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 Today, on January 26, six human rights advocates appeared in a federal courthouse in Georgia. The "SOA 6," ranging in age from 21 to 68, were found "guilty" of carrying the protest against the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) onto the Fort Benning military base. The six were among the thousands who gathered on November 22 and 23, 2008 outside the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia to demand a change in U.S. policy towards Latin America and the closure of the SOA/WHINSEC.
The "SOA 6" spoke out clearly and powerful in court today. They made a compelling case for the closure of the school and creation of a culture of justice and peace, where there is no place for the SOA mindset that promotes military "solutions" to social and economic problems. The six spent the weekend preparing for their trials with a team of lawyers, legal workers and volunteers, and today they stood up for all of us working for a more just world.
The "SOA 6" are:
Father Luis Barrios, 56, from North Bergen, New Jersey, sentenced to 2 months in federal prison and a $250 fine
Theresa Cusimano, 40 Denver, Colorado, 2 monthes in federal prison and $500 fine
Kristin Holm, from Chicago, Illinois, sentenced to 2 months in federal prison and a $250 fine
Sr. Diane Pinchot, OSU, 63, from Cleveland, Ohio, sentenced to 2 months in federal prison
Al Simmons, 64, from Richmond, Virginia, sentenced to 2 months in federal prison
Louis Wolf, 68, from Washington, DC, 6 months housearrest and $1000 fine
Fr. Luis Barrios
 Father Luis Barrios is the Chairperson of the Department of Latin American & Latina/o Studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice-City University of New York and a Board Certified Forensic Examiner with the American College of Forensic Examiners. He is also an Associate Priest at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Manhattan, New York City. Fr. Barrios, as well is a Board Member of Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizing-Pastor for Peace. Professor Barrios is a columnist with El Diario La Prensa and has been honored with the Media Award-2006-GLAAD as an Outstanding Spanish Language Newspaper Columnist and was nominated again in the year 2008. He teaches courses on gangs, criminal justice, cultural criminology, forensic psychology, US foreign policy in Latin America, Puerto Rican Studies, race and ethnicity, and Latina/os Studies.
Click here to read Fr. Luis Barrios' trial statement
Theresa Cusimano
 Theresa M. Cusimano, J.D., served as a public interest advocate for twenty years. Her Italian/Irish passion for social justice has led her to work with: the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops on immigration and refugee issues, the federal Department of Education on the Americans with Disabilities Act and more recently with Colorado Campus Compact to support college campus engagement in community problem solving. Cusimano was born in New York, raised outside of Philadelphia and has the joy of living in the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado. She is both honored and extremely humbled to have participated in nonviolent civil disobedience with her five co-defendants who together, face trial on Monday, January 26th.
Kristin Holm
 Kristin is the third seminary student from Chicago to stand trial for civil disobedience at the WHINSEC vigil in the past five years. The others are Elizabeth Deligio, CTU, 2005; and Le Anne Clausen, CTS, 2008.
On November 23rd, 2008, Kristin Holm, a first year student at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), along with five others, entered the base of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation’s (WHINSEC), which is a federal offense which carries the possibility of up to six months in prison and a substantial fine.
Sister Diane Therese Pinchot, OSF
 Born and raised in Cleveland Ohio, second oldest of six children, Diane Pinchot entered the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland after graduating from Villa Angela High School in 1963. She graduated from Ursuline College with a BA in Art Education in 1968 and has been teaching since. Her assignments have included Saint Ann’s School in Cleveland Heights, Lake Catholic High School in Mentor, Beaumont School in Cleveland Heights and, for the last 26 years, Ursuline College in Pepper Pike. After completing several degrees -- an MALS at Wesleyan University in Conn. concentrating in metals and a terminal degree an MFA in Ceramic Sculpture in 1990 at Ohio University -- the Diocesan Cleveland Mission Team in El Salvador in 1992 asked her to come and help design and build an altar on the spot where the Churchwomen were found in a shallow grave after they were raped and killed. This significant action slowly changed Diane’s life and over time the Central American martyrs, especially Dorothy Kazel, a member of the Ursuline community, inspired her to become more active in social justice groups within the community and other national organizations. Her artwork has also reflected this transformation, becoming more narrative and engaging the viewer to question the meaning behind the form. She has exhibited her work internationally, nationally and regionally and has come to realize the sacred connection of justice and art making especially when it is grounded in Peace and Love.
Click here to read Sister Diane Therese Pinchot's trial statement.
