Irish Priest in Texas Jail for Nonviolent Resistance!

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Tuesday July 08, 2003 22:27 by Ciaron O'Reilly - Dublin Catholic Worker

Write Letters of Support to Fr. Jim Hynes

Ballyfermot priest is presently in jail in Texas for nonviolent resistance to the "School of the Assasins"

FR. JIM'S IN THERE FOR US, WE'RE ON THE LOOSE FOR HIM!

Fr. Jim Hynes, 57, originally from Ballyfermot Dublin, is presently serving a 6 month sentence in a Texas Jail for nonviolent resistance at the School of the Americas. His projected release date is October 5th..

Fr. Jim was arrested on Nov. 16th., the 13th. annivesrary of the massacre of six Jesuits & two Salvadoran women in San Salvador. Those soldiers who carried out the massacre were graduates of the School of the Americas in Ft. Benning, Georgia. Every year on the anniversary civil disobedience is organised by the "School of Americas Watch". Over 10,000 gathered last November as Fr. Jim and others crossed the line.

For more background information

www.soaw.org

WRITE SOLIDARITY LETTERS TO

Fr. Jim Hynes
#91396-020
FCI Three Rivers
Box 4000
Three Rivers, TX 78071
Projected release date: Oct. 5th. 2003

Report of Sentenciong follows........

Date :
Tue, 08 Jul 2003 19:52:10 +0000

Nuns, Priests, Veterans and Students Sentenced to Federal Prison for Civil Disobedience to Close School of the Americas


Defendants Testified Against Double Standard in War on Terrorism,

Put SOA and U.S. Foreign Policy on Trial


Interviews With Defendants Available



Columbus, GA - As the Bush Administration seeks to expand the “war on terrorism”, 42 human rights advocates from across the country were tried this week in federal court for civil disobedience to close what they call a terrorist training camp on U.S. soil: the School of the Americas, renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/WHISC). Graduates of the controversial combat training school for Latin American soldiers continue to be implicated in human rights atrocities throughout Latin America.



The defendants were among 10,000 who gathered in November to call for the closure of the SOA/WHISC. They peacefully crossed onto Ft. Benning, site of the school. All of the defendants have either pled or were found guilty of trespass. The last two defendants were convicted this afternoon. Sentences ranged from twelve months probation to six months in federal prison with fines. Three defendants reported to prison immediately, and the rest will self-report.



The group included eight Catholic nuns, a priest, a reverend, four veterans, union organizers, students and others. Thirty-five more defendants will start trial on February 10, facing the same trespass charge.



“The SOA is out of alignment with the values of the American people,” said Judy Bierbaum, a defendant from Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Patriotism is not about slapping a flag in the window if that’s where it ends – it’s about calling our country to task.”



The defendants testified in court against a double standard in the “war on terrorism”, offering evidence to put the SOA/WHISC and U.S. foreign policy on trial. Defense Attorney William Quigley proffered an affidavit from U.S. Rep. James McGovern that calls for the closure of the SOA/WHISC, and a copy of a 2002 report from Amnesty International that calls for a suspension of training at the SOA/WHISC, and an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the school. Amnesty refutes the claim that the WHISC is a new institution, stating that WHISC "is essentially the same school as SOA, with the same primary mission…”



The trial judge, G. Mallon Faircloth, is known for giving the maximum of six months to opponents of the SOA/WHISC. Previous to this week’s verdicts, nearly one hundred people have served a total of over fifty years in prison for engaging in nonviolent resistance in a broad-based campaign to close the school.



The SOA/WHISC is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers. Its graduates are consistently involved in human rights abuses and atrocities. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school that advocated the use of torture, extortion and execution.