victoria SCMer heads south to oppose school of the
americas!
nov 19-22
fort benning, georgia, usa
SCM Victoria is sending Emma, one of our members, far south on a pilgrimage to
the School of the Americas (SOA), a notorious U.S. army school which has trained
torturers, assassins and dictators throughout Latin America. She will join thousands
of people of faith at the gates in protest.
Emma's Letter
Dear Friend,
Last minute,
as you might have noticed, I am joining a caravan of caring and angry young
Christians that will leave Toronto for Fort Benning Georgia on Nov 19th.
We are going
to the School of America’s protest, now named the Western Hemisphere Institute
for Security Cooperation (WHISC). We will take vans down and stop at
churches along the way, as well as stopping for a non-violence workshop,
since we will
be attending an act of civil disobedience 10, 000 people strong.
I have been to the SOA protest before. In 2000 I went with my family and
witnessed the procession of peaceful protesters cross the line onto the
school, trespassing and therefore risking arrest. In January there were
27 people sentenced to jail or arrest for nonviolent actions against the WHISC. I
think that the excerpt below, taken from the SOA Watch website says why these people would be willing to risk jail time for this cause.
"Among the SOA's nearly 60,000 graduates are notorious dictators Manuel
Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola
of Argentina,
Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo
Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. SOA graduates were responsible for the Uraba
massacre in Colombia, the El Mozote massacre of 900 civilians in El Salvador, the
assassination
of
Archbishop Oscar Romero, and the Jesuit massacre in El Salvador, the La
Cantuta massacre in Peru, the torture and murder of a UN worker in Chile,
and hundreds
of other human rights abuses.
In September 1996, under intense pressure
from religious and grassroots groups, the Pentagon released seven Spanish-language
training manuals used at the SOA until 1991. The New York Times reported, "Americans
can now read for themselves some of the noxious lessons the United States
Army taught thousands of Latin Americans... [The SOA manuals] recommended
interrogation
techniques like torture, execution, blackmail and arresting the relatives
of those being questioned."
These actions were enforced by a school that is running in the USA today and
continues to teach combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics
to young Latin Americans. I am going to the protest this year to represent the Student
Christian Movement (SCM: We have the bible in one hand and the newspaper in the
other), and will be happy to follow up about my experience to anyone interested. (I
will be writing an article for the Island Catholic News.)
There will be traveling expenses; accommodation, food, etc. So if you
can spare a small donation it would be greatly appreciated. E-mail
Victoria SCM for more info on how you or your church can help.
Thanks,
In
peace,
Emma
Hillian
P.S.
Dead fish go with the flow.
For more information on SOA, visit School
of the Americas Watch |
