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From School of the Americas Watch
2007
For our reports during 2006, including
the arrest and trial of those going to prison in March 2007 |
Nov. 20-22, 2009 – Vigil to close “School of the Americas”
[10-20-09]
This comes to us from Marilyn White, for the
Presbyterian
Peace Fellowship
On November 20-22, thousands of people will
converge on Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia to pressure
Congress and the White House to close the "School of Americas"
training facility, end military aid to Mexico and Colombia, and
support the return of the elected democratic government of
Honduras.
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship will be
there! Plan to join us for educational (and fun!) workshops and
the deeply moving Sunday morning vigil. We have reserved a block
of rooms, and are arranging transportation from the Atlanta
airport for those arriving Friday morning and leaving Monday
afternoon.
Plan to attend the Presbyterian Breakfast on
Saturday, November 21, from 7 - 9 a.m. at the Holiday Inn North,
where we will celebrate PPF's 65th birthday with our executive
director, Rick Ufford-Chase; honor prisoners of conscience and
accompaniment program volunteers; hear updates on PPF projects;
and enjoy the fellowship of 60-80 Presbyterians! The cost is $10
for a full breakfast, and reservations are required.
After the Sunday morning vigil, meet at the
PPF information table to walk together to the gate for a brief
prayer and communion service.
For more information about housing or
transportation, or for breakfast reservations, contact Marilyn
White at
marwhite@igc.org
or 512-450-2766. |
| |
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November 21-23, 2008! Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
joining many others to close School of the Americas
[11-9-08]
This note comes to us from Marilyn White, on
behalf of the PPF:
Dear Friends,
In 15 days, from November 21-23, 2008, torture
survivors, community organizers, and social justice activists from
across the Americas will converge at the gates of Fort Benning,
Georgia, to start building the world that we hope for and to move
U.S. foreign policy into a new direction.
Change is coming and we are going to close the
School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC)!
Regional events in the lead-up to the November
vigil are taking place on November 9 at the gates of the U.S.
Southern Command in Florida, from November 15-16 at Fort Huachuca in
Arizona, on November 20 at Drummond in Alabama and on November 20 in
Atlanta, Georgia.
Join us for the lead-up events and from Nov. 21-23
at the gates of Ft. Benning!
For more
information from SOA Watch >> |
|
Weekend of
Witness in Tucson, Arizona
by
Sterling Vinson
[12-3-07]
In solidarity with the large
demonstration against WHINSEC (Western Hemisphere Institute for
Security Cooperation) at Fort Benning, Georgia, Rick Ufford-Chase,
director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, mustered a group
of volunteers who put together a two-day event on 17 and 18
November that gathered protesters from all over the southwestern
United States.
Tucson is only about 80 miles
from the border with Mexico. It was here that Rev. John Fife, a
Presbyterian minister, and Jim Corbett, a Quaker, founded the
Sanctuary Movement to aid refugees fleeing torture and
persecution at the hands of dictatorships backed by the United
States. Moreover, the U.S. army’s intelligence school is located
at Fort Huachuca in the town of Sierra Vista, an hour’s drive
southeast of Tucson. The intelligence school trains the
“interrogators” who go, among other places, to WHINSEC. Tucson,
therefore, is an ideal place for an education about immigration
and torture.
 |
|
Presbyterians
gather for workshop on torture
Photo by Willard
Hunter |
Ufford-Chase, a former
moderator of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., designed Saturday,
the 17th to include a teach-in about torture (which
ran from 9 a. m. to 4 p.m.). After an introduction by Ufford-Chase,
Rev. John Fife (also a former moderator of the PCUSA) summarized
the evidence that the United States government does practice
torture, and outlined the spiritual, and specifically the
Christian, response to it. He was followed by Gail Brown, an
attorney who practiced for 10 years in civil rights and is now
the New Mexico State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for
Amnesty International, as well as a founding member of
No2Torture. She summarized the definitions of torture in United
States and international law and the recent history of the
United States’ use of torture. Brown noted that a man named
Bybee helped craft the government’s policy on torture while in
the Office of Legal Counsel to the White House, and was rewarded
with a judgeship on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Sterling
Vinson added to this by noting that John Yoo, one of the major
architects of torture policy, is now teaching law at the
University of California, Berkeley. Vinson suggested that there
is a pattern to infect the teaching and practice of law in the
United States.
