URGENT ALERT: February Massacre Linked to SOA Training

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SOA Watch Urgent Alert

May 17, 2005

 

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Breaking News

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FEBRUARY MASSACRE LINKED TO SOA TRAINING

 

:::: School of the Americas Graduate Commands Brigade Accused of San José de

Apartadó Peace Community Murders ::::

 

Many of you received our email alerts with the terrible news of the massacre of

eight civilians, including an SOA Watch speaker and three children, in the

Colombian Peace Community of San José de Apartadó in February of this year.

Assassinated with his family and five others was Luis Eduardo Guerra, a founder

of the community and a speaker at the November 2002 Vigil to Close the SOA.

 

SOA WATCH HAS LEARNED THAT THE COMMANDER OF THE 17TH BRIGADE OF THE COLOMBIAN

MILITARY, THE UNIT ACCUSED OF THE MASSACRES, IS A GRADUATE OF THE SCHOOL OF THE

AMERICAS.

 

General Héctor Jaime Fandiño Rincón attended the “Small-Unit Infantry Tactics”

course in order to become “familiar with small-unit operational concepts and

principles at the squad and platoon level… [to] receive training in planning and

conducting small-unit tactical operations.” In December of 2004 he was promoted

to the rank of Brigadier General.

 

Since the massacre, the Colombian administration of Alvaro Uribe has done little

to investigate the murders. No investigation into the military or the 17th or

11th Brigade has begun. All the focus now of the government agencies intervening

in the situation is to force the community members to testify at risk of their

lives—instead of focusing on the military that was in the area at the time of

the murders.

 

Police forces have flooded San José against the wishes of the Peace Community,

which has taken a fundamental stance against all armed actors. Since the

massacre, all but five of the 100 families that formed the Peace Community have

been forced to leave their homes and land.

 

For years, official reports from the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and even

the State Department have established the collusion and collaboration between

the U.S.-trained Colombian army and right-wing paramilitary forces in many

war-torn regions of the country. With military support, the paramilitaries are

operating as surrogate death squads and thugs.

 

Many of the Colombian officers cited as responsible for massacres and other

human rights abuses graduated from the SOA, and the strategy of using

paramilitary groups for the military's dirty work is nothing new for SOA/

WHINSEC students. Roberto D'Aubussoin established the Death Squads that were

responsible for much of the violence in El Salvador in the 1980's, and Benedicto

Lucas Garcia masterminded the creation of the Civil Defense Patrols in

Guatemala. Mexico's Jose Ruben Rivas Pena, who took the SOA's elite Command and

Staff Course, called for the " training and support for self-defense forces or

other paramilitary organizations in Chiapas. "

 

To read more about the San José de Apartadó case and the SOA connection visit:

http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=1024

 

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TAKE ACTION!

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The Peace Community of San José de Apartadó continues to call for the support

and solidarity of the international community. Below are steps you can take

today to support their struggle for justice:

 

--> CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS. Urge them to sign on to HR 1217, the bill

to close the SOA/ WHINSEC. Ask them to support a new foreign policy towards

Colombia, one that strengthens human rights protections, justice, and the

possibility for peace in Colombia.

 

Click here for a sample letter/ petition to Members of Congress:

http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=1083

 

Click here for more information on HR 1217, and a list of the 104 current

co-sponsors: http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=96

 

--> CONTACT THE STATE DEPARTMENT. Urge them to withhold the final certification

of military assistance for Colombia until there is a transparent, impartial

investigation and prosecution by civilian authorities of the authors of this

massacre.

 

Click here for a sample letter/ petition to the State Department:

http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=1082

 

--> CONTINUE TO SPREAD THE WORD IN YOUR COMMUNITY. Hold a vigil of remembrance

to demand accountability. Contact your local media. Write a letter to the

editor. Show a video about the SOA. Invite others in your community to travel

with you to Fort Benning, Georgia this November 18-20, to close the SOA!

 

Tips on how to organize a Vigil: http://www.peaceincolombia.org/howvigil.htm

 

Media outreach tips: http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=266

 

Videos about the SOA: http://www.soaw.org/new/sub.php?id=2

 

Information about the Nov 18-20 Vigil to Close the SOA:

http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=999

 

 

 

 

http://www.blueaction.org

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