School of the Americas: Time to end a horrific legacy

October 27, 2005

School of the Americas: Time to end a horrific legacyby David Batstone

Last year many Americans were shocked by the revelation that U.S. soldiers had tortured Iraqi prisoners. Many American citizens felt it was a complete contradiction of our principles to be fighting for democracy in Iraq while violating its practice by abusing human rights.

With that same sentiment, thousands of faith-based activists will gather in a few weeks at Fort Benning, Georgia, to express their conviction that the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly the School of the Americas, which trains Latin American soldiers for combat, should be closed down.

If you have never attended the SOA vigil before, I urge you to make your peacemaking pilgrimage to Georgia Nov. 18 to 20. A vote to close down the SOA most likely will come up before Congress during the next nine months. A strong presence at the vigil this year will send Congress a powerful message that public sentiment runs deep against keeping the SOA in business.

The SOA has been controversial for nearly two decades, according to the School of the Americas Watch, a Washington-based organization that has spearheaded the grassroots movement to close the school. In its 50-year life span, many of the school's 61,000 graduates have been involved in major human rights abuses, the watch states on its Web site. Founded by Father Roy Bourgeois, the watch has raised awareness of the involvement of SOA-trained soldiers in the assassination of Archbishop Romero, the massacre of the six Jesuit priests and two women working for them, and other killings.

In 1999 a budget amendment was made in the House to cut funds to the school. Though the amendment lost by one vote in congressional conference committee, soon thereafter the Pentagon introduced a " reform " package. In 2001, the School of Americas was officially closed and replaced in the same location with the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. Yet, as the old saying goes, a leopard does not change its spots.

I bear witness to the SOA's horrific practice. I worked in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and surrounding countries for more than a decade. I know what they taught at Fort Benning, and a name change does not alter that legacy.

Many of my best friends in El Salvador were " captured " - kidnapped out of their homes and churches - by security forces that had been trained by the American military. They were tortured by the book - electrodes sending shock impulses to their private parts, chalk lime bags put over their heads intending to suffocate, and worse tortures too terrible to name. Once they were pumped for information - such as the names of other members of their community service project or literacy study group - they would be scheduled for execution.

I established a human rights organization, Central American Mission Partners, in 1984 that aimed to stop these kidnappings from happening. We sent U.S. citizens to live with any Central American targeted by the security forces, otherwise gruesomely known as the death squads. The reason this strategy worked: The military did not want to kill a U.S. citizen and alert the American public of its disregard for human rights. A Salvadoran or Guatemalan gets tortured and killed - we would never hear about it. A U.S. citizen gets killed, and it's often front-page news and the Congress debates whether to keep the aid flowing to undemocratic forces.

Now is another occasion for U.S. citizens to speak up vigorously on behalf of those children of God who are often ignored in the halls of Congress. We must not allow the legacy of the SOA to continue. In God's name, put an end to this awful blemish on the republic for which we stand.

Take action now! The SOA's legacy isn't just Cold War history. As recently as 2002, a SOA graduate was arrested

for the murder of a Colombian archbishop. In 2003, several soldiers received training at the school even though they were known to have past

records of human rights abuses.

+ Find out more about the SOA vigil in Columbus, Georgia, Nov. 18 to 20

Tell your member of Congress to support HR 1258, a bill to close, investigate, and prevent another cosmetic remake of the SOA:

+ Click here to e-mail your member of Congress -- Diana Gonzalez

Nothing wastes more energy than worrying - the longer a problem is carried, the heavier it gets. Don't take things too seriously - live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets.

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