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Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation

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Official seal of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation

The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC or WHINSEC), formerly the School of the Americas (SOA; Spanish: Escuela de las Américas) is a United States Department of Defense facility at Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia in the United States.

Between 1946 and 2001, the SOA trained more than 61,000 Latin American soldiers and policemen. Some of them became notorious for human rights violations, including generals Leopoldo Galtieri, Efraín Ríos Montt and Manuel Noriega, dictators such as Bolivia's Hugo Banzer, some of Augusto Pinochet's officers[1][2], and the founders of Los Zetas, a mercenary army for one of Mexico's largest drug trafficking organizations, the Gulf Cartel.[3][4] The terrorist Luis Posada Carriles was educated there in 1961, although he never graduated.[5][6][7] Critics of the school argue that the education encouraged such practices and that this continues in the WHINSEC. This is denied by the WHINSEC and its supporters who argue that the alleged connection is weak. According to the WHINSEC, the education now emphasizes democracy and human rights.[8][9]

History

In 1946, in the early days of the Cold War, the Latin American Training Center – U.S. Ground Forces was established in Panama[9] in the US army base of Fort Gulick, now housing the Melia Hotel.[2]

During 1949 it was expanded and became the U.S. Army Caribbean Training Center. It was expanded and renamed the U.S. Army School of the Americas in 1963. It relocated to Fort Benning in 1984, following the signing of the Panama Canal Treaty. More than 61,000 military personnel attended these United States Army schools.[9]

The School of the Americas taught military education courses as they were taught in U. S. Armed Forces institutions -- the School translated the courses, lessons plans and all, into Spanish. Beginning in 1963, and evolving as the region changed, SOA taught, at various times, professional military education and training courses to officers and non-commissioned officers in the areas of:

  • professional leadership (Command and General Staff course, Military Police courses, Infantry Officers Basic course, Artillery Officers course and a Cadet Orientation course);
  • infantry weapons (Mortar Officer course);
  • technical support (Engineer Basic and Officer courses, Radio Operators course, Small Caliber Repair course, Wheeled Vehicle Maintenance course and Medical Assistance courses);
  • counter-insurgency (Internal Defense and Development course, Military Intelligence course, Military Police course), introduced during 1963; and
  • specialized leadership and skills (Ranger course, Air Mobile course, Jungle Operations course, Patrolling course, Parachute Rigging course, Basic Airborne course, Pathfinder and Jumpmaster courses).[9]

The current WHINSEC, now part of the United States Department of Defense, was created as part of the National Defense Authorization Act by Congress in 2001. The WHINSEC teaches its courses primarily in the Spanish language, especially for Latin American military, police and civilian personnel, as well as the Caribean personnel in English, but is also open for persons from outside Latin America. Presently about 700 to 1,100 students attend WHINSEC[9] courses per year. According to official web site, the WHINSEC was established "to provide professional education and training to eligible persons of the nations of the Western Hemisphere within the context of the democratic principles set forth in the Charter of the Organization of American States." Its "mission also includes fostering mutual knowledge, transparency, confidence, and cooperation by promoting democratic values; respect for human rights; and an understanding of U.S. customs and traditions. Specific subjects set by Congress include leadership development; counterdrug; peacekeeping; democratic sustainment; resource management; and disaster preparedness and relief planning. In every course offered, eight hours of democracy and human rights instruction is mandatory."[10] Its motto is Libertad, Paz y Fraternidad (Liberty, Peace and Brotherhood).[11]

File:Soa logo.gif
Former logo of the School of Americas.

Currently all students are given a minimum of eight hours of instruction in "human rights, the rule of law, due process, civilian control of the military, and the role of the military in a democratic society." Courses must focus on leadership development, counter-drug operations, peace support operations, disaster relief, or "any other matter the Secretary [of Defense] deems appropriate."[12][13]

According to the Center for International Policy, a "Board of Visitors" is required to review and evaluate "curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, and academic methods." A federal committee, the board must include the chairmen and ranking minority members of both houses' Armed Services Committees (or surrogates), the senior Army officer responsible for training (or a surrogate), one person chosen by the Secretary of State, the head of the U.S. Southern command (or a surrogate), and six people chosen by the Secretary of Defense ("including, to the extent practicable, persons from academia and the religious and human rights communities"). The board reviews the institute's curriculum to determine whether it complies with U.S. laws and doctrine, and whether it is consistent with U.S. policy goals toward Latin America and the Caribbean.[13] Currently, Bishop Robert C. Morlino of the Diocese of Madison, WI, fills the position of Chairman of the Board of Visitors.[14]

Human rights violations

The former School of the Americas had been criticized for the participation in human rights violations by some of its graduates. Although there is no direct cause and effect evidence to prove their claims critics argue that the education received at the school encourages such practices. In response to their critics WHINSEC developed a course on human rights protections and requires the training be taken by their students .[8]

