 Br. MikeO'Grady, S.J., Prisoner of Conscience |
School of the Americas |
Ask: Co-Sponsor HR 1258 to close WHISC and investigate training programs
• WHISC is the same as SOA. Despite attempts to distance itself from its notorious history, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation has virtually the same vision, mission, curriculum and oversight practices as the “closed” SOA.
• SOA grads have been found to be major players in investigated human rights abuses; it's not just a few bad apples . Over 2/3 of Salvadoran officers cited by the United Nations Truth Commission Report for human rights abuses; over 50 percent of the Colombian officers cited in a definitive human rights report on Colombia; 40 percent of the cabinet members under three brutal Guatemalan dictatorships were all SOA graduates.
The claim of “a few bad apples” cannot be made honestly since it is not substantiated by evidence. There is no tracking of graduates after they leave. In fact, there are no evaluative measures taken to determine the results of training of foreign security forces by the United States . The inability to gauge what alumni do with their skills after being trained, or the overall effect on the human rights situation in the host country makes it impossible to measure the “success” of training programs. The second part of the current legislation to close the school calls for a full investigation to assess education and training programs in Latin America .
• Closing the SOA/WHISC is still necessary. It spends millions of US taxpayer dollars and has trained some of the hemisphere's worst human rights abusers. The same method of teaching “democracy through the barrel of a gun” approach continues to bring suffering to the people of Latin America .
• Amnesty International's 2002 report, Unmatched Power, Unmet Principles . Despite screening requirements for WHISC trainees, this report details the loopholes and gaps that exist in the screening processes. The background screening of applicants nominated for training is inconsistent and variable.
Also in the Amnesty International report: Changes at the school “do not absolve the US government of responsibility for identifying and prosecuting those responsible for past human rights violations perpetuated by the SOA.”
• Past “reforms” have involved only a re-packaging of the same courses. SOA supporter Georgia Senator Coverdell characterized the changes as “basically cosmetic.” Furthermore, the SOA has never admitted to its legacy of torture and oppression nor taken responsibility for the actions of its notorious graduates. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release SOA training manuals. In it, they advocated the use of torture, extortion and execution and encouraged targeting those who: support “union organizing or recruiting;” distribute “propaganda in favor of the interest of workers;” “sympathize with demonstrations or strikes;” make “accusations that the government has failed to meet the basic needs of the people.” How is reform possible when the SOA/WHISC denies any wrong-doing?
• Although the US claims to be the defender of democracy, the military often supports rogue nations free of all democratic process. The SOA consistently produced soldiers and officers to bolster fascist governments and death squads, sometimes even training men who would overthrow democratically elected governments. In total, the School has produced at least 12 Latin American dictators. SOA graduates and guest instructors include: General Hector Gramajo: After US courts found him guilty of numerous Guatemalan war crimes, Gramajo was a guest speaker at an SOA graduation ceremony, as an “honored guest;” General Herman Jose Guzman Rodriguez; Colonel Pablo Belmar; General Hugo Banzer Suarez, and; General Rios Montt.