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Dear Joseph,
 This November 19-21, we return to Fort Benning because we must.
The martyrs demand it.
Twenty-six years
ago, the graduates of the School of Assassins killed my good friend Maura and the other three Church women in El Salvador.
It has been 20 years since 14-year-old Celina, her mother Elba and the six Jesuits were killed by SOA grads. It's been five
years since it was revealed that instructors at the school worked with the paramilitaries in Colombia. One year has passed
since SOA graduates overthrew democracy in Honduras.
The school is still open and the violence continues.
There has been no accountability. The martyrs made the ultimate sacrifice for their resistance. We will not forget the goals
they fought for. We must return to Fort Benning to remember them and to recommit ourselves to those same goals. We must return
to Fort Benning until this school is closed once and for all. Justice will prevail!
See you at the gates,
Father Roy Bourgeois, M.M.
P.S. Please click here to forward the November 2010 call to action to your family and friends. Mobilize your community to take a stand for justice at the gates of Fort Benning. Following the
November Vigil, we will carry our resistance to Washington, DC in April 2011. Please click here to make a donation to support the work of SOA Watch.
THIS MESSAGE FROM SOA WATCH IS A ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 6:55 PM Subject: Michael Walli Released
from Jail!
Judge
Faircloth Change of Heart?
Michael Walli Released from Jail!
Today, only three days after he was sentenced to six months of federal prison for
carrying the protest against the School of the Americas onto Fort Benning, Michael Walli was released from jail.
Early Thursday, Michael was ordered to pack up his belongings from his jail cell. He expected that he would be
 transferred to a federal facility but was then told by the wardens that he is free to go, without any further explanation.
From the jail, Michael managed to get to Father Roy Bourgeois' apartment at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia. The
two celebrated his release and Michael is now on a bus headed to his home in Washington, DC.
According to the Columbus
Ledger Enquirer, U.S. Magistrate G. Mallon Faircloth, who had only days ago handed down the maximum sentence to Michael, reduced
Michael's sentence to time served.
We are full of joy that Michael is out and that he will soon be reunited with
the great folks at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House in DC. At the same time, the human rights defenders Ken Hayes, Father Louis Vitale and Nancy Gwin, all of whom were arrested with Michael during the 2009 vigil at the SOA/WHINSEC, remain in federal prison where they serve
their harsh prison sentences.
Please contact Judge G. Mallon Faircloth to commend him for doing the right
thing in Michael Walli's case and to also demand the release of ALL Prisoners of Conscience that he incarcerated.
There is no justification that our friends Nancy, Ken, and Louis are spending their days and nights in prison for speaking
out against the SOA, while those responsible for the training of human rights abusers and for the use of torture manuals at
the SOA have never even been investigated:
G. Mallon Faircloth
U.S. Magistrate Judge
Post Office Box
117
Columbus, GA 31902-0117
Courtroom Clerk:
Terrie Smith - (706) 653-2942
Please also send
messages of support to the Prisoners of Conscience who are still incarcerated in federal prisons across the United States
and let them know that you are keeping up the work to close the School of the Americas and to change U.S. foreign policy!
You can find their prison addresses here: http://soaw.org/about-us/pocs/150-articles/3421-write-to-the-soa-watch-prisoners-of-conscience
Consider engaging in nonviolent direct action:
Keep the pressure on! People who put their
bodies on the line to speak in solidarity with the people of Latin America are crucial in the struggle to close the SOA/ WHINSEC.
Stand up for justice at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia in November:
http://SOAW.org/take-action/november-vigil | We appreciate your interest! You are subscribed to the SOA
Watch list as scroke@verizon.net.
Click here to unsubscribe.
Contact us.
Our mailing address is:
SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, D.C. 20017, USA
Our telephone: (202)
234 3440
Click here to fund the campaign to close the SOA. |
|
June 14, 2010
for immediate release Human rights advocate sentenced to six months in federal prison for civil disobedience
at the School of the Americas Washington, DC resident Michael Walli was one of four human rights advocates who were arrested during the annual November
Vigil to close the School of the Americas / Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/ WHINSEC). Michael
Walli was sentenced on Monday, June 14, 2010 to six months in federal prison.
During his November arraignment,
Michael told judge Malon Faircloth that he would not pay any bail and that he would not voluntarily return for the trial.
Michael Walli made good on his promise and Faircloth issued a warrant for Michael's arrest. Federal marshals arrested Michael
in March 2010 at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House in Washington, DC.
