Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation

Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
Official seal
Motto Libertad, Paz y Fraternidad (Freedom, Peace, and Fraternity)
Established 1946 (as Escuela de las Americas), as WHINSEC 2000/2001
Commandant Colonel Robert F. Alvaro
Budget $14M as of FY2010
Members 215
Owner United States Department of Defense
Location Fort Benning, Georgia, United States
Coordinates 32°21′54.1″N 84°57′21.25″W / 32.365028°N 84.9559028°W / 32.365028; -84.9559028
Address 7161 Richardson Circle
Website Official website Edit this at Wikidata

The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) is a United States Department of Defense Institute located at Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia, created in the 2001 National Defense Authorization Act under 10 USC Sec 2166 (updated in 2017 as 10 USC Sec 343, Public Law 114-328) to provide professional education and training to eligible personnel of countries of the Western Hemisphere within the context of the democratic principles set forth in the Charter of the Organization of American States (such charter being a treaty to which the United States is a party), while fostering mutual knowledge, transparency, confidence, and cooperation among the participating countries and promoting democratic values, respect for human rights, and knowledge and understanding of United States customs and traditions.[1]

History

School of the Americas

The U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) was founded in 1946 and originally located at Fort Gulick in the Panama Canal Zone. The School aimed to instruct the armed forces of Latin America using training programs that were doctrinally sound and compatible with United States customs and traditions in a cost effective and militaristically professional way.[2] From 1961 (during the Kennedy administration), the School was assigned the specific Cold War goal of teaching "anti-communist" counterinsurgency training to military personnel of Latin American countries.[3] At the time and in those places, the label "communist" was, in the words of anthropologist Lesley Gill, "... an enormously elastic category that could accommodate almost any critic of the status quo."[4]:10 During this period, Colombia supplied the largest number of students from any client country.[4]:17

On September 21, 1984, the school was expelled from Panama under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty. Prior to this expulsion, politicians and journalists in Panama had complained that civilian graduates from the school engaged in repressive and antidemocratic behavior.[5] In December of that year, the school reopened at Fort Benning, Georgia, as part of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. Spanish was the official language of the school and although human rights training was a part of the program, many questioned the effectiveness of this curriculum. In 1989 the School set in place a requirement that a basic, sufficient block of human rights instruction would be 8 hours long.[2] Further international curriculum on human rights was included in the instruction, as were warnings about the penalties of human rights abuses.[6] Despite this required instruction, the School still utilized material from Spanish language training manuals that discussed methods of coercion against insurgents through execution and torture from 1982 until 1991. The Department of Defense released excerpts of these manuals in September 1996, prompting further criticism of and controversy surrounding the School.[2]

As the Cold War drew to a close around 1990, United States foreign policy shifted focus from "anti-communism" to the War on Drugs, with narcoguerillas replacing "communists".[4]:10 This term was later replaced by "the more ominous sounding 'terrorist'".[4]:10 Now, all elements of the School of the Americas are located at Fort Benning with the exception of the Helicopter School Battalion which is located at Fort Rucker, Alabama.[7]

WHINSEC

By 2000 the School of the Americas was under increasing criticism in the United States for training students who later participated in undemocratic governments and committed human rights abuses. In 2000, the US Congress, through the FY01 National Defense Act, withdrew the Secretary of the Army's authority to operate USARSA.[8]

The next year, the institute was renamed to WHINSEC. U.S. Army Maj. Joseph Blair, a former director of instruction at the school, said in 2002 that "there are no substantive changes besides the name. [...] They teach the identical courses that I taught and changed the course names and use the same manuals."[9]

In 2013, researcher Ruth Blakeley concluded after interviews with WHINSEC personnel and anti-SOA/WHINSEC protesters that "there was considerable transparency [...] established after the transition from SOA to WHINSEC" and that "a much more rigorous human rights training program was in place than in any other US military institution".[10]

Participation

Since its opening in 2001, WHINSEC has trained more than 19,000 students from 36 countries of the Western Hemisphere.[11] In 2014-2015, the principal "Command & General Staff Officer" course had 65 graduates (60 male and 5 female) representing 13 nations: Belize, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and the U.S.[12]

