It’s coming back around again, the School of the America’s Watch Vigil.  This compassionate event has taken place every November for the last nineteen years.  People come from all over the world to partake in this growing nonviolent and direct action demonstration. 

Why?

According to the mission statement of the SOA Watch, the goal of this organization is to close the school of the Americas, now named the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.”  Located in Fort BenningGeorgia, the school has been training Latin American Soldiers for combat for over 59 years.   The school has been nicknamed the “School of the Assassins” because some of its graduates have been linked to the suffering and murders of thousands of men, women and children in Latin American countries.  Many cruel dictators of Latin American countries have been trained by this school.  The school opened in Panama in 1946.  The school was moved to Ft. BenningGeorgia and reopened in 1986.  In 2001, U.S. legislation passed to close it.  However, the school was closed and reopened under a new name, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.  Though the name has changed, there is reason for many to believe that nothing else about it has changed since its reopening.  American citizens are paying for the institute through taxes paid to the government.  This is something that affects everyone, at home and abroad. 

Since 1990, the SOA Watch has been gathering at the gates of the school at Ft.Benning to raise awareness in hopes to change U.S. public policy toward the school.  The organization is led by Father Roy Bourgeois, who now resides just outside the gate.  The SOA Watch is the organization that hosts and leads the event.  They also give to their cause by providing information, training for activists, lobbying, and PR campaigning in efforts to close the School of the Americas.

The Vigil

The vigil is held every year in late November.   The attendance for the vigil in 2008 was estimated to have included over 20,000 participants.  The groups and individuals that attend the event are very diverse.  They include social justice organizations from the U.S. and Latin America, Veterans Groups, School groups and localized peace groups.  The participants range in age from infants to the elderly, including the group named the “1,000 grandmothers.”  The vigil is a three day event.  It starts with conferences, peace trainings and lectures by experts on Latin America, and films centered on the cause in ColumbusOhio.  It concludes with the actual vigil on Sunday, when cultures and ideas mingle between the tens of thousands of individuals.  A funeral procession in memory of the deceased occurs in which all participants walk in unity until reaching the gate where posters, flowers, and the names of the dead are hung up as soldiers guard the other side.  Some dare to “Cross the Line” by jumping or going through the fence and enter into the military grounds, where they are charged with trespassing and usually sent to jail.  Eleven people did just that during the 2007 vigil.  They are now called, “prisoners of conscience.”  Vigils to close the SOA are also held around the world in over 10 other countries.  

For more information on the injustices caused by the School of the America’s and the SOA Watch Vigil, you may find out more by visiting the following links:

http://soaw.org/  - School of the America’s watch and vigil

http://www.luc.edu/ministry/soa.shtml -Loyola University of Chicago movement to close SOA

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/07/09-17 -vigil and efforts for Honduras

http://www.ifcla.net/soa.php -includes more information, downloadable forms and videos about SOA