School of the Americas
After years of peace and justice work in Central America, I was finally able to join thousands of people from all over the Americas for protest and civil disobedience at Fort Benning, Georgia. We gathered from November 17-19th at the main entrance of Fort Benning’s infamous School of the Americas (SOA).
In El Salvador, in November 1989, six Jesuit priests, their co-worker, and her 13-year-old daughter were
assassinated. A United Nations Truth Commission revealed that 19 of the 26 army officers responsible for this horrendous act were trained at the U.S. Army School of the Americas. The institution has trained more than 60,000 Latin American soldiers who have left a trail of torture, rape and murder in every country to which they have returned. SOA-trained troops consistently head the list of human rights abusers in Latin America.

Boy in El Mozote with US-made bullet shell
Photo: Viktoria Hertling

Grassroots opposition to the School of the Americas and its training in torture techniques has a long history of acts of civil disobedience. It began in 1990. Across the country and beyond our borders, people have lobbied Congress and worked to educate their communities about SOA-sponsored violence. 50 people have collectively served 30 years of prison time for acts of civil disobedience.
The Pentagon has been forced to take this resistance seriously, resulting in a PR campaign to give the school a new image. Yet in the recent scandals against Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, his top Intelligence Chief and “most trusted counselor,” SOA-trained Vladimore Contusions, has been implicated in human rights abuses including torture, murder, and disappearances.
Ongoing paramilitary violence in Colombia has been linked by Human Rights Watch and the U.S. State Department to SOA-trained officers. Thus, actions to force the close of the SOA continue. U.S. citizens continue to attempt to end the training of killers with our tax money.
Crossing onto Fort Benning is an act of federal trespass. As a “first-timer,” I was told that it was highly unlikely that I would be arrested, or even cited. At last year’s protest, only 14 of the nearly 10,000 protesters were arrested.
But sometimes, things don’t go as expected. I never knew, for instance, that Georgia could be so cold! The weather during our protest was miserable—unseasonable cold and continuous rain throughout the weekend. Nonetheless, on Saturday, 6500 of us listened to speakers and sang of peace and justice (with the likes of Pete Seeger, among others!) throughout the day at the entrance to Fort Benning.

Boys in Nicaragua
Photo: Viktoria Hertling

The ongoing protest at the School of the Americas must be working. For the entire month of December, the School was closed; it re-opened in January 2001 with a new name (The Western Hemisphere Institute for Strategic Concerns) and a hoped-for new (“We don’t train Latin American assassins here!”) image. As part of this new make-over the commander who served for several decades retired.
A massive arrest must have been his going-away present to us. On Sunday, 3800 of us “crossed the line.” Holding crosses (mine had a Jewish star) bearing the names and ages of those who lost their lives to graduates of the School of the Americas, we unlawfully crossed onto Fort Benning property. In lines of 10-across, our funeral procession was a long one. As we walked, names of the victims were chanted into the rain, with us marchers responding with the Spanish word Presente (Here!). It is difficult to describe how moving an experience this was.
Then we were asked to board buses. 1700 of us (yes, including Martin Sheen!) were driven to tents and eventually “processed”—that is, arrested for criminal trespass. We were photographed, finger-printed, and finally given a “ban and bar” letter. That letter bans us from Fort Benning for the next 5 years. Anyone who defies that ban faces up to six months in federal prison and a possible $5000 fine.
I hope to return to Fort Benning next year to protest its newly named school. It is unlikely that I will again “cross the line.” Arresting 1700 of us might surely put a dent in this act of civil disobedience. So, we are committed to bringing back with us two others who will cross in our place. Instead of our numbers being diminished, we hope they will be doubled. Anyone interested? Call me at 775-747-5508.
In the meantime, write/fax/e-mail your U.S. Representative and ask him/her to support HR 732, Representative Moakley’s bill to close the SOA. The same message should go to your U.S. Senator asking him/her to co-sponsor S873 by Senator Durbin. If you are interested in more information on all of this, there is a web site at: http://www.soaw.org. And you can receive the newsletter of SOA Watch by sending your address to them at P.O. Box 4566, Washington DC 20017. And, of course, SOA Watch always accepts donations.

Boys in El Mozote, El Salvador
Photo: Viktoria Hertling

Before we crossed onto Fort Benning, a memorial service for the victims of its graduates was held. Martin Sheen spoke. He made a few humorous references to his role as President on television’s “West Wing” show. And then he said, “But, seriously. You all know what I do for a living. This is what I do to stay alive.” None of us could have said it better.

Rabbi Myra Soifer (Temple Sinai - Reno, Nevada)

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