In 2004, Venezuela ceased all training of its soldiers at WHINSEC[13] after a long period of chilling relations between the United States and Venezuela. On March 28, 2006, the government of Argentina, headed by President Néstor Kirchner, decided to stop sending soldiers to train at WHINSEC, and the government of Uruguay affirmed that it would continue its current policy of not sending soldiers to WHINSEC.[14][15]

In 2007, Óscar Arias, president of Costa Rica, decided to stop sending Costa Rican police to the WHINSEC, although he 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.[16] Bolivian President Evo Morales formally announced on February 18, 2008, that he would not send Bolivian military or police officers to WHINSEC.[17] In 2012, President Rafael Correa announced that Ecuador would withdraw all their troops from the military school at Ft. Benning, citing links to human rights violations.[18]

In 2005 a bill to abolish the institute, with 134 cosponsors, was introduced to the House Armed Services Committee.[19] In June 2007, the McGovern/Lewis Amendment to shut off funding for the Institute failed by six votes.[20] This effort to close the Institute was endorsed by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, which described the Institute as a "black eye" for America.[21]

Commandants

USCARIB School

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

(According to another source, Cecil Himes was commandant from 1958 to 1961.)

School of the Americas

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • ? (1964–1972)
  • Col. Joseph Villa (around 1973)
  • ? (1973–1984)
  • Col. Michael J. Sierra (1984–1985) (transfer from Fort Gulick, Panama to Fort Benning, GA)
  • Col. Miguel A. García (1985–?)
  • Col. William DePalo (1989–1991)
  • Col. José Feliciano (1991–1993)
  • Col. José Álvarez (1993–1995)
  • Col. Roy R. Trumble (1995–1999)
  • Col. Glenn R. Weidner (1999–2000)

WHINSEC

  • Col. Richard D. Downie (2001–2004)[22]
  • Col. Gilberto R. Pérez (2004–2008)[22]
  • Col. Félix Santiago (2008–2010)[22]
  • Col. Glenn R. Huber Jr. (2010–2014)[22]
  • Col. Keith W. Anthony (2014–2017)[22]
  • Col. Robert F. Alvaro (2017–)[23]

Current organization

Charter

Authorized by the United States Congress through 10 U.S.C. § 2166 in 2001,[24] WHINSEC is responsible for providing professional education and training on the context of the democratic principles in the Charter of the Organization of American States[25] (such charter being a treaty to which the United States is a party), and foster mutual knowledge, transparency, confidence, and cooperation among the participating nations and promoting democratic values, respect for human rights, and knowledge and understanding of United States customs and traditions.[26] WHINSEC has provided training for more than 10,000 individuals since its existence and over 60,000 US and international students since its original establishment in 1946. Its educational format incorporates guest lecturers and experts from sectors of US and international government, non-government, human rights, law enforcement, academic institutions, and interagency departments[27] to share best practices in pursuit of improved security cooperation between all nations of the Western Hemisphere.

Independent Review Board

When the National Defense Authorization Act for 2001 was signed into law, WHINSEC was created. The law called for a federal advisory committee—the Board of Visitors (BoV)—to maintain independent review, observation, and recommendations regarding operations of the institute. The 14-member BoV includes members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, representatives from the State Department, U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Northern Command, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, and six members designated by the Secretary of Defense. These six members include representatives from the human rights, religious, academic, and business communities. The board reviews and advises on areas such as curriculum, academic instruction, and fiscal affairs of the institute. Their reviews ensure relevance and consistency with US policy, laws, regulations, and doctrine.

Members of the Board are not compensated by reason of service on the Board.