Next, we watched a video made
by Hector Aristazabel, a Colombian who, with his brother, was
arrested and tortured by members of the Colombian armed forces
who had been trained at the U.S. School of the Americas (now
WHINSEC) at Fort Benning. Aristazabel’s brother died after being
tortured and shot by the authorities. The video is a stunning
one-man re-enactment of these events.
The next speaker was Cathy
Norgard, a psychologist in Tucson who has spent many years
working with the victims of war, displacement, and torture,
chiefly with refugees from Central America, but more recently
with Balkan and African refugees.
After lunch, Peter Hinde spoke.
Hinde is a minister who has spent his life in Latin America, and
he spoke on Fedefam, an organization of the families of the
disappeared, those who have been taken away by government
authorities, and whose fate remains unknown. Such disappearances
result in terror and long-term psychological torture of the
families.
Barbara Clarihew then spoke
about the organization of Owl and Panther, a group of children
in Tucson of the victims of torture or of forced displacement.
Through art, poetry, and acting, these children confront and
begin to heal from their experiences.
Finally, Buff Bradley gave a
history of the use of torture in North America, going back to
the practices of the European colonial powers, and continuing
through the routine practices of the military, slaveowners, the
Klan, and ordinary citizens. Bradley’s point gave the lie to
Bush’s assertions that “Americans do not torture…torture is not
part of the American character.”
In the evening, Southside
Presbyterian Church hosted a screening of the film, “Ghosts of
Abu Ghraib,” a documentary about the torture of Iraqi prisoners
by U.S. soldiers, as a matter of policy developed in the White
House’s Office of Legal Counsel and the Defense Department. The
film was supplied by the National Religious Campaign Against
Torture. The grim day concluded with a candlelight procession
to, and vigil at, the Federal Building in downtown Tucson.
 |
| Witness at the Tucson Federal
Building
Photo by Gail Ann Brown |
Sunday, the 18th,
was marked by a demonstration by 250 – 300 protesters at Fort
Huachuca in Sierra Vista. This was a larger turnout than we had
seen in previous years. The solar-powered sound system worked
admirably, drowning out the decidedly inadequate loudspeaker of
the counter-demonstrators. In fact, the latter broke down
completely (divine intervention?) when Reverend Fife spoke.
Franciscan priest Jerome Zawada
of Nevada, Frances Elizabeth Lamb of Oregon, and Mary Burton
Riseley of New Mexico, in an act of civil obedience (that is, in
support of U.S. and international laws against torture) walked
into Fort Huachuca and were duly arrested. Their preliminary
hearing will be held on 4 December.
Local television coverage was
poor to non-existent, but newspaper coverage was quite good.
While the protestors were greeted with the predictable number of
obscenities and middle fingers, a lot of young soldiers honked
and gave us the peace sign - very encouraging.
 |
| Raging Grannies
sing out against torture
Photo by Cindy Whitman-Bradley
|
The author:
Sterling Vinson is a native of
Little Rock, Arkansas, who introduces himself thus:
I graduated from Harvard with a
degree in Classics in 1961, served in the Navy briefly, then
earned a doctorate in Classical Archaeology from the University
of Pennsylvania. I taught and did field work for a number of
years, then dabbled in photography, and finally returned to
teaching at Pima Community College in 1991. I retired, sort of,
in 2006, but continue to teach part time. I joined Southside
Presbyterian Church in 1986, during the Sanctuary trial, and
there I met Rick Ufford-Chase. We were both active in Sanctuary,
and eventually I started volunteering with Humane Borders. Rick
drafted me into the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship about a year
ago. |
|
Thousands join
vigil to close the School of the
Americas
by Doug King, Witherspoon webweaver
[11-27-07]
 |
|
Presbyterian
Peace Fellowship at breakfast |
Again this year, on Saturday, November 17, I
was privileged to be a small part of the annual action to close
the School of the Americas. I arrived Saturday morning just in
time for the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship breakfast*, and left
as the vigil wound down in the late afternoon. Of course the
major action was on Sunday, and a great many activities went on
during Friday and Saturday -- seminars, prayer services, visits
to the building on the Fort Benning base that houses the Western
Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), which
was created a few years ago to replace the School of the
Americas.
