Eugene residents gathered in the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza on Saturday for a rally to close the School of the Americas (SOA). The SOA is a U.S. Army training school located at Fort Benning just south of Columbus, Georgia that trains mainly Latin American military personnel in military tactics such as counter-insurgency and military intelligence.
Those who object to the SOA claim that the school teaches torture and that graduates have been involved in some of the worst human rights crimes in Latin American history – including military coups and massacres of hundreds of people.
The rally was peaceful. Activists and families of victims spoke and sang, and it ended with a vigil commemorating the lives of the victims.
Hope Marston, organizer for activist group Bill of Rights Defense Committee, spoke about the recently passed Military Commissions Act (MCA). In addition to calling for the SOA’s closure, Marston urged the crowd not to joke about torture. Joking about horrible crimes can make them normal and acceptable in people’s minds, she said.
The Committee in Solidarity with the Central American People (CISCAP) helped organize the rally. University student Katie Grinnell, an intern for CISCAP, didn’t know about the SOA until she began her internship this fall. She plans to “perpetuate the knowledge” about the SOA to her community and continue protesting after her internship ends.
Local activist Pam Garrison said a group of protesters marches on Fort Benning each year, each person holding a cross with the name of a victim of the SOA. When they reach the property line of Fort Benning, some progress with the risk of being arrested. Garrison said that last year, out of the 19,000 marchers, 27 were arrested. Most of their jail terms ended in October. On Sunday, this year’s marchers in Georgia made the decision whether or not to cross the line – and 16 were arrested.
The Associated Press contributed to this report