JMU student, three alumni arrested in Ga. during protest

A JMU sophomore and three JMU graduates were arrested on Nov. 18 at Fort Benning, Ga., while protesting the School of the Americas, which they believe trains Latin American terrorists.

Sophomore Peter Gelderloos, Abi Miller ('00), Lee Sturgis ('97) and her husband David O'Neill ('96) were each arrested on charges of criminal trespassing and resisting arrest. They were released 24 hours later.

In an interview Wednesday, the four said they were part of a vigil, organized by the School of the Americas Watch, attended by over 7,000 people during the weekend of Nov. 17 and 18. While the rest of the crowd engaged in vigil activities outside of the gated base, Gelderloos, Miller, Sturgis, O'Neill and 9 other protestors, holding hands, proceeded onto the base in demonstration while SOA Watch's indictment (a statement of specific accusations against the school) was read to the thousands at the vigil over a loudspeaker. The 13 protesters were arrested on the base.

Other Harrisonburg residents also attended the vigil, including senior Anna Mitchell and junior Jenny Schockemoehl, as well as Eastern Mennonite University grad Jamie Miller ('01), but they stayed outside of the base and were not arrested.

According to a Nov. 27 e-mail sent by those arrested once back in Harrisonburg, "(Thirteen) people face federal charges bearing up to a year in jail. (Four) of these people are Harrisonburg residents who served a people's indictment to the Military School Of the Americas … for their crimes against humanity and sponsorship of terrorism and torture," the e-mail said.
The SOA

SOA was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation on Jan. 17. It underwent a name change after a recent investigation regarding appropriate training tactics, according to O'Neill.

According to the official WHINSEC Web site, http://192.153.150.25/whinsec/main.html, "WHINSEC is a one-of-a-kind institute that provides professional education and training for civilian, military and law enforcement students from nations throughout the Western Hemisphere."

According to the SOA Watch Web site (www.soaw.org), the U.S. Army School of Americas, based in Fort Benning, Ga., "trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics. Graduates of the SOA are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America.

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 1980) assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero (of El Salvador) and the 1981 El Mozote Massacre of 900 civilians (in El Salvador)."

According to the site, "SOA Watch is an independent organization that seeks to close the U.S. Army School of the Americas, under whatever name it is called, through vigils and fasts, demonstrations and nonviolent protest, as well as media and legislative work."

According to the site, the procession was the group's 12th annual commemoration of the massacre of six Jesuit priests — as well as thousands of others — killed in Latin America by SOA graduates.

Gelderloos said, "The School of the Americas is the government's own terrorist training camp … they train in assassinations, land mines, interrogation and torture."

According to the WHINSEC Web site, "In keeping with its mandate from Congress, the WHINSEC has formulated and implemented an ambitious and extensive policy on human rights instruction. We believe that our human rights instruction is among the best offered by military educational institutions anywhere in the hemisphere. Depending on the length of the course each student at the WHINSEC receives from eight to 40 hours on topics such as: Ethics, Due Process, Rule of Law, Civilian Control of the Military, Role of the Military in a Democratic Society, Law of Land Warfare, Geneva and The Hague Conventions and International Humanitarian Law. Up to 200 additional hours is integrated in follow-on training."

According to the SOA Watch Web site, H.R. Bill 1810 is currently is in Congress, calling for the closing of the school for 10 months while under investigation of the alleged activities.

The vigil's events

The weekend's events included a rally against the practices of SOA on Saturday and a "funeral procession" on Sunday where "mourners" each carried crosses labeled with the names of victims killed by Latin Americans trained at SOA. During the procession, mourners called out the names on their individual cross, according to Schockemoehl.

Miller said, "Every time a name is called the crowd raises their crosses and says 'presente'" (Spanish for 'present'), to show the memories are still alive and the reasons they died have not gone unnoticed.

No regrets

Concerning their arrests, Miller said all 13 offenders are facing trial in either February or March in Georgia, but haven't been informed of the exact date yet.

Gelderloos said that out of the 26 arrested last year in similar protest, one received no jail time and 23 received the six-month maximum sentence.
The group does not feel that its efforts have gone unrewarded and unnoticed. O'Neill said, "I feel like I've broken smaller laws to face a greater crime. I feel willing to suffer with the people from Latin America who have suffered because of the School of the Americas."

Miller said, "This was one of the most powerful things I've even been a part of. The only way to describe what I felt was 'called.'"

Sturgis said, "It was the first time in my life, I felt like I 100-percent believed in something."

Miller said, "When you know you did all in your power to stand up against something that you know is wrong and you could go no further, that is an incredible feeling."