Along with scores of others, I waited in
line for a couple hours at one of the gates of the base, to
visit the WHINSEC building. Our wait was rewarded by a chance to
hear a panel of military and civilian staff members tell us
about their current program. They underlined repeatedly how very
different the current school is from the old "School of the
Assassins," from which graduated so many Latin American military
officers who perpetrated a variety of abuses on their return to
their home countries.
After brief introductory statements from the
panel members, the first audience question came from U.S.
Representative James McGovern, Democrat from Massachusetts. He
acknowledged the claims by the panelists that WHINSEC offers a
very different program from the old SOA program, and so is not
doing any training of military personnel to engage in torture,
intimidation and the like. How can that be believed, he asked,
when the new Institute does not make public the names of its
trainees, so no one can observe their actions when they return
home? He indicated that numerous human rights groups and others
have tried to track the WHINSEC graduates, but without some
degree of transparency on the part of the Institute, that is
almost impossible. "How do you measure success [in making these
changes] when you can't track your 'product'?"
The main answer to this was that WHINSEC neither selects nor
controls its students. They are appointed by their own
governments, then carefully screened by U.S. agencies, but not
monitored after their return home, which would be an
infringement on the sovereignty of their own governments. [And
goodness knows we wouldn't ever do that!]
One of the most passionate defenders of the "new" program was
the Rev. Dr. Major John W. Kiser, who serves as the Command
Chaplain and Ethics Instructor at WHINSEC. He spoke frequently
of his role as a Presbyterian minister -- and therefore a
"representative" of the PC(USA) -- in guarding the high moral
quality of the program. In response to repeated questions about
alleged associations between the Fort Benning program and the
use of torture, he asserted that "we're bound by our ordination
vows, if we see something wrong [in the training or the
trainees] to say something about it."
Participants in the vigil, and those at the WHINSEC briefing,
were largely people of religious faith (mostly Roman Catholic).
A number of those at the briefing expressed curiosity and/or
skepticism about what seemed to be a clear effort to offer a
religious appeal for their support.
Major Kiser and a chaplain colleague were at the Peace
Fellowship breakfast Saturday morning, and invited participants
in the vigil to come to his office for conversation and
"dialogue" about the program and their own concerns about it. It
will be interesting to see whether such a dialogue will actually
develop.
The Peace Fellowship breakfast was a warm gathering of
many old friends, and lots of newcomers as well -- all companions
in the struggle for a more peaceful world.
 |
|
Le Anne Clausen
and Chris Lieberman kneel for commissioning |
The highlight of the breakfast, as it is each year, was the
commissioning of those who had volunteered to "cross the line"
onto Fort Benning property, where they would be arrested for
their act of civil disobedience -- or as PPF Executive Director
Rick Ufford-Chase calls it, "divine disobedience."
The two PPF members were the Rev. Chris Lieberman, co-pastor of
Immanuel Presbyterian Church of Albuquerque, and Le Anne Clausen,
student at Chicago Theological Seminary. Accompanying them was
Chris' friend Stephen Schweitzer of Binghamton, NY. The Rev.
Chuck Booker-Hirsch, a minister in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a
former Prisoner of Conscience, offered the commissioning prayer:
With these wizened Presbyterian hands,
With these warmed ecumenical, interfaith
hearts,
With these weary American spirits
resting aloft on their restless
souls --
Guide your servants Chris and Le Anne and Stephen, O God,
while in their liberated
conscience they wake,
and guard your servants, O God,
while in their imprisoned confines
they sleep.
That, civilly disobedient
and divinely obedient,
they may know true freedom
in belonging only to you.
Pledging allegiance to the crosses they bear,
forsaking allegiance to the sword Caesar wears --
declaring peace on terror
and justice to terrorists
who lie in wait,
and wait with their
lies.
Fill their mouths now with your Word --
A wisdom longsuffering.
Move their feet now in your ways --
A trail long-trudging.
A wisdom and a way
embraced by you
In your wounded flesh
In our neighbors
south.
They know them as neighbors, as us.
Not "illegals" -- not aliens.
And so do we.
And so shall we.
Alleluia! And Amen.
On Sunday, while thousands commemorated the martyrs in a solemn
funeral procession at the main gate, they entered the Fort
Benning base with seven others through a side entrance in an
attempt to carry the protest to the site of the SOA/WHINSEC. One
other protester climbed the barbed wire fence at the main gate
and was also arrested. The SOA Eleven, ranging in age from 25 to
76, are scheduled for federal criminal trial January 28, 2008
for trespass - punishable by up to six months in federal prison.