Ken Hayes, Father Louis Vitale
and Nancy Gwin, the three human rights advocates who were arrested together with Michael Walli, were each sentenced in January
2010 to six months in prison as well - the maximum allowed for the charge of tresspass. The extremely harsh sentences are
intended to deter others from following the example of the 'SOAW 4.'
"Those who speak out for
justice are facing prison time while SOA-trained torturers and assassins are operating with impunity," said SOA
Watch founder Father Roy Bourgeois.
The SOA/WHINSEC is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers. Its
graduates are consistently involved in human rights atrocities and coups, including the El Mozote Massacre in El Salvador
and last year's military coup in Honduras. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school
that advocated the use of torture, extortion and execution.
SOA Watch works to stand in solidarity with people
of Latin America, to change oppressive US foreign policy, and to close the SOA/WHINSEC. In November 2010, thousands will return to the gates of Fort Benning to call for justice and accountability.
Send a message
of solidarity to the prisoners:
www.SOAW.org/about-us/pocs/150-articles/3421-write-to-the-soa-watch-prisoners-of-conscience
Make plans to join the November Vigil at the gates of Fort Benning:
oaw.org/take-action/november-vigil
School of the Americas Watch, www.SOAW.org
# # #
To
stop all emails from SOA Watch, unsubscribe here.
Please, distribute widely Shelter Rock Forum with Long Island Alliance for Peaceful
Alternatives, Great Neck Sane/PeaceAction,
Pax
Christi Long Island and LI School of Americas
Watch invites to hear
, M. MROY BOURGEOIS, M. M. Founder of the School of Americas Watch
will speak on Obama’s Latin American Policy
Father Bourgeois will report on his recent trip to El
Salvador and the surrounding regions
In 1980, Fr. Roy became involved in issues surrounding US policy in El Salvador after four US churchwomen--two
of them his friends--were raped and killed by Salvadoran soldiers. He became an outspoken critic of US foreign policy in Latin America . Since then, he has spent over four years in US federal
prisons for nonviolent protests against the training of Latin American soldiers
at Ft. Benning , Georgia . In 1990, Fr. Roy founded the School of Americas Watch , an office that does research on the US
Army School of the Americas (SOA). Each year the school trains hundreds of soldiers from Latin America in combat skills -
all paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
Thursday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m. Unitarian Universalist Congregation
at Shelter Rock 48 Shelter Rock Road,
Manhasset
in the Social Hall
$5
suggested donation
Directions: UUCSR, 48 Shelter Rock Road, Manhasset From
LIE, exit 35 north (from east) or 36 (from west). North 1 ½ miles on Shelter Rock Rd. Entrance on left by white fence.
From Northern Blvd. Go South 1/2 mile on Shelter Rock Rd. Entrance on right.
For more information, please contact Shelter Rock Forum, 516-6560, ext. 122
Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, www.uucsr.org LI Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, 516-741-4360,
|
******************************************************************
Maryknoll
priest Father Roy Bourgeois, who founded School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) in 1990, speaks at the Unitarian Universalist
Congregation at Shelter Rock in Manhasset on May 13 at 7:30 p.m. on "President Obama's Latin American Policy." Father Bourgeois, 72, has been arrested six times, once for entering Fort Benning, Ga.
in a disguise and for sitting in outside the base, which is home to the School of the Americas, now known as the Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation. Bourgeois' nonprofit group claims that thousands of Latin American soldiers and policemen
have been trained in torture techniques in SOA's counterinsurgency programs. SOAW has demanded a meeting with Obama to urge
him to close the school. Due to SOAW's activism, four South American countries have stopped sending troops and policemen to
the school -- Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia. "Our foreign policy is about exploiting the cheap labor and the vast natural resources of these countries,"
Bourgeois said, "and this school has provided the muscle needed to protect the oligarchs that protect our interests.
The 'insurgents' are always the poor." Bourgeois,
a Navy veteran of Vietnam, was ordained in 1972 and spent five years early in his career as a priest living in a La Paz, Bolivia
slum. He was moved to found SOAW after discovering that SOA graduates were responsible for three atrocities in El Salvador:
the March 24, 1980 assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero; the rape and murder of three nuns and a civilian worker on Dec.
2, 1980; and the slaying of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter on Nov. 16, 1989. He recently revisited
El Salvador and urged its president to pull his troops out of SOA. Bourgeois said Obama's Latin American policy "is a disaster. Latin America isn't even on his radar screen. In
Honduras, a military coup took place on Jan. 27. He said that President Manuel Zelaya was democratically elected and must
be returned to office. But he took no action to back it up. Zelaya is in exile in the Dominican Republic." "We want him [Obama] to close the school by executive order," Bourgeois said.