 Al Simmons
I' m a 64 year old pre-school teacher who retired last year. I was a teacher and director in pre-school programs in Richmond, VA. I have been married for 32 years to Marcia Deckinson.
We enjoy birding, camping, scrabble, reading, silliness and each other.
I'm a Vietnam Veteran from 1968 and it was then that'd realized there had to be a better way. The past forthy years I've been involved in peace, social and economic justice, gay rights, women's rights and death penalty issues.
As I had said often to my four year olds in pre-school "Don't hurt- use words". I have been saying that, in various ways, to my government for many years.
Read Al Simmons' bio information
 Louis Wolf
Born October 31, 1940 in Dresher, Pennsylvania (then some 30 miles outside of Philadelphia), and grew up on a farm there. Attended Goddard College in Vermont
(1958-63), graduated BA in 1963.
Spent one year (1961) in Denmark in work-study program. Job Training Officer (1964) with Flanner House, Indianapolis. Alternative service as a conscientious objector to military service in Laos (1964-67) building wells, water-seal latrines, and a school.
Did postgraduate studies (1967-72) at the University of the Philippines, College of Agriculture. Freelance correspondent in the Philippines.(1969-72) with Dispatch News Service International and American Report. Freelance writer and researcher in London (1972-77) with Transnational Research Associates International.
Co-founder and research director (1978-2005) of CovertAction Information Bulletin renamed CovertAction Quarterly, Washington, DC. Staff member (2007-present), Rock Creek Free Press, Bethesda, MD. Co-editor of two books, "Dirty Work: The CIA in Western Europe" (1978) and "Dirty Work II: The CIA in Africa" (1980). Have traveled throughout the Third World.
Read Luis trial statement
 February 15-17, 2009: Lobby Days and SOA Watch Encuentro in Washington, DC
Join human rights activists from across the country in Washington, DC and lobby your Member of Congress to get on board for the closing of the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC).
With 35 Representatives who voted to continue funding the SOA/WHINSEC losing their seats in Congress on November 4th, we are in a great position to pressure the new Congress to permanently shut down the school in 2009. The last vote to defund the SOA/WHINSEC, in 2007, lost by a margin of only six votes.
 Make Your Voice Heard: Ensure True Change in Latin America PolicyGrassroots activists and organizers will converge on Washington, DC calling for a new Latin America policy and opposing militarization.
SOA Watch is working with other Latin America Solidarity and social justice groups on a series of events from February 15-17, 2009 to push the U.S. Congress and the White House to close the School of the Americas and to bring real change to U.S. Latin America policy.
Schedule of EventsSaturday, February 14
7pm Meet and Greet at the SOA Watch office
Sunday, February 15
9am - 4:30pm SOA Watch Encuentro / Strategy Meeting
dinner break 4:30pm - 6:00pm
6:00pm - 9:00pm Anti-Militarization Program
organized in cooperation with the Latin America Solidarity Coalition (LASC) and the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Monday, February 16
9:00am - 11:00am Grassroots Lobby Training
1:00pm - 4:00pm Arts and Action Workshop
Lobby Visits and Street Theater on Capitol Hill
Tuesday, February 17
Lobbying on Capitol Hill
Educate and mobilize your community! Order the SOA Watch DVD Compilation and organize a film screening for your friends, neighbors and co-workers.
Order Outreach Palm Cards: Spread the word about the SOA/ WHINSEC in your church, school, union local or meeting with the new SOA Watch Palm Card. The cards have basic information about the School of the Americas on one side and information about the Obama Petition and the February events in DC on the other.  
Order the palm cards in packs of 120 for $6 including shipping and handling.
Click here to order online or send a $6 check or cash to SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, DC 20017
Click here to download petition forms - Click here to sign the petition online
Photos from Saturday:
Photos from Sunday:
People Power in Action! Sunday Vigil Update:
2pm: The Puppetistas took a new turn following the procession this year. Several hundred activists with puppets, flags, stilts and high energy continued to march down the road and out of the protest area in front of the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia after the puppet pageant. They celebrated people power and resistance by taking the protests into the streets of Columbus, Georgia.
 11am: A solemn funeral procession, commemorating those who suffered and were martyred by the graduates of the School of the Americas, made its way towards the gates of Fort Benning. The names of the martyrs are being sung out from the stage to bring their spirits and witness before us as and 20,000 voices respond: "¡Presente!" You are here with us, you are not forgotten, and we continue the struggle in your name. ¡Presente! literally means "here" or "present" in Spanish. There is a long tradition in Latin American movements for justice of invoking the memory of those who have lost their lives in the struggle.
