School of the Americas Watch

Last updated

School of the Americas Watch is an advocacy organization founded by former Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois and a group of supporters in 1990 to protest the training of mainly Latin American military officers, by the United States Department of Defense, at the School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning). Most notably, SOA Watch conducts a vigil each November at the site of the academy, located on the grounds of Fort Moore, to protest human rights abuses committed by some graduates of the academy or under their leadership, including murders, rapes and torture and contraventions of the Geneva Conventions. [1] Military officials state that even if graduates commit war crimes after they return to their home country, the school itself should not be held accountable for their actions. Responding to "mounting protests", [2] [3] which were spearheaded by SOA Watch, the United States Congress renamed the School of the Americas the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), rather than closing the academy, in 2000. In addition, all students must undergo a minimum of eight hours of class on human rights and the principle of civilian control of the military.

Contents

Origins

Inspired by the case of slain Archbishop Óscar Romero, who said "we who have a voice must speak for the voiceless," former priest Roy Bourgeois, Larry Rosebaugh OMI, and Linda Ventimiglia posed as military officers and crossed into Ft. Benning in 1983. The two men and a woman climbed a tree near the barracks housing Salvadoran troops and read the final homily of Archbishop Oscar Romero through megaphones. Bourgeois and his companions were arrested and Bourgeois was sentenced to 18 months in prison for trespassing onto Federal property. [4]

Bourgeois and his followers began to research the School of the Americas, conduct public education campaigns, lobby Congress, and practice nonviolent resistance at the School of the Americas facilities.

Following the November 1989 murders of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter at the Central American University in El Salvador in which graduates of the School of the Americas were involved, [5] [6] SOA Watch organized an annual protest to be held on the anniversary of the massacre beginning the next year. The event has been held every year since then.

Objectives

Mission statement [7]

SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement working to close the SOA / WHINSEC and similar centers that train state actors such as military, law enforcement and border patrol. We strive to expose, denounce, and end US militarization, oppressive US policies and other forms of state violence in the Americas. We act in solidarity with organizations and movements working for justice and peace throughout the Americas.

Non-violent demonstrations

Protest demonstrations are staged by SOA Watch at the main gate of Fort Moore in November each year, in commemoration of the anniversary of the 1989 murders of Jesuits in El Salvador. The growing annual protest has remained a major focus for SOA Watch and the grassroots movement to close the SOA/WHINSEC, which likewise has grown throughout the Americas since the first protest in 1990. The original band of ten resisters who marched onto the then-Fort Benning and splashed blood upon the School of Americas to commemorate the first anniversary of the UCA massacre has grown in recent years to a community of 10,000. People come from across the country and around the globe to honor victims of crimes committed by students of the School of the Americas, as well as their survivors, with music, words, puppets and theatre.

Traditionally the legal vigil and memorial service concludes with a mock funeral procession, using the Presente! litany, onto Fort Moore, with all who choose to march onto the post trespassing on federal property and subject to arrest. Subsequent to 9/11 and the erection of a security fence at the main gate of Fort Moore in 2001, protesters who wish to take their mourning onto the post need to go over, under, or around that fence, as opposed to the simple marching of the past.

At the 2002 protest, the city of Columbus began requiring all attending the event to submit to a metal detector search at the designated entrance. After a lengthy legal battle, however, in October 2004 the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the forced search was unconstitutional.

In 2004, the Army added a second fence topped by razor wire, and erected a third fence in 2005.

On November 20, 2005, roughly 20,000 protesters attended the vigil, "remembering those who have been silenced by SOA violence". Forty protesters climbed over or under the fence and were arrested by military police. Columbus police also arrested bystanders, including some who lifted the fence. Since protests against the school began, 183 people have cumulatively served over 81 years in prison for their civil disobedience.

On November 19, 2006, over 22,000 protesters attended the vigil, a record high attendance number. On December 3, 2006, Georgia Public Radio broadcast "The Sounds of Protest at the School of the Americas", an hour-long documentary with audio collected at the 2006 protest. "Sounds of Protest" Audio Documentary

On November 20, 2010, at least 20 people attending the vigil were arrested, including Kaelyn Forde, a journalist from Russia Today, and her cameraman, Jon Conway. They were charged with unlawful assembly, demonstrating without a permit and failing to obey a police order to disperse. Forde and Conway were jailed for 29 hours before they were released the following day on $1,300 bond each. Both workers maintain they were "wrongfully arrested". [8]

Over the years dozens of prominent actors, musicians, and authors have appeared at and participated in SOA Watch demonstrations including musicians Pete Seeger, Amy Ray and David Rovics, Actors Martin Sheen and Susan Sarandon, and poet and author Brett Axel.