"I'll be asking those at the congregation [on May 13] to write the president and ask him to do that. The school is a
symbol of America's foreign policy in the past decades and brings shame to our country." Bourgeois in 2008 concelebrated a Mass at which a female priest was "ordained,"
contradicting Roman Catholic Church policy. He was given 30 days to "recant" his participation or automatically
be excommunicated from the church. He refused and continues to receive Communion and celebrate Masses. "More than 5,000
priests abused more than 12,000 people while many bishops were silent and covered it up," he said. "These priests
and bishops weren't excommunicated. It show the priorities of the Vatican. Women are not seen as equals; they're seen as a
threat to their power. Many Catholics are asking, 'What's going on?'" The UU Congregation at Shelter Rock (uucsr.org) is at 48 Shelter Rock Rd. The suggested donation
on May 13 is $5. The event is sponsored by the Shelter Rock Forum. Light refreshments follow.
---
2010 Delegations
Travel with Father
Roy Bourgeois to El Salvador, Learn about ALBA in Venezuela, and Stand in Solidarity with the People of Honduras and Colombia.
El Salvador
Travel to El Salvador - land of martyrs, with Father Roy Bourgeois on an Oscar Romero Legacy Delegation, from March
19 to 26, 2010.  Join Fr. Roy in events commemorating the 30th anniversary of Monseñor Romero´s  assassination at the hands of SOA graduates. Walk in the footsteps of martyrs Ita Ford, Maura Clark, Fr. Ignacio Ellacuria,
Celia Ramos and others. Accompany SOA Watch's Partnership America Latina (PAL) Coordinator Lisa Sullivan in visiting high
level Salvadoran government officials in asking that El Salvador send no more soldiers to this school of assassins. For more
information and to apply, write Lisa Sullivan at LSullivan@soaw.org
Click here to download the delegation flyer (pdf).
Venezuela
Come to Venezuela from April 9-18 on the anniversary of a people's victory in overturning
a coup d'etat and learn about how the 8 member countries of ALBA  are forging a new and exciting new economic model of cooperation and solidarity. Join SOA Watch's Lisa Sullivan in
getting a different view from within of this country where she has lived for 25 years. Meet with Colombians in exile in Venezuela
and hear from them and from Venezuelans about their concerns for US militarization along the Colombian border of Venezuela.
For more information and to apply, write Lisa Sullivan at LSullivan@soaw.org
Click here to download the delegation flyer (pdf).
Honduras
Respond to the request of human rights leaders in Honduras to come to their country to
help prevent further atrocities from taking place.  World attention towards Honduras has diminished after US-approved November elections legitimized the June coup, while assassinations
of resistance members has increased.
Click here to listen to a soon to be aired "Making Contact" radio program on the SOA graduate-led military coup in Honduras. Also, hear an excellent one hour unedited web interview with Lisa Sullivan (scroll to center of page for interview).
Leaders of the human rights community have requested a constant presence of international visitors to bring attention
to this situation and help protect the lives of Hondurans. We are urging SOA Watch activists to join the Task Force on the
Americas delegation to Honduras from March 13-20, 2010 (for more information write Dale Sorensen, geodale1@earthlink.net), a Quixote Center delegation (contact Jenny Atlee, jennya@quixote.org) or the January 24-31, 2010 Rights Action delegation (contact Grahame Russell, info@rightsaction.org)
Colombia
With over 10,000 troops trained at the school, Colombia is the SOA's largest customer and has the worst human rights
record in Latin America.  The 8th Day Center for Justice and Witness for Peace are organizing a delegation to Magdelena, Colombia from August 7-17,
2010. The delegation will focus on human rights, corporate abuse, military repression and internal displacement. Delegation
participants will meet with community leaders, displaced persons, and human rights defenders.
For more information: Contact
Erin Cox, Erin@8thdaycenter.org, 312 641 5151 or Ashley Valchek, Ashley@8thdaycenter.org or email wfpmagdelena@gmail.com.
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. | We appreciate your interest!
You are subscribed to this list as marabard@yahoo.com.
Click here to unsubscribe.
Contact us.
Our mailing address is:
SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, D.C. 20017, USA
Our telephone: (202)
234 3440
Click here to support the campaign to close the SOA. |
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FR. ROY LI VISIT FLIER
SOA Latin America Agenda
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