According to the Center for International Policy, "The School of the Americas had been questioned for years, as it trained many military personnel before and during the years of the "national security doctrine" -- the dirty war years in the Southern Cone and the civil war years in Central America -- in which Latin American militaries ruled or had disproportionate government influence and committed serious human rights violations. Training manuals used at the SOA and elsewhere from the early 1980s through 1991 promoted techniques that violated human rights and democratic standards. SOA and WHINSEC graduates continue to surface in news reports regarding both current human rights cases and new reports."[13]

Defenders argue that today the curriculum includes human rights as described above. They also argue that no school should be held accountable for the actions of some of its graduates.[13]

Intelligence training manuals

See also: U.S. Army and CIA interrogation manuals

On September 20, 1996, the Pentagon released seven training manuals prepared by the U.S. military and used between 1987 and 1991 in Latin America and in intelligence training courses at the U.S. School of the Americas (SOA). The manuals were based in part on lesson plans used by the school as far back as 1982 and, in turn, based in part on older material from Project X.[1] However, it should be noted that the manuels were never used for classroom instruction and were mistakenly allowed to be included in their additional reading materials. According to Lisa Haugaard of School of the Americas Watch, these manuals taught repressive techniques and promoted the violation of human rights throughout Latin America and around the globe.[15] The manuals contain instructions in motivation by fear, bounties for enemy dead, false imprisonment, torture, execution, and kidnapping a target's family members. Joseph Kennedy said "These manuals taught tactics that come right out of a Soviet gulag and have no place in civilized society." The Pentagon admitted that these manuals were a "mistake".[16]

After this investigation the Department of Defense discontinued the use of the manuals, directed their recovery to the extent practicable, and destroyed the copies in the field. U.S. Southern Command advised governments in Latin America that the manuals contained passages that did not represent U.S. government policy, and pursued recovery of the manuals from the governments and some individual students.[17] Notably, David Addington and Dick Cheney retained personal copies of the training manuals.[18]

Participation

In 2004, Venezuela ceased all training of Venezuelan soldiers at WHINSEC.[19] On March 28, 2006, the government of Argentina, headed by President Nestor Kirchner, decided to stop sending soldiers to train at WHINSEC, and the government of Uruguay affirmed that it will continue its current policy of not sending soldiers to WHINSEC.[20][21] In 2007, Oscar Arias, president of Costa Rica, decided to stop sending Costa Rican police to the WHINSEC, although later reneged, saying the training would be beneficial for counter-narcotics operations. Costa Rica has no military, but has sent some 2,600 police officers to the school.[22] In a letter to the Commandant of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), U.S. Army Col. Gilberto Perez, Bolivian President Evo Morales formally announced on February 18 2008 that he will not send Bolivian military or police officers to attend training programs at the institute formerly known as the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA).[23]

Legislative action

A bill to abolish the school with 134 co-sponsors was introduced to the House Armed Services Committee in 2005.[24]

In June 2007 the McGovern/Lewis Amendment to shut off funding for the Institute failed by 6 votes.[25] This effort to close the Institute was endorsed by the non-partisan Council on Hemispheric Affairs who called the Institute a "black eye".[26]

SOA Watch

Main article: School of the Americas Watch

Since 1990, Washington, D.C.-based non profit human rights organization School of the Americas Watch has worked to monitor graduates of the institution and to close the former SOA, now WHINSEC through legislative action, grassroots organizing and nonviolent direct action.[27] It maintains a database with graduates of both the SOA and WHINSEC who have been accused of human rights violations and other criminal activity.[28] In regard to the re-naming of the institution, SOA Watch claims that the approach taken by the Department of Defense is not grounded in any critical assessment of the training, procedures, performance, or results (consequences) of the training programs of the SOA. According to critics of the SOA, the name change ignores congressional concern and public outcry over the SOA’s past and present link to human rights atrocities.[29]

Public demonstrations

SOA Watch sponsors an annual (since 1990) public demonstration of protest at Ft. Benning. In 2005, the demonstration drew 19,000 people. The protests are timed to coincide with the anniversary of the November 1989 murders of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador. A congressional panel concluded that 19 of the 27 killers were SOA graduates.[30]

Graduates of the School Of The Americas

Many graduates of the SOA and WHINSEC are responsible for human rights violations and criminal activity in their home countries.[1] In August, 2007 according to an Associated Press report Colonel Alberto Quijano of the Colombian army's Special Forces was arrested for providing security and mobilizing troops for Diego León Montoya Sánchez (alias “Don Diego”), the leader of the Norte del Valle Cartel and one of the FBI’s 10 most-wanted criminals. School of the Americas Watch said in a statement that it matched the names of those in the scandal with its database of attendees at the institute. Alberto Quijano attended courses and was an instructor who taught classes on Peacekeeping Operations and Democratic Sustainment at the school from 2003 to 2004.[31] Others students are the Atlacatl Battalion responsible for the El Mozote massacre.

