[Vision2020] nov 12 vigil

[Sally Perrine]

Nov. 12 Candlelight Vigil Will Focus on "School of the Americas"

   At 5:30 on Friday, November 12, the Palouse Peace Coalition will
sponsor a vigil featuring speakers, songs, and discussion about the US
Army's School of the Americas or SOA. Based in Fort Benning, Georgia, this
military school says it "provides professional education and training for
civilian, military and law enforcement students." But graduates of the SOA
are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America,
including many documented cases of torture and murder of civilians. For
example, in March 1980, Archbishop Romero was assassinated in El Salvador.
Two of his killers were SOA graduates. In November 1989, six Jesuit priests,
their cook, and her daughter were murdered at the University of Central
America. Nineteen of the 26 men cited for this act by a U.N. Commission were
trained at the SOA.
   Each year in mid-November, thousands of people gather at Fort Benning and
throughout the nation to speak out against atrocities committed by
paramilitary forces trained at the SOA. Moscow resident Rich Wekerle
recently completed 6 months in federal prison for walking onto the base at
Fort Benning during last year's protest. At the vigil, Wekerle will speak
about his experiences.
   Peace Coalition member Jerry Swensen says "this is a critical time for
examining the counterinsurgency tactics that our nation has taught, is
teaching, and is practicing."
   The vigil will take place in Moscow's Friendship Square (4th and Main
Sts.).
   The program for this event is:
Introductory remarks: Pastor Dean Stewart
Music: Lisa Simpson (No Mas/No More and Other Songs of Resistance)
Reading: from novel about El Salvador by Sandra Benitez'
Jerry Swensen: counter-insurgency training in Central America and the Middle
East
Rich Wekerle: experiences of a prisoner of conscience

   For more information contact: Bertie Weddell, 509-334-0737.