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 SOA Watch Activists Sentenced to Federal Prison On January 25, 2010 in Columbus, Georgia, human rights advocates Nancy Gwin, Ken Hayes, and Fr. Louis Vitale were all given maximum federal prison sentences of six months each for civil disobedience opposing the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC). Along with Michael Walli, these three individuals crossed onto Fort Benning property on November 22, 2009. Michael consciously chose to not return for his trial, and the Judge issued a warrant for his arrest.
To read the press release, click here.
To read Nancy Gwin's court statement, click here.
To read Ken Hayes' court statement, click here.
 Distribute PresentePre-order and distribute 150 copies of the upcoming Spring 2010 issue of Presente, the newspaper of the movement to close the SOA, for only $26! Click here to order.
Along with a two page, full-color comic depicting the history of the SOA created by artists Dan Archer and Nikil Saval, the upcoming issue of Presente will also feature a report from the January 25, 2010 trial of the SOA 4. Order Now!
 On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a major magnitude 7.0 quake devastated Haiti, the epi-center 10 miles south-west of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, a city of close to 3,000,000 people. For more information click here.
 2010 Delegations to Latin AmericaTravel with Father Roy Bourgeois to El Salvador, Learn about ALBA in Venezuela and the current situation in Nicaragua, Explore How Corporate Globalization is Affecting Indigenous Communities Constructing Autonomy in Chiapas, and Stand in Solidarity with the People of Honduras and Colombia. Click here for more information
SOA/ WHINSEC legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives! Check out the Legislative Action Index for more information...
Click here to sign the petition to Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega.
Click here to download petition forms - Click here to sign the petition online
About the School of the Americas / Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
 The US Army School of Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American security personnel in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. SOA graduates are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. Among the SOA's nearly 60,000 graduates are notorious dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. Lower-level SOA graduates have participated in human rights abuses that include the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the El Mozote Massacre of 900 civilians. (See Grads in the News).
In an attempt to deflect public criticism and disassociate the school from its dubious reputation, the SOA was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in 2001. The name change was a result of a Department of Defense proposal included in the Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal 2001, at a time when SOA opponents were poised to win a congressional vote on legislation that would have dismantled the school. The name-change measure passed when the House of Representatives defeated a bi-partisan amendment to close the SOA and conduct a congressional investigation
by a narrow ten-vote margin. (See Talking Points, Critique of New School, Vote Roll Call.)
In a media interview, Georgia Senator and SOA supporter the late Paul Coverdell characterized the DOD proposal as a "cosmetic" change that would ensure that the SOA could continue its mission and operation. Critics of the SOA concur.
SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement that works through creative protest and resistance, legislative and media work to stand in solidarity with the people of Latin America, to close the SOA/WHINSEC and to change oppressive U.S. foreign policy that institutions like the SOA represent. We are grateful to our sisters and brothers throughout Latin America and the the Caribbean for their inspiration and the invitation to join them in their struggle for economic and social justice.
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