* My mother taught me well: Whatever happens, never miss
breakfast!
For more complete reports on the SOA vigil
From SOA Watch >>
Their report opens:
25,000 Strong, We Say: Close the SOA!
The 18th annual Vigil to Close the SOA was one of the largest
and most vibrant yet. On Sunday, November the 18th, as early as
7 am, Veterans for Peace and supporters began marching along
Victory Drive to the gates of Fort Benning where Gennaro
Jacinto Calel from the International Mayan League offered a
Mayan Blessing.
U.S. presidential candidates Dennis Kucinich and
Cynthia McKinney, Sister Mary Waskowiak; President of
the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and Rabbi Michael Lerner addressed
the crowd, and Adriana Portillo Bartow gave a tribute to
Rufina Amaya, the sole survivor of the El Mozote massacre
of over 900 men, women and children in El Salvador. In 1999,
Rufina traveled from El Salvador to the gates of Fort Benning,
Georgia, where 19 of the 26 people later found responsible for
the massacre were trained at the School of the Americas. She
told the story of the massacre and worked for justice until her
death of a heart illness earlier this year.
Rufina Amaya -- Presente!
The report
on Saturday events, in the Columbus (GA)
Ledger-Enquirer >>
The story begins:
The intention of
the dozen protesters in 1990 was as
clear as Saturday's sky: "Close down
the School of the Americas," they
cried.
Though the call
still resonates up and down Benning
Boulevard, in the shadow of the main
gate to Fort Benning, it is hardly
the only demand being screamed by
the thousands who find their way
here each November.
"End the War,"
"Impeach Bush," "Stop Blackwater"
and "Don't Forget Darfur" are not
only bumper stickers, but the
impetus that drove protesters here
from California to Maine.
Twenty Thousand Protest at Fort Benning:
Eleven Face Federal Criminal Trials
Bill Quigley, a human rights lawyer and
professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, and a
member of the legal collective of School of Americas Watch,
reports for
Truthout.com
A Canadian view:
North American military institute under
scrutiny
There were many Canadians in the vigil crowd. Here's one look at
the event through Canadian eyes, from the Cord Weekly,
the official student newspaper of
Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario.
Kucinich protests Army training school,
links SOA and current U.S. military ventures
The Boston Globe highlights Dennis
Kucinich' presence and
statement, saying that the thinking that went into producing SOA
and the human rights abuses in Latin America also has led the
U.S. into war in Iraq and could it further to attack Iran.
The full article >>
|
Vigil and nonviolent direct
action to
close the School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC)
November 16-18, 2007
[10-11-07]On the weekend of
November 16-18, thousands will gather at the gates of Fort
Benning, Georgia for the Vigil and the Nonviolent Direct Action
to Close the School of the Americas. Take a Stand for Justice!
The weekend will include a massive rally, nonviolent direct
action training, workshops, benefit concerts, puppet shows,
teach-ins and more! Please check back soon for schedule changes
and updates.
EVENTS: See
a detailed
schedule of this weekend's many gatherings, teach-ins,
films, and concerts in Columbus, Georgia. |
Hold the
accomplices of the School of the Americas accountable
[7-4-07]
Witherspoon Issues Analyst Gene TeSelle, who lives in
Nashville, TN, introduces this call to action from School of
the Americas Watch. Witherspooner Don Beisswenger, who
contributes his thoughts too, is also a resident of
Nashville.
Representatives Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and John Lewis
of Georgia have led an effort to cut funding for the notorious
School of the Americas. Many of us expected their bill to be
approved on June 21. Instead it lost by 6 votes.
SOAWatch has analyzed the
votes and identified 26 Representatives who could have voted
Yes but instead voted for continued injustice, impunity, and
support for military dictatorships.
Some were sponsors of the bill in previous years, and a major
question still remains: Why did these Representatives, who
earlier tried to cut funding for the SOA, switch their position?
Were they somehow intimidated? Were there tradeoffs for
something else that they wanted? Did they somehow become so
persuaded that the SOA was a good thing that they voted for it
with a good conscience?
~~~~~~~~~
Don Beisswenger, who "crossed the line" at the SOA and served
six months in federal prison, had these comments in response to
SOAWatch:
We worked very hard on Jim Cooper (TN-5). He is on the Armed
Services Committee and seems to be persuaded about their agenda
. While against the Iraq war, he is not strong in his
opposition. He has indicated interest in closing Guantanamo but
was not willing to take any leadership.