(Photo: Charles Steele, president of the SCLC and Francisco Herrera on the stage at the gates of Fort Benning. Photo by Linda Panetta)
9am: Earlier this morning, six human rights activists crossed through the I-85 Highway entrance onto the military base in an attempt to process towards the SOA/WHINSEC building. The group was stopped by military police after half a mile and was arrested. The six are facing up to six month in federal prison for carrying the protest onto the base. They will appear in federal court in January 2009 and will use the courtroom to speak truth to power and to put the School of the Americas itself on trial.
They are:
Sr. Diane Pinchot, OSU, 63, from Cleveland, Ohio, sentenced to 2 months in federal prison
Father Luis Barrios, 56, from North Bergen, New Jersey, sentenced to 2 months in federal prison and $250 fine
Louis Wolf, 68, from Washington, DC, senteced to 6 months housearrest and $1000 fine
Theresa Cusimano, 40 Denver, Colorado, sentenced to 2 months in federal prison and $500 fine
Al Simmons, 64, from Richmond, Virginia, sentenced to 2 months in federal prison
Kristin Holm, from Chicago, Illinois, sentenced to 2 months in federal prison and a $250 fine
They were bailed out of jail by the SOA Watch legal team on Sunday afternoon. Their federal trial in Columbus, Georgia will begin on January 26, 2009.
Thousands are Gathered at Fort Benning, Georgia, saying:
Yes We Can Close the School of Assassins!
 We know that the United States government won't shut down the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) on its own. It will take people power and grassroots organizing to create a climate and culture that will make the existence of institutions like the SOA/WHINSEC impossible.
This weekend, as thousands are gathered at the gates of Fort Benning, we are changing the climate and we are creating a culture of justice, peace and understanding. We have the power to hold the Obama administration to its promises of a new direction in U.S.-Latin America relations and we are calling for the closing of the SOA/WHINSEC as a first step in the right direction.
Saturday: Around the world, in Los Angeles, California and Santiago, Chile, torture survivors, labor leaders and human rights organizers came together in solidarity protests to call for the closure of the notorious factory of terror and torture.
 On Saturday, 12,000 activists lined Fort Benning Rd. to share information and resources from solidarity, anti-imperialism and pro-peace groups around the Americas.
The day opened with a welcome from Fr. Roy Bourgeois, founder of the SOA Watch movement, and was filled with the voices of musicians and activists on the front lines of the struggle for justice.
Puppetistas gathered at the rear of the road and came to life in a dancing battle to bring down the massive puppet of U.S. imperialism.
Saturday ended with workshops, teach-ins and an amazing SOA Watch concert at the Columbus Convention Center. As in previous years, a group of activists danced in a drum circle in front of the Convention Center and afterward took to the streets of Columbus. This year, the police responded much more harshly. Police officers arrested one participant and dispersed the group while a helicopter was hovering above, shining a spotlight on the scene.
Today, the vigil will culminate with a solemn symbolic funeral procession to the gates of Ft. Benning, commemorating all the victims of SOA/WHINSEC violence and oppressive U.S. foreign policy.
About the School of the Americas / Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
 The US Army School of Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American security personnel in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. SOA graduates are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. 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 assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the El Mozote Massacre of 900 civilians. (See Grads in the News).
In an attempt to deflect public criticism and disassociate the school from its dubious reputation, the SOA was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in 2001. The name change was a result of a Department of Defense proposal included in the Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal 2001, at a time when SOA opponents were poised to win a congressional vote on legislation that would have dismantled the school. The name-change measure passed when the House of Representatives defeated a bi-partisan amendment to close the SOA and conduct a congressional investigation by a narrow ten-vote margin. (See Talking Points, Critique of New School, Vote Roll Call.)
In a media interview, Georgia Senator and SOA supporter the late Paul Coverdell characterized the DOD proposal as a "cosmetic" change that would ensure that the SOA could continue its mission and operation. Critics of the SOA concur.
SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement that works through creative protest and resistance, legislative and media work to stand in solidarity with the people of Latin America, to close the SOA/WHINSEC and to change oppressive U.S. foreign policy that institutions like the SOA represent. We are grateful to our sisters and brothers throughout Latin America and the the Caribbean for their inspiration and the invitation to join them in their struggle for economic and social justice.
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