[809] in peace2
Outrageous Sentences/ New Political Prisoners in the US
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Aimee L Smith)
Thu May 24 14:20:35 2001
Message-Id: <200105241820.OAA17881@gold.mit.edu>
To: peace-list@MIT.EDU
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 14:20:24 -0400
From: Aimee L Smith <alsmith@MIT.EDU>
I guess you can't be too careful with elderly nunns... the perfect
cover for an enemy of the state!
charge:
walking onto a base in daylight with advanced public disclosure
sentence:
6 mos to 1 year, plus fines
charge:
SOA trains thousands to participate in massacres, death squads
and terrorism (including that chapter in their manual on torture tactics)
sentence:
a name change, with no abatement of funds or activities
charge:
Columbian military associated with para-militaries that massacre
peasants, including supplying them and looking the other way while
they carry out their gruesome "work."
sentence:
millions of dollars and more military toys via Plan Columbia
Gotta love justice, American style!
------- Forwarded Message
Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 09:04:08 EDT
Subject: Outrageous Sentences/ New Political Prisoners in the US
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, May, 23 2001
Contact: Eric LeCompte (253) 988-4927 or Roy Bourgeois (706)682-5369
SOA 26 Sentenced to Prison! -
Civil Resistance Actions continue as Sentences Come Down
Today 26 people - ranging in age from 19 to 88 years - were found guilty in
Federal District Court of criminal trespassing. Their sentences range from 3
years on probation to one year in federal prison, with 20 of the defendants
receiving six month in federal prison. Josh Raisler Cohn, Karl Meyer and
Jack Gilroy were taken immediately into custody - they are joining
congressional medal of honor winner Charles Liteky, who is incarcerated for
nonviolent protest actions against the SOA since July 31, 2000. The SOA 26
were charged last November when they marched among 3400 SOA opponents in a
procession onto Fort Benning in Georgia. That base is home to the notorious
School of the Americas (SOA), recently renamed the Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation. " I would like to offer you this peace
crane and I look forward to the day when you too are able to cross the line
and interfere with the kind of horrible human rights abuses taught at the
School of the Americas," stated Clare Hanrahan after she was sentenced to 6
month in prison.
Even as the 26 were being sentenced, 11 more people engaged in nonviolent
civil resistance actions on the base and were arrested. Three people walked
onto the base, including Lana Jacobs, wife of Steve Jacobs who was sentenced
to a year in prison today. Three activists removed the white line at the
entrance to Fort Benning, a line which strangles political discourse on the
post. Five other protesters delivered a letter to Col. Richard Downie,
newly installed director of the SOA / WHISC, "banning and barring" the
school for Latin American officers from further counterinsurgency training -
training at odds with a respect for human rights.
Meanwhile, only yards away from the front entrance to the base, 28-year Army
veteran Jeff Moebus is in the sixth week of a projected 52-day fast and
vigil, calling for closure of the SOA / WHISC.
The growing public outcry over the SOA and the atrocities perpetrated by its
graduates moved Congress to act. Previous legislative initiatives gradually
gained bipartisan support, forcing the Pentagon to rename the SOA in Western
Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. The intent was to
disassociate the School from its murderous past. This month three Democrats
and three Republicans introduced legislation in the House - HR 1810 - which
would close the School and investigate the training it provides.
During its 55 year history, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American
soldiers. It continues each year to train hundreds of soldiers in combat
skills such as commando tactics, mine warfare, military intelligence, and
psychological operations. SOA trained troops continue to return home to
wage war against their own people. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans
have been tortured, raped, assassinated, "disappeared," massacred and forced
into refugee camps by those trained at the SOA.
During the course of a decade, 50 SOA opponents have spent 30 years
collectively in federal prisons for nonviolent acts of civil resistance to
SOA violence. The SOA 26 together will serve over 12 years in prison,
adding to the 30 years SOA opponents have already served in prison.
Throughout the country, people today have expressed their determination to
maintain pressure to close the School, by any name.
MORE
David Corcoran: Illinois. Hospital chaplain, 67, married priest, father of
three adopted Korean children.
Sentence: 6 months, $1000 fine
Mary Lou Benson: Minnesota. Homemaker, 56, married, mother of four, sister
of Martha, aunt of Rachel.
Sentence: 6 months
Josh Raisler Cohn: Oregon. Social and environmental justice activist, 24.
Sentence: 6 months, $1000 fine- in custody
Russell De Young: Virginia. NASA senior research scientist, 54, married,
father of two.
Sentence: 6 months, $1000 fine
John Ewers: Ohio. Retired manager at NCR Corporation, Habitat for Humanity
volunteer, 66, married, father of four.
Sentence: 6 months, $1000 fine
Jack Gilroy: New York. High school teacher, married, father of four.
Sentence: 6 months, $500 fine-- in custody
Clare Hanrahan: North Carolina. Freelance writer/journalist, gardener, 52,
mother of one.
Sentence: 6 months, $500 fine
Martha Hayward: Michigan. Middle school teacher, 56, married, mother of four
(including Rachel)
Sentence: 3 yrs probation, $3,000 fine
Rachel Louise Hayward: Michigan. Student, majoring in biology and Spanish,
19, daughter of Martha.
Sentence: 6 months
Dorothy M. Hennessey: Iowa. Dubuque Franciscan, peace worker, 88, sister of
Gwen.
Sentence: 6 months
Gwen Hennessey: Iowa. Dubuque Franciscan, peace worker, 68, sister of
Dorothy.
Sentence: 6 months
Rita Hohenshell: Iowa. Retired, 76, mother of four, grandmother of five.
Sentence: 3 months
William Houston: Ohio. Retired professor, 72, father of two, husband of
Hazel.
Sentence: 6 months, $1000 fine
John Alfred Hunt Jr: North Carolina. Community educator and activist.
Sentence: 6 months, $500 fine
Steve Jacobs: Missouri. Member of the St. Francis Catholic Worker, veteran
and folksinger.
Sentence: One year
Rebecca Kanner: Michigan. Environmental educator, UAW member, 43.
Sentence: 6 months, $500 fine
Joel Kilgour: Minnesota. Baker in cooperative bakery, member of Loaves and
Fishes Catholic Worker, 24.
Sentence: 1 month
Richard John Kinane: Colorado. Teacher and contemplative psychotherapist,
51.
Sentence: 6 months, $500 fine
Elizabeth Anne McKenzie: Minnesota. Retired teacher, Sister of St. Joseph,
71.
Sentence: 6 months
Karl Meyer: Tennessee. Member of Nashville Greenland Community, activist
with Catholic Worker movement for 44 years.
Sentence: 6 months-- in custody
Lois Putzier: Arizona. Union organizer, married.
Sentence: 6 months
Eric Robison: Washington. Social justice activist, 21.
Sentence: 6 months, $500 fine
Miriam Spencer: Washington. Member of Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace,
actively retired, 75.
Sentence: 6 months
Kathryn Temple: North Carolina. Artist, writer, feminist, 28.
Sentence: 2 years probation, $500 fine
Hazel Tulecke: Ohio. Retired, 77, mother of four, wife of William.
Sentence: 3 months
Mary Alice Vaughan: Minnesota. Retired elementary school teacher, former
Sister of St. Joseph, 68.
Sentence: 6 months, $150 fine
To set up personal interviews with the defendants, please call Eric LeCompte
at (253) 988-4927
Eric M. LeCompte
SOA Watch Outreach Director
phone: (202)234-3440
fax: (202)636-4505
elecompte@soaw.org <mailto:elecompte@soaw.org>
------- End of Forwarded Message
