| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Arther Miller" |
| Date: |
23 Nov 2003 09:49:54 PM |
| Object: |
Over 10,000 Converge on Fort Benning to Close the SOA! |
Nuns, Priests, Veterans & Students Arrested on the Military Base after
Commiting Civil Disobedience to Close School of Americas
Columbus, GA - Over ten thousand people gathered this weekend outside
the
gates of Ft. Benning, Georgia in the most diverse demonstration yet of
opposition to the School of the Americas, renamed Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/WHISC), a combat-training
school
for Latin American soldiers. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans
have been tortured, raped, assassinated, "disappeared", massacred, and
forced into refuge by SOA graduates.
The gathering culminated today with a solemn "funeral" procession. As
of
5PM at least 30 people had been arrested after entering the base in an
act
of nonviolent civil disobedience. They took this action despite
knowing
they likely face 3-6 months in federal prison. They are being held at
the
Muscogee County Jail in Columbus. Since protests against SOA/WHISC
began
over ten years ago, 170 people have served or are now serving prison
sentences for civil disobedience.
"Prison will not deter us," said Kathy Kelly, who was among those
arrested
today. "We intend to close this school and to change the foreign
policy
that this school represents." Kelly works with and helped initiate
Voices
in the Wilderness, a grassroots organization that campaigns to end
economic and military warfare against the Iraqi people.
Yesterday the U.S. Military blasted music at high decibels from inside
Ft.
Benning, directed at the peaceful, permitted demonstration outside of
the
gates of the base. The music stopped late yesterday afternoon.
Throughout the weekend Columbus Police used metal detectors to search
every person attending the demonstration.
"We will not allow these blatantly unconstitutional attempts to drown
out
our voices," said Bill Quigley, a professor of law at Loyola Law
School,
and lawyer for SOA Watch. "These childish actions by the federal,
state
and local government only strengthen our resolve to stand up for our
rights and all the victims of the School of the Americas."
The Columbus convergence concludes a week of resistance to empire and
corporate globalization. Thousands gathered in Miami to protest the
Free
Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and 200,000 gathered in
London-during
Bush's visit-to protest the invasion and occupation of Iraq. SOA
Watch
organizers have been coordinating with organizers in Miami, and
working in
solidarity with organizers in England. Yesterday the three
mobilizations
released a joint statement of solidarity (see
http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=689).
"Our struggles are interconnected," said Fr. Roy Bourgeouis, founder
of
SOA Watch. "From the SOA, to FTAA, to the invasion of Iraq, our
government's foreign policy is serving the interests of a few, and
making
us a lot of enemies."
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