SOA protest to draw 10,000

One of the shadiest U.S. government operations in recent decades will be brought to light this weekend as thousands of protesters - including a contingent from Oberlin - travel to the School of the Americas (SOA) to draw attention to the school's controversial history.

More than 500 graduates of SOA, a training ground for Latin American soldiers, have been implicated in human rights abuses. In recent years protest of the institution has grown multifold.

Over 50 Oberlin students and community members are traveling to Fort Benning, Georgia this weekend to protest SOA's policies. They are part of a massive national campaign which hopes to bring up to 10,000 protesters to Georgia this weekend, according to Oberlin organizer college senior Josh Raisler Cohn.

First-year participant Katy Goodman said, "I hope that it draws publicity, and that it helps push the bill through Congress."

The Oberlin contingent leaves today and will return Monday afternoon. The vigil and civil disobedience are planned for Sunday afternoon.

"The campus support on this issue is totally amazing," said Raisler Cohn. The students have received strong support from the Chaplain's Office, OSCA and other student groups. In all, $3,200 was raised, said co-organizer college sophomore Laurel Paget-Seekins.

According to Raisler Cohn, the movement to close SOA is a faith-based movement, with priests, nuns and church members leading the call for the school's closure. Church involvement has made the movement very broad-based, pulling in many people who had not taken part in political movements before, said Raisler Cohn.

The voices demanding SOA's closure seem to be having an effect. This October, a motion to close the school was barely defeated 212-201 in the U.S. House. U.S. Representative from New York Carol Maloney has said, "This is not a school, but a scandal. It is a training ground for dictators and thugs."

Supporters hope to bring the bill before the House again next year.

SOA provides training for military officers of many Latin American countries. It was opened in the 1940s in Panama before being moved to Georgia. It's definitely a Cold War thing," said Paget-Seekins.

Supporters of the SOA describe it as a supporter of democracy and stability in Latin America. It has helped provide training for many American allies, including training in legitimate use of force and human rights.

Many of its graduates have been cited for human rights violations, including two of three implicated in the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador in 1980. Manuel Noreiega and Omar Torrijos of Panama are also graduates, according to SOA Watch, a nationwide organization which is sponsoring the rally.

20 percent of SOA graduates are from Colombia. In the violent atmosphere which has plagued that nation, 247 military officers have been cited for war crimes by an international tribunal. Of those, 124 were trained at SOA.

"This particular issue is very straightforward," said Raisler Cohn. "Our tax dollars are being used to train thugs and dictators in torture and murder techniques."

A New York Times editorial has said, "An institution so clearly out of tune with American values and so stubbornly immune to reform should be shut down without further delay!"

Last year, the first large-scale SOA protest took place at Fort Benning, with over 2,200 participants. Six hundred and one of those were arrested for walking onto the grounds of the school, including 25 who served six-month prison terms because they were considered repeat offenders. They included Roy Bourgeois, a 65-year old priest and founder of SOA Watch.

Raisler-Cohn and Paget-Seekins have been building support for the trip most of this semester, showing films, visiting student groups and raising money. A fundraising show at the Cat in the Cream Wednesday night raised about $300.

"We've done a lot of events leading up to this," said Paget-Seekins. She says that students going to the rally are trying to educate themselves first. "We have several books on it, and we plan to read them out loud to each other as we drive down there."

Goodman recognized that some rally participants may not be fully aware of the intricacies of the issue. "I think I have a basic comprehension of it," she said. "I don't know if that's enough."

This weekend's rally will include a vigil outside the school and civil disobedience. "There was a debate set up between Roy and one of the commanders at the school," said Paget-Seekins. "But [the commander] canceled it."

Raisler-Cohn believes that this protest may result in more arrests than last year. If any arrests are made, he says, support will be provided. "If Oberlin students decide to participate in civil disobedience, we'll do jail support until everyone's released," he said.