Board of Visitors

As of August 2018, Board members include:

• Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. James Inhofe, or his designee • Ranking minority member of the SASC, Sen. Jack Reed, or his designee • Chairman, House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mac Thornberry, or his designee; (Rep. Austin Scott [Ga-8] is the current designee.) • Ranking minority member of the HASC, Rep. Adam Smith, or his designee. • The Secretary of State designates a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, usually from the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. • Commander, U.S. Southern Command, Adm. Kurt Tidd or his designee • Commander, U.S. Northern Command, Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy or his designee • Commanding General, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Gen. Stephen Townsend, or his designee • Dr. Dafna Rand, Adjunct Professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University • Archbishop Timothy Broglio, Archbishop for the Military Services • Dr. Frank Mora, Director, Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center and Professor in the Department of Politics & International Relations at Florida International University. • Amb. (Ret) Carmen Martinez, United States diplomat and career foreign service officer. She served as the U.S. Ambassador to Zambia from 2005 to 2008. • Hon. Dan Trimble, U.S. Immigration Judge • LTG(R) Ken Keen, Associate Dean for Leadership Development at Emory University's Goizueta Business School

Criticism of WHINSEC

Accusations toward the School of the Americas

The School of the Americas has been blamed for human rights violations committed by former students.[9][28][29]

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 the armed forces within several Latin American countries ruled or had disproportionate government influence and committed serious human rights violations in those countries." SOA and WHINSEC graduates continue to surface in news reports regarding current human rights; most of argentine military graduates are currently in prison by crimes against humanity and genocide.

The institute itself explicitly denies accusations of teaching torture: in 1999 the School of the Americas FAQ had several answers denying accusations of torture, such as "Q: What about the accusations that the School teaches torture and murder? A: Absolutely false. The School teaches U.S. Army doctrine which is based on over 200 years of success, and includes a variety of military subjects, none of which include criminal misconduct."[3] WHINSEC says that its curriculum includes human rights,[30] and that "no school should be held accountable for the actions of its graduates."[30]

Human Rights Watch says that "training alone, even when it includes human rights instruction, does not prevent human rights abuses."[28]

SOA Watch

Since 1990, Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit 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.[31] It maintains a database with graduates of both the SOA and WHINSEC who have been accused of human rights violations and other criminal activity.[32] In regard to the renaming 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.[33]

Protests and public demonstrations

Since 1990, SOA Watch has sponsored an annual public demonstration of protest of SOA/WHINSEC at Ft. Benning. In 2005, the demonstration drew 19,000 people. The protests are timed to coincide with the anniversary of the assassination of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador on November 1989 by graduates of the School of the Americas.[34] On November 16, 1989, six Jesuit priests (Ignacio Ellacuría, Segundo Montes, Ignacio Martín-Baró, Joaquin López y López, Juan Ramon Moreno, and Amado López); their housekeeper, Elba Ramos; and her daughter, Celia Marisela Ramos, were murdered by the Salvadoran Military on the campus of the University of Central America in San Salvador, El Salvador, because they had been labeled as subversives by the government.[35] A United Nations panel concluded that nineteen of the 27 killers were SOA graduates.[36]

Graduates of the School of the Americas

"The U.S. Army School of the Americas is a school that has run more dictators than any other school in the history of the world." - Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II.[37]

A number of graduates of the SOA and WHINSEC have been accused and sentenced of human rights violations and criminal activity in their home countries.[38] In response to public debate and in order to promote transparency, the Freedom of Information Act released records that tracked trainees of the school.[5] 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 (aka "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.[39]
Other former students include Salvadoran Colonel and Atlacatl Battalion leader Domingo Monterrosa and other members of his group who were responsible for the El Mozote massacre,[40][4] and Franck Romain, former leader of the Tonton Macoute, who was responsible for the St Jean Bosco massacre.[41] Honduran General Luis Alonso Discua was also a graduate of the school who later on commanded Battalion 3-16, a military death squad.[4]

Critics of SOA Watch argue the connection between school attendees and violent activity 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.[42] Further, others assert that training statistics show that Argentina, a country that engaged in much anti-Communist sentiment and violence during the Cold War era, had a relatively small number of military personnel educated at the school.[6]

In 2018, two of the highest officers of the Venezuelan Army, Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino Lopez and SEBIN director Gustavo Gonzalez Lopez were sanctioned by the United States for human rights abuses against opposition protesters and dissidents, corruption leading to the economic collapse of the country, and Drug Trafficking charges. Both of them were found to have been students of "Psychological Operations" courses at SOA in 1995 and 1991 respectively. [43]

