[NYTr] OA Watch Victory in Congress!

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

SOA WATCH NEWS & UPDATES 
= www.SOAW.org = 
August 6, 2007 

===================================== 
SOA WATCH VICTORY IN CONGRESS TODAY! 
===================================== 

CONGRESS DEMANDS THE SOA/WHINSEC RELEASE NAMES OF GRADUATES AND
INSTRUCTORS

The House of Representatives has approved a report accompanying the FY
2008 Defense Appropriations bill that demands the Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/WHINSEC) release to the public
the names of all students and instructors who attended the school
during the fiscal years of 2005 and 2006.  The directive also requires
that the same information be available to the public in all future
fiscal years.

Just a few weeks ago, members of Congress expressed their outrage at
the lack of transparency at the SOA/ WHINSEC and 203 members of the
House of Representatives voted to prohibit continued funding for
WHINSEC.  In response to the widespread opposition to the denial of
requests for the names of its instructors and graduates, Congress now
formally demands that WHINSEC release these names to the public.  

Due to the culture of secrecy and lack of transparency that have
characterized the institution, this is an incredible victory for SOA
Watch and human rights organizations around the world that for years
have had to face countless obstacles to obtain information about the
SOA/WHINSEC. 

At the beginning of each fiscal year for the past several years, SOA
Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain
WHINSEC attendance information as part of our commitment to human
rights and oversight of military training programs. In 2005, SOA Watch
filed a FOIA request for WHINSEC attendance figures and that request
was denied.

--> READ MORE about the report language and what it means -
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1571   

--> READ MORE about the FOIA request denial
-http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1370   

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TAKE ACTION! - KEEP UP THE PRESSURE! 
====================================== 

SOA Watch demands that U.S. military training programs be transparent,
that the SOA/WHINSEC be held accountable for training hundreds of human
rights abusers and that it is shut down for good! We must seize the
moment and keep up the pressure!

== WHAT YOU CAN DO == 

3 KEY LEGISLATIVE ACTION ITEMS- 

1] COSPONSORS OF HR 1707: 
We need more cosponsors of HR 1707, legislation that would force
Congress to suspend operations at the SOA/ WHINSEC and investigate the
use of torture manuals and human rights abuses associated with the
school! Check to see if your Representative is one of the 114
cosponsors and if not; please continue to urge your Representative to
add their name as a cosponsor of HR 1707 -
http://soaw.org/article.php?id=96#cosponsors

--> EMAIL/FAX YOUR REPRESENTATIVE and urge her/him to support HR 1707 -
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/soaw/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=12272  

--> FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LEGISLATIVE CAMPAIGN
-http://www.soaw.org/legislative  

2] SCHEDULE A DISTRICT WORK PERIOD MEETING: 
Now is the perfect time to meet with your Representative!  August 6-31,
2007 is a district work period for the House of Representatives and
members of Congress will travel back to your region for activities in
their district.  

--> TIPS ON SCHEDULING A MEETING WITH YOUR REPRESENTATIVE -
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=456  

3] GET INVOLVED IN OUR NEW LEGISLATIVE MEDIA CAMPAIGN:  
As part of the Take Action campaign following the extremely close June
2007 vote in the House of Representatives, activists nationwide are
participating in a grassroots effort to hold Members of Congress
accountable for their votes in Congress by submitting "Op-Eds" and
"Letters to the Editor" to their local newspapers challenging
Representatives who ignored their constituents requests.

--> CONTINUE READING AND SEE LETTERS PUBLISHED -
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1569   

--> SAMPLE TEXT AND TIPS FOR SENDING A LETTER TO THE EDITOR -
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1553