica will begin at 4:00 PM. Included will be student
organized street theater, Mayan ceremonial dancers,
music by Tom Paxton & Mick Moloney,
and speakers.
At 7:30 PM, there will be a benefit concert performed by Tom Paxton, Mick Moloney Political Satirist Dave Lippman, and others at the Community College of Philadelphia.
For more information contact Linda
Panetta at SOA Watch/NE (215) 473-2162
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