Country Some of the graduates
 Argentina Emilio Massera, Jorge Rafael Videla, Leopoldo Galtieri, Roberto Eduardo Viola
 Bolivia Hugo Banzer Suárez, Luis Arce Gómez, Juan Ramón Quintana Taborga, Manfred Reyes Villa
 Chile Raúl Iturriaga, Manuel Contreras, Miguel Krassnoff
 Ecuador Guillermo Rodríguez
 El Salvador Roberto D'Aubuisson
 Guatemala Marco Antonio Yon Sosa[44]
Efraín Ríos Montt
Otto Pérez Molina[45]
 Mexico The Zetas Cartel founders Heriberto 'The Executioner' Lazcano and Arturo 'Zeta One' Guzmán Decena[46][47][48]
 Panama Omar Torrijos, Manuel Noriega
 Peru Juan Velasco Alvarado, Vladimiro Montesinos, Ollanta Humala
 Venezuela Vladimir Padrino López, Gustavo González López

Educated according to other sources

In 1992 the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recommended prosecution of Col. Cid Díaz for murder in association with the 1983 Las Hojas massacre. His name is on a State Department list of gross human rights abusers. Díaz went to the Institute in 2003.[49][50]

Politicians

In July 2016, just days before the Democratic Party convention, a Platform Committee meeting in Orlando, Florida, issued a call for the closing of the Institute as one of its planks into the Democratic Party's policy platform. The amendment, which was agreed to by representatives of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, said: "Our support of democracies and civilian governments in the Western Hemisphere includes our belief that their military and police forces should never be involved in the political process, and therefore we will reinstate the 2000 Congressional mandate to close the School of the Americas now known as WHINSEC." Clinton reaffirmed the importance of the overall work done together with Sanders representatives in putting together the platform in her presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.[51]