The South is very oriented toward militaristic solutions to
conflict, as you know, and while Cooper has a secure support
base he still may feel insecure with much of his constituency.
He genuinely believes in the need for connections with Latin
American and thinks the SOA is needed. I, and the many hundreds
who have tried over the years, have not been persuasive enough.
He does tend believe the Army's interpretation and thus thinks
there has been genuine change in the SOA. He does not seem to
see the necessity of dealing with the impunity of past
perpetrators. That seems to be forgotten, not only toward Latin
America but toward much else that is going on around the world.
But the SOA is still the flagship example, as far as I am
concerned.
Bart Gordon (TN-6) has supported the legislation in the past,
and we will try to find out what happened. The power of the
military to bring reprisals may be involved.
I send my thanks to you and the others for keeping on keeping
on.
Being from Minnesota, I still find the South confusing. It
may be that, as James Lawson says, there is a wound in the soul
of America that has never healed, a wound grounded in the
violence toward Native Americans, the history of slavery, the
condescension toward Latin America over so many years, and the
violation of women over the years. The wound festers in so many
ways. Repentance seems essential to such healing. We are
dealing, I believe, with the soul of America, not just political
power.
Don Beisswenger |
SOA survives vote in Congress by 6
votes
[6-22-07]From
SOA Watch
"There's no turning back...We will win. We
are winning because ours is a revolution of mind and
heart..." - César Chávez
Last night at 11:52 PM, Congress defeated the McGovern/Lewis
amendment to cut the funding for the SOA/WHINSEC by a margin of
six votes.
The mobilizing effort was tremendous: Tens of
thousands of emails, faxes and calls flooded the halls of
Congress over the past three days. Students, clergy, union
members and veterans traveled to DC and visited with hundreds of
Congressional offices to communicate clearly that there is no
room for institutions like the SOA in the future that we want to
see. Despite this, 214 Members of Congress missed the chance to
stand up for human rights, justice and democracy, and voted to
keep the funding for the SOA flowing.
An internal vote count on Wednesday saw us in
the lead by 5-10 votes. But we weren't the only ones striding
through the halls of Congress this week: Pentagon
representatives, including military generals were there
Wednesday and Thursday pressuring Members of Congress.
WE WILL CLOSE THE SOA/WHINSEC
While we did not get enough Members of
Congress to vote with us, it was clear to us and to our
supporters in the House that we have tremendous power when we
mobilize together.
Your work these past weeks was remarkable.
Because of your persistence, 203 Members of Congress voted with
us. Together we educated hundreds of Representatives and
staffers about the School of the Americas. We built new
relationships and strengthened long-term ones.
We thank you for all your amazing work,
sacrifice, patience and support!
More updates
soon! |
|
Urge the House of
Representatives to cut funding for School of the Americas
Peacemaking Update June 19, 2007 [posted here
6-19-07]
Congress will soon vote on an amendment to close WHINSEC/School
of the Americas. This institution, funded by our tax dollars and
located at Ft. Benning, Georgia, has trained over 60,000 Latin
American Soldiers. This school has graduated many of the worst
human rights abusers in Latin American History. Rep. McGovern
(MA) and Rep. John Lewis (GA) will introduce an amendment to the
Foreign Operations appropriations bill to cut funding for the
WHINSEC/SOA.
Presbyterian General Assemblies have called for the closing
of the institution (see below). School of the Americas Watch
makes it possible to send an e-mail and free fax to Congress;
click here to send your message >>
POLICY BASE
God in Jesus Christ calls us to make peace. Recognizing that
the nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean
have experienced "sustained levels of violence, that military
leaders of the countries have been responsible for many
incidents of violence and have been implicated in human rights
abuses, and that many of those leaders were trained at the
School of the Americas," the 206th General Assembly (1994)
called upon the United States government to
a. eliminate any and all funding for the School of the
Americas, and close the school;
b. cease any further training of the military leaders
from the countries of Central America, South America, and
the Caribbean; and
c. use the funds that have been spent on the School of
the Americas to support – both in the U.S. and in Central
America, South America, and the Caribbean – programs for
women, children, the hungry, the homeless, and other victims
of violence.
The 207th General Assembly (1995) reaffirmed this action. The
mission of the School of the Americas has been taken over by the
Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation.
