Protesters call for closing of Benning school

[unhappycamper]

Protesters call for closing of Benning school
By Elliott Minor - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Nov 23, 2008 16:54:44 EST

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Protesters who gathered Sunday to call for the closing of a controversial school for Latin American military and government officials said they’re optimistic the new president or a more sympathetic Congress will help them achieve their goal within the next year.

Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest who has been leading the demonstrations outside a gate to Fort Benning since 1990, said his supporters view president-elect Barack Obama as the “president who stands for peace” and will request a meeting with him.

Bourgeois’ group, School of Americas Watch, holds the peaceful protests each November to mark the 1989 killings of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador. A United Nations panel concluded that some of the killers had attended Fort Benning’s School of Americas, now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, which has added mandatory human-rights classes.

The protesters blame the school for human rights abuses in Latin America.

Fort Benning officials had no comment on the protest or the allegations other than to say they worked with local officials to ensure a safe, peaceful gathering.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_benning_protest_112308/#2e



uhc comment: Pics and more info can be found at --> http://www.soaw.org/