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United Auto Workers Call for Closure of SOA/WHISC

Brothers and Sisters,

Below is a letter from Alan Reuther calling for the closure of the infamous School of Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia. Now renamed WHISC, the facility continues to provide training for Latin American soldiers and paramilitary groups that use the skills learned to suppress human rights of citizens of their respective countries.

Training manuals from the School of Americas advocate targeting those who do "union organizing or recruiting", pass out "propaganda in favor of the interests of workers", "sympathize with demonstrations or strikes", and make "accusations that the government has failed ... to meet the basic needs of the people".

For the past several years, Vice President Bob King along with dozens of UAW members have joined with many others gathering at the gates at Fort Benning, Georgia to call for an end to the School of Assassins. This year, we invite UAW members from across Region 8 to join the Rally at Columbus, Georgia on Saturday, November 19, 2005. Arrangements have been made by The Georgia State CAP Council to provide busses to travel from Atlanta to Columbus and back on Saturday morning.

For details contact Kelly Santiman at the Region 8 office in Lebanon, TN. For more information on the School of Americas, go to: www.soaw.org

United Auto Workers Call for Closure of SOA/WHISC

Urges Representatives to Co?Sponsor HR 1258

May 3, 2004

Dear Representative:

The UAW supports legislation which has been introduced by Representative McGovern (H.R. 1258) to suspend operations at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC). We urge you to cosponsor this bill and to support its speedy enactment.

In January, 2001, the U.S. Army officially "closed" the infamous School of the Americas (SOA). This action was taken in response to the serious concerns which had been raised about the operations of this school in Congressional debates in recent years. Unfortunately, the Army subsequently re?opened a virtually identical DOD facility at the same location named the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC). It is now apparent that the Army has simply changed the name of the school, and has not taken steps to address the many serious concerns which have been raised by Congress.

In particular, the renamed WHISC is continuing virtually the same courses as the SOA, without adequate oversight and attention to human rights issues. In addition, the staff at WHISC has not been changed or retrained in any way, and changes have not been made in the curriculum or other aspects of the school. Thus, it is evident that the Army has failed to deal seriously with the problems that led to the closure of the SOA. Instead, it has simply tried to paper over the problems with a change of names, without any underlying reforms to the operations of the school.

Sadly, human rights abuses and problems with civil?military relations continue to be a serious issue in Latin America. In Columbia, for example, there are well?documented links between the military and paramilitary groups that have committed massacres and other horrible human rights violations. Peru, Mexico and Venezuela are also grappling with how to institutionalize proper civil?military relations.

The UAW believes that WHISC is a relic of the Cold War that serves no meaningful purpose today. The United States does not maintain a similar training institution for any other part of the world. In our judgment, there is no reason to continue the WHISC for Latin America.

For the foregoing reasons, the UAW urges you to cosponsor and support the legislation sponsored by Representative McGovern to suspend operations at WHISC (H.R. 1258). Thank you for considering our views on this important human rights issue.

Sincerely,

Alan Reuther
Legislative Director