In 1994 Richter Productions released a short documentary movie, The School of Assassins, narrated by Susan Sarandon. [9]

In 1999 Zeropanik Press released a poetry anthology, Will Work For Peace, edited by Brett Axel, dedicated to The SOA Watch. [10]

Presente! litany

The Presente! litany is a memorial litany in which the names of people killed in political repression (usually in Central and South America) are recited. This litany is used at the annual memorial service held at the gates of the School of the Americas in Columbus, Georgia, for those killed by graduates of the school. [11] In Spanish, "Presente" means "here" or "present", when responding to a roll call.

The tradition of reading names of those killed by politically repressive regimes has a long tradition in Latin America. At the funeral of Pablo Neruda on September 25, 1973 in Chile, Hernán Loyola reports that mourners responded with "Presente" (meaning "he/she (the victim) is here") to the shouting out of Neruda's name, as well as that of Salvador Allende, the recently deposed (and killed) president:

Two days later Neruda's body was taken out of the ransacked house. Loyola recollected: "A considerable group of workers and students had gathered outside in the street, and I heard the first shouts: 'Comrade Pablo Neruda!' someone yelled and all the others answered: 'Present!' The cortege left in a defiant column (any massive demonstration was, of course, forbidden) ... and the column grew along the way. Arriving at the general Cemetery along the Avenida de la Paz, the funeral became an impressive popular protest, the first since September 11 ... I confess I was frozen with fear, because the people began singing the Internationale in a crescendo. Suddenly, I found that I had my fist in the air and was singing. Soldiers, armed to the teeth, surrounded the square opposite the cemetery and I sincerely believed that, in a matter of seconds, they would let off a round of machine-gun fire. When someone in a loud voice began to shout: 'Comrade Pablo Neruda!' we all answered 'Present! [12]

The dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet had begun two weeks earlier with the bombardment of the governmental palace, and would last for 17 years.

¡Presente! newspaper

The movement to close the School of the Americas (formerly known as the SOA Watch Update) publishes a newspaper, ¡Presente!, three times a year which is sent to approximately 50,000 subscribers. [11] The purpose of the newspaper is to give updates about the state of the campaign and of events and developments of the movement.

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation</span> United States Department of Defense school at Fort Moore in Columbus, Georgia

The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly known as the School of the Americas, is a United States Department of Defense school located at Fort Moore in Columbus, Georgia, renamed in the 2001 National Defense Authorization Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfredo Cristiani</span> President of El Salvador from 1989 to 1994

Alfredo Félix Cristiani Burkard is a Salvadoran politician who was President of El Salvador from 1989 to 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Bourgeois</span> American activist and former Catholic priest (born 1938)

Roy Bourgeois is an American activist, a former Catholic priest, and the founder of the human rights group School of the Americas Watch. He is the 1994 recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award and the 2011 recipient of the American Peace Award and also has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Kazel</span> Catholic missionary raped and murdered by the military of El Salvador

Dorothy Kazel, OSU, was an American Ursuline religious sister and missionary to El Salvador. On December 2, 1980, she was beaten, raped, and murdered along with three fellow missionaries – Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford, Maura Clarke and laywoman Jean Donovan – by members of the military of El Salvador.

Carlos Mauricio was a professor of Agricultural Sciences at the University of El Salvador until his extrajudicial kidnapping by Salvadoran death squads in June 1983. He was tortured by the military under the command of then Minister of Defense, Gen. Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova. On his release, he fled to the U.S., where his first job was as a dishwasher. He learned English and earned a graduate Certificate in Molecular Genetics, a teaching credential and an MA in Adult Education. In 2002, supported by the Center for Justice and Accountability, he won a lawsuit against General Vides Casanova for Casanova's command responsibility in Mauricio's kidnapping and torture. Mauricio was awarded significant punitive and compensatory damages against Vides Casanova. Vides Casanova is one of many Salvadoran human rights abusers with links to the notorious School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia, and in 1985 was a guest speaker at the school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvadoran Civil War</span> 1979–1992 conflict in El Salvador

The Salvadoran Civil War was a twelve-year civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador, backed by the United States, and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition of left-wing guerilla groups backed by the Cuban regime of Fidel Castro as well as the Soviet Union. A coup on 15 October 1979 followed by government killings of anti-coup protesters is widely seen as the start of civil war. The war did not formally end until after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when, on 16 January 1992 the Chapultepec Peace Accords were signed in Mexico City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Sobrino</span> Spanish Jesuit and theologian (born 1938)

Jon Sobrino is a Spanish Jesuit Catholic priest and theologian, known mostly for his contributions to Latin American liberation theology. He received worldwide attention in 2007 when the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a notification for what they termed doctrines that are "erroneous or dangerous and may cause harm to the faithful."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pablo Neruda</span> Chilean poet and politician (1904–1973)

Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old and wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poems, historical epics, political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and passionate love poems such as the ones in his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xiong Yan (dissident)</span> Chinese-American human rights activist, military officer and Protestant chaplain

Xiong Yan is a Chinese-American human rights activist, military officer, and Protestant chaplain. He was a dissident involved in 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Xiong Yan studied at Peking University Law School from 1986 to 1989. He came to the United States of America as a political refugee in 1992, and later became a chaplain in U.S. Army, serving in Iraq. Xiong Yan is the author of three books, and has earned six degrees. He ran for Congress in New York's 10th congressional district in 2022, and his campaign was reportedly attacked by agents of China's Ministry of State Security.

