Congratulations to everyone who has worked to put the closing of the Guantánamo prison camp and a ban on torture on President Obama´s agenda. Thanks to your work of educating the public on only his second day in office President Obama signed an executive order to shut down Guantánamo and to ban torture.
Please make a call or send an email message to the White House now (see below).

Read the New York Times article about the executive orders:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/us/politics/22gitmo.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&ref=todayspaper

This is a step in the right direction but more work needs to be done. SOA Watch beliefs that for justice to take root, those responsible for authorizing torture need to be held accountable.

A clean break with the tragic history of U.S. involvement in torture will also require the closing of the School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC) and an investigation into the connection between U.S. foreign military training and human rights violations. (SOA Watch is convening a Strategy Meeting on February 15, 2009, at which we will discuss these issues: http://www.SOAW.org Join us in Washington, DC.)

Please take a few minutes now and leave a short message for President Obama:

PRESIDENT OBAMA
White House Comment Line: (202) 456-1111
White House Email: president@whitehouse.gov

Express your appreciation for following through on his promise to close Guantánamo and to ban torture. But also, state your hope that he will make a complete break with our country's past history of torture by issuing an executive order to close down the School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC).


Make plans to come to Washington, DC from February 15-17, 2009 for the SOA Watch Encuentro, the Lobby Days to close the SOA, a panel on Anti-Militarization and an Arts and Action Workshop! Visit http://www.SOAW.org for more information.