Media representation

See also

Sources

  1. ↑ Sec 343, Public Law 114-328
  2. 1 2 3 Grimmett, Richard F., and Mark P. Sullivan. "US Army School of the Americas: Background and Congressional Concerns." LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON DC CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, 2001.
  3. 1 2 "U.S. Army School of the Americas: Frequently Asked Questions". United States Army. 1999. Archived from the original on April 28, 1999. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gill, Lesley (2004). The School of the Americas: Military Training and Political Violence in the Americas. Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-3392-9. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  5. 1 2 McCoy, Katherine E. "Trained to Torture? The Human Rights Effects of Military Training at the School of the Americas". Latin American Perspectives. 32 (6): 47–64. doi:10.1177/0094582x05281113.
  6. 1 2 Ramsey, Russell W., and Antonion Raimondo. "Human Rights Instruction at the U. S. Army School of the Americas*." Human Rights Review 2, no. 3 (April 2001): 92. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 20, 2017).
  7. ↑ Grimmett, Richard F.; Sullivan, Mark P. "U.S. School of the Americas:Background and Congressional Concerns". CRS (Congressional Research Service) Issue Brief for Congress. Federation of American Scientists (FAS). Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Public Law 106–398: National Defense Authorization, Fiscal Year 2001" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. October 30, 2000. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  9. 1 2 Bill Wallace; Jim Houston (July 13, 2002). "Bay Area protesters sentenced in Georgia". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  10. ↑ Ruth Blakeley (2013). "Chapter 13: Elite interviews". In Laura J. Shepherd. Critical Approaches to Security: An Introduction to Theories and Methods. Routledge.
  11. ↑ "The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation History". WHINSEC. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  12. ↑ "WHINSEC Command & General Staff Officer Course graduates". KMOV.com. May 28, 2015.
  13. ↑ "National Venezuela Solidarity Conference". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved May 6, 2006.
  14. ↑ "Argentina & Uruguay abandon SOA!". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved May 6, 2006.
  15. ↑ "¡No Más! No More!". School of the Americas Watch. Archived from the original on May 4, 2006. Retrieved May 6, 2006.
  16. ↑ "Costa Rica to Cease Police Training at the SOA/WHINSEC". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved May 31, 2007.
  17. ↑ "Bolivian Military Withdraws from Controversial U.S. Army Training School". School of the Americas Watch. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
  18. ↑ "SOAW". Archived from the original on September 7, 2012.
  19. ↑ "H.R.1217". The Library of Congress. Retrieved May 6, 2006.
  20. ↑ "WHINSEC Remains Open: Congress Narrowly Fails to Halt Funding the Former School of the Americas". Council on Hemispheric Affairs. July 6, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  21. ↑ "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation". Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 "History". WHINSEC. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  23. ↑ "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) Change of Command Ceremony". Official Digital Archive of Fort Benning and the Maneouver Center of Excellence. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  24. ↑ "10 USC Chapter 108-Armed Forces, Subtitle A-General Military Law, Part III-Training and Education, Chapter 108-Department of Defense Schools, Section. 2166". U.S. House of Representatives. January 3, 2012. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  25. ↑ "Charter of the OAS including members". OAS.org. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  26. ↑ William J. Lynn III, Deputy Secretary of Defense (March 18, 2010). "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC)" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  27. ↑ "Overview". WHINSEC. The United States Army. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  28. 1 2 "Columbia: The Ties That Bind: Colombia and Military-Paramilitary Links". Human Rights Watch. February 2000. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  29. ↑ "US Intelligence Oversight Board cites SOA". SOA Watch. 1996. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  30. 1 2 "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation". Center for International Policy. Retrieved May 6, 2006.
  31. ↑ "About SOA Watch". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved May 6, 2006.
  32. ↑ "SOA/WHINSEC Grads in the News". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
  33. ↑ "Critique of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved November 16, 2005.
  34. ↑ Truth Commissions: Reports: El Salvador – The Hague Justice Portal – accessed November 20, 2010
  35. ↑ Global Capitalism, Liberation Theology, and the Social Sciences: An Analysis of the Contradictions of Modernity at the Turn of the Millennium (paperback) by Andreas Muller (editor), Arno Tausch (editor), Paul M. Zulehner (editor), Henry Wickens (editor), Hauppauge/Huntington, New York: Nova Science Publishers, ISBN 1-56072-679-2.
  36. ↑ Krickl, Tony (February 3, 2007). "CGU Student Josh Harris to Spend Two Months in Federal Prison for Protesting". Claremont Courier. Archived from the original on June 1, 2008.
  37. ↑ Who Benefits from Global Violence and War: Uncovering A Destructive System, by Marc Pilisuk, 2008, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 147.
  38. ↑ "Notorious Graduates". School of the Americas Watch. Retrieved November 16, 2005.
  39. ↑ "US trained Colombian soldiers jailed for working with cartel, says human rights group". School of the Americas Watch. Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
  40. ↑ Jake Hess (9 December 2014). "Infamous US military school still draws fire". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
  41. ↑ "Notorious Graduates from Haiti". SOA Watch. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  42. ↑ Mulshine, Paul. "The War in Central America Continues". FrontPage Magazine. Archived from the original on December 19, 2002. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  43. ↑
  44. ↑ "The New Strategy". Time Magazine. April 23, 1965.
  45. ↑ "SOA Grads". SOA Watch. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  46. ↑ "US created monsters: Zetas and Kaibiles death squads - the narcosphere". Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  47. ↑ Udu-gama, Nico. "U.S.-trained ex-soldiers form core of "Zetas" - SOA Watch: Close the School of the Americas". Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  48. ↑ "Los Zetas fueron entrenados por la Escuela de las Américas". Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  49. ↑ "Teaching Torture". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on August 30, 2008. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  50. ↑ "Congressman James McGovern : Latest News : Congressman McGovern's statements on limiting funding for the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation". Mcgovern.house.gov. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  51. ↑ "Close the SOA/WHINSEC Included in the Platform of the Democratic Party". July 12, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  52. ↑ "Hidden in Plain Sight". June 8, 2003. Retrieved January 14, 2018 – via www.IMDb.com.