More PC(USA) resources >>
More on this site about School of
the Americas >>
Click here to send an e-mail or fax to your representative >>
The Rev. W. Mark Koenig, Coordinator
Presbyterian Peacemaking Program
100 Witherspoon St., #3231 Louisville, KY 40202
888-728-7228, ext. 5936
www.pcusa.org/peacemaking |
|
With vote to close the U.S. Army School of the Americas
pending,
new details emerge on Army spying
[6-18-07] Aaron Shuman
has recently posted a long article detailing his charges of a
long-standing effort of government spying on
the protest movement SOA Watch.
He says that "for years, former school
instructor Ken LaPlante ran a counterintelligence operation
against SOA Watch while working as a subcontractor for the
Department of the Army. LaPlante's activities — and those of
William Willoughby, a civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army
who says he reported to LaPlante — raise questions about the use
of contractors and the infrastructure of the Army to spy on
protesters against the School of the Americas, and possible ties
to the White House. This comes as the U.S. Senate considers
legislation reauthorizing intelligence gathering."
Aaron Shuman attended the 2002 protests of the
School of the Americas as a journalist, participated in the 2004
protests, and did four months in federal prison in 2005.
His article appears on "Narcosphere,"
a site supported by
The Fund for
Authentic Journalism. The site began in 2000 as a
place for independent reporting on the "drug war," and now
provides space for journalists to post their own reports on
other subjects as well. |
From SOA Watch
[5-27-07]
Now's the time to urge your Representative to
co-sponsor the bill to investigate the School of the Americas/
WHINSEC. ,
Click here to send a message >>
More from SOA Watch:
As action against the School of the Americas/WHINSEC grows
stronger, the School is on alert and taking action against its
critics.
For background
about SOA/WHINSEC >>
SOA Watch is organizing delegations to Colombia and Venezuela
– and you’re invited.
Read more about the
SOA Watch delegation
to Venezuela >>
Read more about the
SOA Watch delegation
to Colombia >> |
Peace Fellowship reports on SOA protesters serving or just
finishing prison terms, and Costa Rica’s ending participation in
the school
[5-24-07]
Phil Gates has been released
from MDC Los Angeles; he is on his way to lunch with his son and
some local supporters in LA. He left a message on my phone and
sounded great. Welcome home, Phil!
Phil's email address is
DrMsG@aol.com
In a related matter, SOA Watch has just
announced that
Costa Rica
will no longer send students to the school. As you know,
they have no army but their national police had been going there
for training. Read more about it at soaw.org
Thanks for your continued support of our two Presbyterian
prisoners of conscience still in prison. Don Coleman and
Julienne Oldfield reported to prison on April 17, so Don has
one more month to serve and Julienne will be in for 2 more
months.
Joyfully,
Marilyn (White)
ARTHUR D. COLEMAN #92949-020
MCC CHICAGO
METROPOLITAN CORRECTIONAL CENTER
71 WEST VAN BUREN STREET
CHICAGO, IL 60605
JULIENNE OLDFIELD #92954-020
FDC PHILADELPHIA
FEDERAL DETENTION CENTER
P.O. BOX 562
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106
|
|
It’s time to call on Congress (again!) to cut funding for School of the
Americas A message from Father Roy Bourgeois,
founder of School of the Americas Watch (SOA
Watch) [4-25-07]
Did you know that the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA)
has graduated death squad leaders, human rights abusers and at least 11 high
ranking military officials who went on to become dictators? Even though the
school changed its name in 2001 to "Western Hemisphere Institute for
Security Cooperation" in order to distract critics, known human rights
abusers have again appeared in its enrollment lists.
The people of the Americas demand that the School of the
Americas be shut down without delay. Take action NOW to make the SOA
history.
Please join me in taking the first step to close this
school of death.
Click here to send a message to your Representative in Congress,
urging her or him to support legislation that will cut funding, suspend
operations at the school and investigate its connection to human rights
abuses. Follow-up with a phone call if you can. You can contact the DC
office of your Representative by calling the Capitol Hill Switchboard at
202-224-3121.
Make a difference by adding your voice to the chorus of
millions of people in the Western Hemisphere who strive for a life free from
military repression.
