In this Associated Press photograph, thousands of people bearing the names of victims of human rights abuses gather outside the gates of Fort Benning in 2005 during the annual protest against the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the Army's School of the Americas, which is housed on the base.
MIKE HASKEY
Madison's Catholic community is preparing for its annual vigil of prayer and protest against the School of the Americas as critics pump up pressure on President Obama to shut down the Department of Defense school whose graduates keep cropping up in reports of human rights abuses.
After his election a year ago, Obama promised to end torture, but has resisted pleas to shutter the school - now known Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. SOA Watch is working to get more protesters out at the school at Fort Benning, Ga., this year than ever to force Obama to make good on his promise.
In Madison, nine days of prayer, called a Novenario, in memory the victims of violence and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean will start on Nov. 14. Gatherings will be held in private homes each day, and a meeting with prayer, music and witness testimony at Centro Hispano, 810 West Badger Road, at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, will conclude the vigil. The events are open to the public and more information will be posted on the Centro website.
On Nov. 20-22, thousands are expected at an annual protest at the gates of Fort Benning. Leaders of a coup in Honduras earlier this year trained at the school, according to SOA Watch.
The local vigil started in 2005, unleashing controversy over the appointment of Madison Bishop Robert Morlino to the school's advisory Board of Visitors. Morlino refuted claims that the school has been a training ground for torture and killing, saying it had become a force for good in the region. His office says now that the bishop's appointment expired in July, but that he "sees the board going in a good direction."
The local vigil is sponsored by Pax Christi Madison, a chapter of the international Catholic peace movement. The vigils are scheduled to mark the anniversary of the murders by SOA graduates of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador in 1989 - 20 years ago.
Posted in Grassroots on Monday, November 9, 2009 2:45 pm Updated: 2:35 pm. Grass Roots, Madison Diocese, Bishop Robert Morlino, School Of The Americas, Western Hemisphere Institute For Security Cooperation
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