Further reading

  • Ruth Blakeley (2006). Repression, Human Rights, and US Training of Military Forces from the South (Ph.D.). University of Bristol. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  • Danner, Mark (2004). Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror. New York Review Books. ISBN 1-59017-152-7.
  • Harbury, Jennifer K. (2005). Truth, Torture, and the American Way. Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-0307-7. Review, "Highlights parallels in the practices of U.S. government operatives and their local 'assets' in the current conflict and in the civil wars that wracked Central America in the 1980s and early 1990s."
  • Hodge, James; Linda Cooper (2004). Disturbing the Peace: The Story of Father Roy Bourgeois and the Movement to Close the School of Americas. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books. ISBN 1-57075-434-9.
  • Hodge, James; Linda Cooper (November 3, 2004). "The CIA and Abu Ghraib: 50 Years of Teaching and Training Torturers". Counterpunch. Archived from the original on October 3, 2009.
  • Ireland, Doug (July 22, 2004). "Teaching Torture: Despite a lot of talk about torture being "un-American", Congress is quietly keeping alive the School of the Americas, our country's infamous torture-training school". LA Weekly.
  • McClintock, Michael (1992). Instruments of Statecraft: U.S. Guerilla Warfare, Counter-Insurgency, Counter-Terrorism, 1940–1990. New York, NY: Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-394-55945-2.
  • Nelson-Pallmeyer, Jack (1997–2001). School of Assassins: Guns, Greed, and Globalization. Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York. ISBN 978-1570753855.
  • O'Neill, Patrick (February 18, 2005). "SOA protesters headed for prison: Sister, students among 14 charged with trespass at Army school". National Catholic Reporter. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008.
  • Priest, Dana (September 21, 1996). "U.S. Instructed Latins On Executions, Torture; Manuals Used 1982–91, Pentagon Reveals". The Washington Post: Section: A p. A01.
  • Quigley, Bill. "The Case for Closing the School of the Americas" (PDF). BYU Journal of Public Law (20 BYU J. Pub. L. 1). 20 (1).
  • Richter, Robert (1996). Inside the School of the Assassins (VHS).
  • Inside the School of the Assassins on IMDb
  • Smihula, John (2003). Hidden in Plain Sight (DVD).
  • Stokes, Doug (2004). America's Other War: Terrorizing Colombia. London and New York, NY: Zed Books. ISBN 978-1-842-77546-2.
  • Leah C. Wells (November 18, 2003). "Hidden in Plain Sight". Common Dreams NewsCenter. Archived from the original on April 20, 2006. Retrieved April 14, 2006.

Official government websites

  • US Army War College. "School of the Americas (defunct website)". Archived from the original on November 5, 2006. Retrieved April 14, 2006.

Other websites

  • Center for International Policy. "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation". Retrieved April 14, 2006.
  • World History Archives. "History of the School of the Americas". Retrieved April 14, 2006.
  • School of the Americas Watch. "Updates & Actions". Retrieved April 14, 2006.
  • School of the Americas Watch. "Graduate Database". Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  • Axis of Logic. "20,000 demonstrate against US military torture training center". Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. Retrieved April 14, 2006.
  • Latin America Working Group. "Military Training Manuals". Archived from the original on June 13, 2006. Retrieved April 14, 2006.
  • Council on Hemispheric Affairs. "Torture is Un-American: The SOA and its Devastating Legacy". Retrieved June 8, 2006.

Media and documentaries

  • On 20th Anniversary of Killings of 6 Jesuit Priests, Thousands Protest "School of the Assassins" – video report by Democracy Now! (retrieved November 20, 2010)
  • La Escuela de Las Americas – Documentary by Andrés Thomas Conteris – Spanish and English (retrieved November 20, 2010)
  • School of the Americas Assassins, a 1994 short documentary film produced by Robert Richter. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.
  • HiddenInPlainSight.org – Feature-length documentary that looks at the nature of U.S. policy in Latin America through the prism of the School of the Americas, the controversial military school that trains Latin American soldiers in the United States'
  • John Pilger (August 21, 2007). War on democracy - School of Americas. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  • Truth Commissions: Reports: El Salvador – The Hague Justice Portal (retrieved November 20, 2010)
  • presente. November 22, 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2010. Vigil at School of the Americas
  • The short film Latin American Militarism (1967) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
  • Empire Files: The U.S. School That Trains Dictators and Death Squads. The Real News. December 5, 2015
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