Luis Posada Carriles at Fort Benning, Georgia, 1962

Critics of SOA Watch argue the connection is often misleading. According to Paul Mulshine, Roberto D'Aubuisson's sole link to the SOA is that he had taken a course in Radio Operations long before El Salvador's civil war began.[32]

Educated according to other sources

The terrorist Luis Posada Carriles was educated by the CIA in explosives and sabotage at Fort Benning (the current location of the academy) before the Bay of Pigs invasion.[5][6][7][34]

In 1992 the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recommended prosecution of Col. Cid Diaz for murder in association with the 1983 Las Hojas massacre. His name is on a State Department list of gross human rights abusers. Diaz went to the Institute in 2003.[35][36]

Media Representation

Sources

  1. ^ a b "Notorious Graduates". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved November 16 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  2. ^ a b Davies, George ‘I’ll take the CIA torture suite’, The First Post, dated August 16 2006, accessed August 14 2006.
  3. ^ Thompson, Ginger (September 30, 2005). "Mexico Fears Its Drug Traffickers Get Help From Guatemalans". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  4. ^ Laurie Freeman, State of Siege: Drug-Related Violence and Corruption in Mexico, Washington Office on Latin America, June 2006
  5. ^ a b Candiotti, Susan (2005-05-18). "Alleged anti-Castro terrorist Posada arrested". CNN. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
  6. ^ a b National Lawyers Guild Calls for Immediate Extradition of Luis Posada to Venezuela, NLG press release, April 20, 2005. Accessed 24 February 2007.
  7. ^ a b National Security Archive. "LUIS POSADA CARRILES, THE DECLASSIFIED RECORD".
  8. ^ a b Bay Area Protesters Sentenced in Georgia CommonDreams.org.
  9. ^ a b c d e "FAQ". Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
  10. ^ "History of the Institute". Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
  11. ^ "A Welcome from the Commandant". Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. Retrieved May 16 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  12. ^ "Democracy & Human Rights at WHINSEC". Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  13. ^ a b c d "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation". Center for International Policy. Retrieved May 6 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  14. ^ "Bishop Morlino danger to rational Catholicism". The Badger Herald. 2009-04-03.
  15. ^ Haugaard, Lisa. "US Training Manuals Declassified". Retrieved May 6 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  16. ^ "Unmatched Power, Unmet Principles: The Human Rights Dimensions of US Training of Foreign Military and Police Forces 2002 Report of Amnesty International USA (Amnesty International USA)" (PDF). Amnesty International. 2002. Retrieved April 14 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
    *"Pentagon Investigation Concludes that Techniques in SOA manuals were 'mistakes.'". School of the Americas Watch. February 21, 1997. Retrieved April 14 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  17. ^ "Fact Sheet Concerning Training Manuals Containing Materials Inconsistent With U.S. Policy". From the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense/Public Affairs Office. 1992. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  18. ^ http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/05/18/torture/index.html%7CRetrieved from Salon.com on May 18th 2009
  19. ^ "National Venezuela Solidarity Conference". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved May 6 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  20. ^ "Argentina & Uruguay abandon SOA!". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved May 6 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  21. ^ "¡No Más! No More!". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved May 6 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  22. ^ "Costa Rica to Cease Police Training at the SOA/WHINSEC". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved May 31 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  23. ^ "Bolivian Military Withdraws from Controversial U.S. Army Training School". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved February 18 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  24. ^ "H.R.1217". The Library of Congress. Retrieved May 6 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  25. ^ "WHINSEC Remains Open: Congress Narrowly Fails to Halt Funding the Former School of the Americas". Council on Hemispheric Affairs. 2007-07-06. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  26. ^ "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation". Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  27. ^ "About SOA Watch". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved May 6 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  28. ^ "SOA/WHINSEC Grads in the News". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved March 6 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  29. ^ "Critique of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved November 16 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  30. ^ Krickl, Tony (2007). "CGU Student Josh Harris to Spend Two Months in Federal Prison for Protesting". Claremont Courier. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  31. ^ "US trained Colombian soldiers jailed for working with cartel, says human rights group". School of the Americas Watch. Associated Press. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ Mulshine, Paul. "The War in Central America Continues". Retrieved 6 November 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  33. ^ "The New Strategy". Time Magazine. 1965-04-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  34. ^ Zalman, Amy. Luis Posada Carriles (anti-Castro Cuban terrorism)
  35. ^ "Congressman James McGovern : Latest News : Congressman McGovern's statements on limiting funding for the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation". Mcgovern.house.gov. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  36. ^ "Teaching Torture". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2008-10-12.

Further reading

  • Gill, Lesley. The School of the Americas - Military Training and Political Violence in the Americas. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004.

See also

Official government websites

Other websites

  • School of the Americas Watch. "Graduate Database". Retrieved March 3 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
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