Gwen Hennessey, O.S.F., is a Roman Catholic Franciscan Sister and peace activist, most widely known for her protests against the School of the Americas.

Dorothy Marie Hennessey, O.S.F., was a Roman Catholic Franciscan Religious Sister and activist involved with the Peace and Justice movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Militarization Resistance</span> American anti-war movement

Port Militarization Resistance (PMR) is an anti-war movement in the United States. The movement began in May 2006, in Olympia, Washington, but also has chapters in Tacoma, Washington, Grays Harbor, Washington, and the Mid-Atlantic region. Port Militarization Resistance is also the name of the strategy employed by this movement. Adherents of the PMR strategy advocate an end to the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan to be accomplished through making civilian-owned ports inaccessible to the military, with less emphasis on persuading elected officials to abandon the war. PMR organized high-profile protests at the Port of Olympia and the Port of Tacoma in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.

<i>Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair</i> 1924 poetry collection by Pablo Neruda

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair is a poetry collection by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Published in June 1924, the book launched Neruda to fame at the young age of 19 and is one of the most renowned literary works of the 20th century in the Spanish language. The book has been translated into many languages; in English, the translation was made by poet W. S. Merwin in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Honduras</span>

Serious issues involving human rights in Honduras through the end of 2013 include unlawful and arbitrary killings by police and others, corruption and institutional weakness of the justice system, and harsh and at times life-threatening prison conditions.

Alice Gerard is a journalist and peace activist who lives in Buffalo, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre</span>

The 21st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre began as a small march to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in Hong Kong. Hong Kong and Macau are the only places on Chinese soil where the 1989 crushing of China's pro-democracy movement can be commemorated, and the annual event to commemorate has been taking place in Hong Kong since 1990.

The 10th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre (10周年六四遊行) was a series of rallies – street marches, parades, and candlelight vigils – that took place in late May to early June 1999 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 4 June 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. The anniversary of the event, during which the Chinese government sent troops to suppress pro-democracy movement and many people are thought to have perished, is remembered around the world in public open spaces and in front of many Chinese embassies in Western countries. On Chinese soil, any mention of the event is completely taboo in mainland China; events which mark it only take place in Hong Kong, and in Macao to a much lesser extent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 murders of Jesuits in El Salvador</span> Massacre of civilians by Salvadoran soldiers

During the Salvadoran Civil War, on 16 November 1989, Salvadoran Army soldiers killed six Jesuits and two women, the caretaker's wife and daughter, at their residence on the campus of Central American University in San Salvador, El Salvador. Polaroid photos of the Jesuits' bullet-riddled bodies were on display in the hallway outside the chapel, and a memorial rose garden was planted beside the chapel to commemorate the murders.

General Williams Kaliman Romero is the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Bolivia. On 10 November 2019, he called for the resignation of President Evo Morales after a disputed election, amid ongoing protests. Morales was seeking a 4th term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thiago de Mello</span> Brazilian author (1926–2022)

Amadeu Thiago de Mello, published as Thiago de Mello, was a Brazilian poet, writer, translator, and environmental activist. He was among the most appreciated writers in the country and especially as an icon of Amazonian regional literature. His work has been translated into numerous languages.

References

  1. ↑ "SOA Manuals". SOA Watch. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  2. ↑ Patrick Mulvaney (November 28, 2005). "SOA Protests to Focus on Torture". The Nation . Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  3. ↑ Patrick Mulvaney (November 12, 2007). "SOA Protest Draws Scant Support From Candidates". The Nation. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  4. ↑ Rosebaugh, Larry (2006). To Wisdom through Failure: A Journey of Compassion, Resistance and Hope. Washington, DC: EPICA. pp. 141–148. ISBN   0918346371.
  5. ↑ "The Jesuits Massacre Case: El Salvador: Justice for the Murders of November 16, 1989". The Center for Justice and Accountability. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  6. ↑ The Jesuit massacre - The Hague Justice Portal. Retrieved November 20, 2010. Archived January 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ "About SOA Watch". SOA Watch. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Russian TV news crew arrested filming Ga. protest". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. November 22, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
  9. ↑ "School of the Americas Assassins". IMDb .
  10. ↑ "Will Work for Peace: New Political Poems".
  11. 1 2 "About Us". ¡Presente!. SOA Watch. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  12. ↑ "More blood than ink: Edited extracts from Pablo Neruda: A Biography, by Adam Feinstein" in The Guardian Saturday July 3, 2004. Reprinted January 2005 in Lalkar Online at http://www.lalkar.net/2005/01/pablo-neruda-birth-centenary-year/
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.