Our friends at SOA Watch have received confirmation that Congress will vote on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2009 that would require that the School of the Americas/WHINSEC release the names, ranks, country of origin, courses and dates attended of students and instructors at the institute. The amendment will be offered by Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA), Joe Sestak (D-PA) and Sanford Bishop (D-GA), and we expect the vote to happen on Thursday, May 22.

For the past few years, despite the WHINSEC PR machine proclaiming an open and transparent school, the WHINSEC and other US military schools have been unwilling to provide information about the students and instructors. WHINSEC is one of 35 US military schools and facilities where Colombian soldiers are trained, in addition to US training that occurs in Colombia. See the map of sites in the US where Colombian soldiers are trained. Freedom of Information Act requests for names of Colombian soldiers trained by the US military have been denied, proof of the Pentagon's unwillingness to submit to oversight from the public whose tax-payer dollars help fund the school.

Access to information regarding SOA/WHINSEC graduates of previous years has been a valuable asset in identifying Latin American military officers and police that have committed human rights abuses or engaged in criminal activity in their home countries after attending the school. FOR has uncovered several cases of Colombian officers trained at the school involved in drug trafficking and bombings. We are working for the release of this important information at all U.S. military training facilities in the spirit of openness, transparency, and the public's "right to know".

It is crucial for the success of this amendment that you contact your Representative TODAY!

CALL OR SEND AN EMAIL TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE NOW!

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!

THURSDAY, May 22:
202-224-3121
(Congressional Switchboard Number)

Once your call is forwarded to the office of your Representative, ask to speak with the foreign affairs legislative assistant. Here is a suggested message for you to convey:

"Hello,
My name is __________, and as your constituent, I urge you to vote YES on the McGovern-Sestak-Bishop (GA) amendment to the National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2009. The amendment would release the names, country of origin, rank and dates of attendance at WHINSEC for graduates and instructors. This amendment is supported by Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Congressman Ike Skelton.

As you may know, the School of the Americas, renamed WHINSEC, has a notorious history linked to serious crimes and human rights abuses throughout Latin America. In the past few years under WHINSEC, known human rights abusers have attended the school and WHINSEC instructors have been arrested in Colombia for returning home and aiding the drug cartels. None of this information would be known if the basic information about enrollment at WHINSEC were not disclosed. This information is vital to the work of Congress and human rights organizations who seek protection of human rights and promoting transparency, however all FOIA requests for this information are now being denied.

What is WHINSEC hiding?! Voting YES on the McGovern-Sestak-Bishop (GA) amendment is a vote FOR human rights and FOR transparency. I urge your boss to vote YES!!!"

SEND AN EMAIL AND FAX TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE NOW!