Hundreds arrested for School of Americas' protest
By Jabberwocky
Six hundred and one protesters were arrested on November 16 for trespassing while trying to deliver petitions calling for the closure of the US Army's School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia. The petitions, with over 100,000 signatures, were carried in 6 coffins by pall bearers that lead the march onto the grounds. A line of demonstrators followed with crosses bearing the names of SOA victims.November 16 marked the eighth anniversary of the brutal slaying of six Jesuit priests, their cook, and her 15 year-old daughter. Nineteen of the twenty-six Salvadorian officers cited for the killings were trained at the School of Americas.
Around 2,000 people gathered outside Fort Benning for a four day vigil that ended with the mock funeral march. The demonstrators included priests, nuns, veterans, peace activists, veterans, the young, and the old. Most of the demonstrators were released with a warning, but twenty-eight protesters, that had been arrested in previous protests, were charged with trespassing. Among the twenty-eight were local resident Steve Jacobs, who operates the St. Francis House, and Father Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School of the Americas Watch. Of the twenty-eight protesters, twenty-two were sentenced to six months in federal prison and fined $3000 while the charges against the six other protesters were dropped due to technicality.
"Justice is turned upside down. Those who protest torture and killing are called criminals while the murderers go free and the institution that trains them remains open," said Rev. Ken Kennon, a Tuscan minister and one of the defendants.
The SOA trains 900 to 2000 soldiers a year from Latin American countries at a annual cost of $20 million dollars courtesy of US taxpayers. SOA graduates have repeatedly been linked to assassinations and other human rights abuses in Latin America. Some of the more famous graduates are Gen. Manuel Noriega, ex-president of Panama, who is now serving 40 years in prison for drug-trafficking, six Peruvian officers involved in a death squad massacre of nine students and one professor at a Lima University, 100 of the 256 Colombian officers cited for war crimes by a 1992 international human rights tribunal, and Gen. Hugo Banzer, the cruel dictator of Bolivia from 1971-1978. Two-thirds of the Salvadorian officers cited by the 1993 UN Truth Commission Report for atrocities during El Salvador's bloody civil war were also SOA trained.
The School of Americas was founded in 1946 in Panama but later moved to Fort Benning, GA in 1984. According to an editorial in the New York Times the School of Americas was established "with the ostensible aim of improving ties with Latin American militaries and educating them in the virtues of democratic civilian control over the armed forces." The SOA training manuals released by the Department of Defense read differently. The training manuals condone execution, false imprisonment, blackmail, physical abuse, and torture.
Two bills are pending in Congress to cut SOA funds: HR61, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Kennedy (MA), and S980, sponsored by Sen. Durbin (IL). Write your representatives and ask them to support these bills or write to:
SOA Watch
P.O. Box 3330
Columbus, GA 31903
Family Values in our Schools:
Your Pal, the Principal
By Peg Leg Cat
In the fall of 1996, a principal at a Beckley, West Virginia elementary school decided that the pay from his job as principal was not enough. As a second job, George D. Meadows, 55, decided to go into prostitution. His competition was tough, so sporting a wig and lipstick, principal George tried to get some extra business by offering lower prices than the real women on the corner. But, unfortunately he offered two undercover cops blow jobs. Even though his prices were much lower than the competition, the cops took him in. Whether they went ahead and received the services is only speculation. George was suspended a month without pay from Sylvia Elementary School. While he sat at home with his two sons, his co-workers commented on how good a principal he was. Why they like him so much may have had to do with his second job, but that is only speculation as well. George's wardrobe seems to consist of various dresses in addition to the suits he wears to school. Could your principal be working the night shift too?
Another friendly principal, from Mentor, Ohio took interest in extra-curricular activities as well. He was holding a beach party at his home, and of course, the cheerleading squad was first on the invitation list. Principal Walter Conte, age 50, was not just a generous man. He had other motives, as many school administrators do, so he gave the cheerleaders a little surprise. While undressing before putting on bathing suits, the cheerleaders noticed a blinking light in the room. Further inspection revealed that good 'ol principal Walter had set up a camera for his guests. To the principal's dismay, he was arrested and faces a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, for using minors in nudity-oriented material. Makes you think about what kind of surveillance equipment exists in locker rooms across the country...
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