Click here to learn more
about the School of the Americas, its graduates and the impact that it
has had on Latin America. |
|
Several School of the Americas prisoners of conscience report to prison
today [3-21-07]
We're encouraged to send them letters of support
Marilyn White, of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, has
just sent this note:
Dear friends,
Several of the "SOA 16" report to prison today,
including two of our 4 Presbyterian POCs. Due to their shorter sentences,
many of them have been assigned to jails instead of camps - this is a hard
life, and mail is SO important. Graymon is only 20 years old, and will be
serving his 30 day sentence in a county jail. Many of you know Phil from
the Colombia Accompaniment program - he will be at the LA MDC for 2
months. The other two Presbyterians, Julienne Oldfield and Don Coleman,
will report in April. Please take a few minutes to write them!
Peace, Marilyn
PHILIP E. GATES #92947-020
MDC LOS ANGELES
METROPOLITAN DETENTION CENTER
P.O. BOX 1500
LOS ANGELES, CA 90053
See his
recent note about facing time in prison >>
GRAYMON WARD
VANCE COUNTY JAIL
516 BRECKENRIDE ST.
HENDERSON, NC 27536
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A
message from Phil Gates,
as he prepares to serve a prison term after his witness for closing the
School of the Americas
From the desk of….
Phil Gates
Prescott, AZ
drmsg@aol.com
March 5, 2007
Friends:
I want to update you on the status of my impending prison
sentence since having been found guilty of trespassing onto the campus of
Ft. Benning, GA last November 19. As you will recall, 16 of us who crossed
did so in order to continue to help keep Congress’ attention on the need to
shut down the School of the Americas (now called the Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation, or WHINSEC).
It is our hope that when a bill to close the school is
presented by Rep. James McGovern (D- MA) this month or next, the House will
finally pass it. Last year, it failed by only 15 votes. Since that time, 34
of those "nay" votes have not been re-elected. Thus, our hopes are high for
its successful passage this time around.
If there is any one thing you could do for me, it would be
to write a letter to your House Representative urging him/her to seriously
consider supporting this legislation (which has not yet been assigned a
number but soon will). I am including a sample copy of a letter you could
use or modify to prepare your own letter. Simply enter the name and address
of your U.S. Representative, sign the letter (include your address below
your name), and mail it. Please do not delay as this bill is coming up very
soon.
Other ways you may want to participate in support of
this venture:
1. Pray for the 16 defendants and their loved ones,
14 of whom including myself will be entering prison March 21 to serve
sentences from one to six months. As a first time offender I will be
serving 60 days at MDC Los Angeles.
2. Contribute financially to help offset my expenses
involved in this ministry, which includes court related costs, travel
expenses, loss of social security while incarcerated, etc. Costs incurred by
me will finally be between $8,000 to $10,000. You can make a tax-deductible
contribution payable to Synod of the Southwest, 401 E. 4th St., #A. Tucson,
AZ 85705. Enter "Phil Gates" on memo line. The Synod’s an administrative arm
of the Presbyterian Church.
3. Write to me, addressing the letter exactly as
follows: Philip E. Gates, 92947-020, MDC Los Angeles, Metropolitan
Detention Center, P.O. Box 1500, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Send letters only.
No gifts, news clippings, etc. All mail is opened and inspected. Deviations
result in non-delivery. Between 3/21-5/19 call my wife Lorie if you have any
questions about this.
Blessings, peace and love,
Phil
|
SAMPLE DRAFT
March 12, 2007
The Honorable_________________
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-0301
Dear Rep.___________________
I am writing to request you to co-sponsor Rep.
James McGovern’s bill in the 110th Congress that calls for both the
suspension and investigation of the operations of the Western
Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly
called School of the Americas.
I understand a similar bill, H.B.
1217, "The Latin America Military Training Review Act of 2005,"
introduced in the House by Rep. McGovern and Rep. Sam Farr in the
109th Session this past year fell only 15 votes short of the 203
"ayes" required for its passage. Your support of the McGovern
sponsored bill to be introduced this session of Congress will be a
very concrete step to support human rights and to promote peace and
justice for the people of Latin America.
As my elected representative in the House, I hope
you will choose to become one of the co-sponsors of this legislation
calling for the closure of WHINSEC/SOA.
I look forward to hearing from you as to your
response to this request.
Thank you.
Respectfully,
|
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch
Seminar!
GHOST RANCH SEMINAR
July 26-August 1, 2010
WE’RE ALL IN
THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE |
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If you like what you find
here,
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