By Julia Matias
Ten University students drove for almost 20 hours on Nov. 17 to participate in a three-day protest against the School of Americas, dubbed the "school of assassins," in Fort Benning, Ga.
S.O.A. is a U.S. government-run combat training school for Latin American soldiers. Some of their training includes counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, interrogation tactics, and commando and psychological warfare. Some of the soldiers, however, have been accused of partaking in inhumane crimes and offenses since its establishment in 1946.
According to the S.O.A. Watch, an independent organization fighting to close the facility, soldiers trained in S.O.A. organized a counterinsurgency operation in which 767 people in El Mozote, El Salvador were murdered. In 1988, soldiers opened fire in Segovia, Colombia and killed 43 people.
The consequences of their training, activists say, result in unnecessary deaths that can be stopped if the facility is closed down.
"It is simply unethical because these soldiers return to their countries committing atrocities in their homes and oppress people all over the Latin American world," said senior Paul Rothbein, who did not know of the protest until a friend informed him.
The students who joined the protest all agreed that the actions that result from the training are unethical, but some said that although the idea of committing murder to regulate countries is wrong, the underlying objective of S.O.A. could have been successful if done appropriately.
"I think it's great that the U.S. is training military from other countries, but the thing is, the results are negative," junior Kenny Perez said.
The object of S.O.A. is valid, according to freshman Devin Horzempa. However, the idea "falls off track" when they begin training to murder.
Senior Ezenwa Onwugbenu agreed. "I'm sure there's some legitimate training going on, but just the fact that they're training to torture, what can you achieve?"
Senior Josh Lanier, who organized the trip to Fort Benning, described the entire weekend as a "bazaar of different activist activities." Political activists spoke on the grand stage, while a variety of musicians played. Chants were heard, pictures of deceased loved ones were shown, and stories were shared.
"It was amazing to see such an eclectic assembly of individuals. Imagine a sea of veterans, nuns, rabbis, godless communists, university professors, people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, you name it-standing side by side in solidarity for a cause they believe in," junior David Kortava said. "It had a powerful effect on me."
The weekend was filled with seminars on S.O.A., as well as how to have peaceful and nonviolent protests.
Onwugbenu said that he enjoyed the community feel and experience of the event. "I was happy that it wasn't all about negative energy, no spewing out hatred toward the facility. It was about learning and sharing."
Rothbein disagreed. He said that he was surprised by some of the protestors' actions.
"When I got to the event, I expected to be informed more about the SOA and protest the S.O.A.," said Rothbein. "Unfortunately, it became more of just a liberal convention where radical liberals were there just to express and circulate their radical liberal views that had nothing to do with S.O.A."
Protestors concluded their Saturday demonstration at a grand assembly that had a series of panels about SOA. Some of the panels included a video on the violence against young women in El Salvador and an address from the ambassador of Venezuela, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera.
The following day was a vigil where people took turns to read names and ages of all the victims of S.O.A. trained soldiers.
"When you hear their names being called, you feel they're life and what it means that they're no longer here," Lanier said of the vigil.
The vigil was followed by a puppetista parade. Different people created a variety of montages, and dressed up depicting friends and families they lost because of S.O.A.
Although there were more than 20,000 people who came to Fort Benning, Lanier said spreading awareness throughout the nation and the world is almost impossible. His pessimistic attitude, Lanier said, is due to the lack of awareness to other global issues like Darfur.
"There are so many things at the utmost importance today that so few people are willing to pay attention to," Lanier added. "To drag people into one more tragic circumstance, it seems almost an impossible task."
The U.S. government is well aware of the complaints and inquiries that go into S.O.A. In 1992, former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney received an investigative report on the training manuals soldiers receive during classes at S.O.A. According to soaw.org, five of the seven manuals investigated "contained language and statements in violation of legal, regulatory or policy prohibitions." However, Cheney never took further action.
On September 1996, the Pentagon was forced to make available the training manuals because of public pressure. In 2000, former President Bill Clinton signed the Floyd Spence National Defense Authorization Act to implement SOA into what it is now known as, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
It is a basic fight for human rights, Gabrielle Mnkande said of the whole issue. People need to just "stand up for their fellow man."
Clothes representing victims of S.O.A. soldiers lined the steets during the protests.