[Dryerase] AGR SOA watch trial

[Shawn G]

We have a picture for this too 
http://www.agrnews.org/issues/182/nationalnews.html
Asheville Global Report (www.agrnews.org)

Trial begins for 37 SOA Watch activists
By Melissa Fridlin

Columbus, Georgia, July 10 (AGR)— The trial for 37 human rights activists 
who committed civil disobedience at the School of the Americas (SOA) began 
in federal court on Monday.

The defendants were among 10,000 who gathered last November to call for the 
closure of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation 
(WHISC), formerly known as the School of the Americas.

The defendants are charged with trespassing and face up to six months in 
federal prison and a $5000 fine.

The trial is expected to last through the week.  The trial is being held in 
the court of Judge G. Mallon Faircloth, in Columbus, GA.  Judge Faircloth is 
known for giving the maximum sentence of six months to the majority of 26 
people who came before the court in 2001 for similar actions.  Clare 
Hanrahan and Kathryn Temple of Asheville, as well as Jon Hunt of Boone, were 
among the 2001 defendants, who were known as the “SOA 26.”

Eighteen of the 37 defendants took the stand on Monday.  Eight pled guilty 
to trespassing on the Fort Benning Military Reservation during the Nov. 18, 
2001 SOA Watch demonstration:  Leone Reinbold, of Oakland, CA; Bridgid 
Conarchy, 23, of Grayslake, IL; Ralph Madsen, 68, of Newtonville, MA; 
Maxwell Sadler Edwards, of Waterville, ME; Linda Holzbaur, 45, of Ithaca, 
NY; Shannon McManimon, 26, of Philadelphia, PA; and David O’Neill and Lee 
Sturgis, both of Elkton, VA.

Ten others pled not guilty on Monday.  They were found guilty by Judge 
Faircloth on Tuesday morning:  Fr. William O’Donnell, 72, of Berkeley, CA, 
Toni Flynn, 56, of Valyermo, CA, Mary Dean, 37, of Chicago, IL; Kathleen 
Desautels, 64, of Chicago, IL; Fr. Jerry Zawada, 65, of Cedar Lake, IL; Rae 
Kramer, 55, of Syracuse, NY; Mike Pasquale, 33, of Syracuse, NY; Rev. Erik 
Johnson, 57, of Maryville, TN; Ken Crowley, 60, of Houston, TX; and Kate 
Fontanazza, 53, of Milwaukee, WI.

Perhaps the most surprising development in the trial so far is the case of 
Lisa Hughes, 36, of West Hartford, VT.  Hughes entered a plea of not guilty 
on Tuesday; the judge subsequently found her not guilty of trespassing.

He cited two reasons for this radically different verdict. When she was 
arrested, Hughes was kneeling on the entrance road to Ft. Benning between 
the white line that has traditionally marked the legal boundary of Ft. 
Benning property and the chainlink fence that was erected last year at the 
entrance as a security measure in response to the events of Sept. 11. The 
judge allowed that she had not actually crossed onto the base because she 
had not climbed over or walked around the fence.

The second factor in the verdict was that Hughes was kneeling in prayer, and 
not actually protesting.  Although US Army Regulation 210-5 prohibits 
“picketing, protesting, demonstrations, political speeches, sit-ins, and 
other similar activities” on Ft. Benning property, kneeling in prayer is a 
completely legal act.

The SOA/WHISC is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers that 
operates at Fort Benning, Georgia.  Many human rights organizations have 
published reports that directly link graduates of the school to human rights 
abuses and atrocities.  In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training 
manuals used at the school that advocated the use of torture, extortion and 
execution.

In December 2000 Congress passed legislation which created the WHISC to 
replace the SOA.  The renaming of the school was widely viewed as an attempt 
to diffuse public criticism and to disassociate the school from its 
reputation.  Critics say that the school has changed little of its notorious 
curriculum.

The US Army, on the other hand, says that the school has added human rights 
courses to its curriculum.  “Our real goal is to ensure our students 
understand their role in a democratic society and that they serve the 
people, not abuse them,” said Col. Richard Downie, school commandant.

SOA Watch and other organizations that oppose the SOA/WHISC maintain that 
the underlying purpose of the school, to control economic and political 
systems of Latin America by aiding and influencing Latin American 
militaries, remains the same.

“The SOA is a terrorist training camp right in our own backyard,” said 
School of the Americas Watch founder Father Roy Bourgeois.

“Those who speak out for justice are facing harsh prison sentences while 
SOA-trained torturers and assassins are operating with impunity,” said 
Bourgeois after four defendants read statements on the steps of the federal 
courthouse before the trial began.

The press conference was interrupted in the middle of one defendant’s 
statement by federal marshalls, who informed the defendants and supporters 
that they were not permitted to stand on the courthouse steps because the 
steps are federal property. The press conference then moved onto the 
sidewalk.

Later, supporters who were standing outside because they could not fit into 
the courtroom were asked not to sit on the low wall on either side of the 
steps.  “We need to keep a neutral area between the courthouse and the 
people,” said one federal marshall.

Columbus police were not present to address the resulting blockage of the 
sidewalk.  A federal marshall stated, “We are only here to protect federal 
property.  The sidewalk is not our concern.”

Federal officials, including marshalls and courthouse security, were heavily 
criticized throughout the day by supporters of the defendants, many of whom 
could not get into the courtroom to watch the proceedings. The trial is 
being held in one of the smaller courtrooms, where there is space for 
approximately 40 observers after the 37 defendants are seated.

“We have been requesting the use of the larger courtroom for a month now,” 
said Jeff Winder, Program Director for SOA Watch.  “Court officials told us 
that the big courtroom was under construction, so they had to put us in a 
smaller one.”

Some questioned whether there was sufficient reason to keep the courtroom 
closed.  Those who walked by the room on Monday claimed there appeared to be 
no construction activity happening inside.

One defendant spoke to Judge Faircloth himself on Friday about the matter, 
requesting that he make the decision to move the trial to the larger 
courtroom.  “When I told him that they had said that the courtroom was under 
construction, he said they were actually simply replacing some sound 
equipment,” said Rae Kramer, of Syracuse, NY.

“He said he would consider changing courtrooms over the weekend,” Kramer 
stated.  However, no change was made.

Bob Phares, a former judge from Raleigh, NC, was one of many who were upset 
by the change of courtroom.  “There are 37 defendants in this trial,” Phares 
stated.  “Each one has at least two or three family members and supporters 
with them; several have up to fifteen.  These people traveled from all over 
the country to support their loved ones and most of them have been shut out 
of the courtroom.”

SOA Watch staff was kept busy all day Monday making sure that defendants’ 
family members were in the courtroom as each one took the stand.  “It is a 
difficult thing to do,” said Ann Tiffany, one of two people in charge of 
keeping a list of each defendant’s priorities for people they wanted in the 
courtroom.

“We have people here from all over who may not have one person in particular 
that they are supporting, so they aren’t on the priority list,” Tiffany 
said. “But they still traveled a long way and want to support these people 
who are taking such a high risk for what they believe in.”

Many of those people may spend the better part of the week outside on the 
sidewalk.  “We could have avoided all of this if they had just opened up the 
larger courtroom in the first place,” said Phares.

The defendants, meanwhile, gave moving testimony inside the courtroom that 
covered a wide range of reasons for risking such a harsh penalty.  Rev. Erik 
Johnson, a defendant from Maryville, TN, said to the judge on Monday: “For 
me, going to prison is not something I want to do - the separation from my 
family - but I know I’ll come home.  But that’s not true for hundreds of 
people in Latin America who disappear at the hands of SOA grads and are not 
heard from again.”





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