Subject: M-G: Fw: (Fwd) 597 arrested protesting the School of the Americas
From: companiero-AT-gbso.net
Date: 17 Nov 1997 09:32:45




Forwarded by Liam R.Flynn <trinity-AT-hot-shot.com>
---------------- Original message follows ----------------
 From: companiero-AT-gbso.net
 To: Recipients of conference <iww-news-AT-igc.apc.org>
 Date: 17 Nov 1997 09:32:45
 Subject: (Fwd) 597 arrested protesting the School of the Americas
--

November 16, 1997

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Katz-Lacabe (706) 682-5369



597 ARRESTED PROTESTING THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS

Five hundred and ninety-seven protesters were arrested today as they sought
to deliver petitions with more than 100,000 signatures calling for the
closing of the US Army School of the Americas (SOA). The demonstrators --
including priest, nuns, veteran s, college students and peace activists --
marched in a silent funeral procession to the School of the Americas'
headquarters two miles inside the Ft. Benning Army base in Georgia. Pall
bearers led the procession with eight coffins holding the petitions. Lines
of mourners followed with crosses bearing the names of SOA victims.

Nearly 2,000 people gathered outside Ft. Benning during the four-day vigil
that culminated with the funeral march. November 16 marks the 8th
anniversary of the brutal massacre of six Jesuit priests and their two
women co-workers in El Salvador. Nine teen of the 26 Salvadoran officers
cited for the massacre were trained at the School of the Americas.

A recently-released Inspector General's Report criticized the School for
inadequate oversight of training materials. The IG investigation was
ordered after the DOD released the content of seven Spanish-language SOA
manuals that condoned torture, bl ackmail, and assassination.

At an annual cost of $20 million dollars to US taxpayers, the SOA trains
900-2000 soldiers a year. The SOA has been nicknamed the "School of the
Assassins" by its opponents because its graduates repeatedly have been
linked with assassinations and oth er human rights abuses in Latin America.
To date, critics have documented that one in every 100 SOA graduates has
been involved in human rights abuses, drug trafficking or other criminal
activity. Graduates of the Ft. Benning School made up over two-thi rds of
the Salvadoran officers cited by the 1993 UN Truth Commission Report for
atrocities during El Salvador's bloody civil war.

In September, by a vote of 210 to 217, the US House of Representatives
narrowly defeated an attempt to cut SOA funds. Legislative efforts to close
the School will continue into 1998. Two bills are pending: HR611, sponsored
by Rep. Joseph Kennedy (M A), and S980, sponsored by Sen. Richard Durbin
(IL). ###


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