Crossing the Line

On Monday, January 24, 2005, the federal courtroom in the small town of Columbus, Georgia, was crowded as trials began for 14 people--including two high school students. Their crime? They crossed the line. Columbus is near Fort Benning, a U.S. military post that houses the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly named the School of the Americas.

According to its website ( www.benning.army.mil/whinsec/about.asp?id=33 ), the institute exists to "provide professional education and training to military, law enforcement, and civilians to support the democratic principles of the Western Hemisphere; build strong relationships among the participating nations, helping to ensure peace and stability throughout the hemisphere; and promote democratic values, respect for human rights and knowledge and understanding of U.S. customs and traditions."

But critics point out that graduates of the institute have been implicated in some of the most vicious violations of human rights--notably torture and murder--in Latin American history, including the 1980 assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, the 1980 rape and murder of four U.S. missionaries in El Salvador, the 1983 murder of 43 people (including three children) in Segovia, Colombia, and the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter at the University of San Salvador.

In 1990, Maryknoll missioner and priest Roy Bourgeois began protesting at the gates of Fort Benning, in an attempt to draw attention to the training that was happening there, and thus close down the school. Over the years people have joined him in peaceful protest, and the group SOA Watch was formed. At one point, the army asked the courts to bar people from trespassing on fort grounds, and the courts agreed. To press their case, protestors began crossing the line established as the private property marker, allowing themselves to be arrested in order to make a statement in court and on the record about the activities of the school. The federal court in Columbus has often dealt harshly with the protestors, barring them from presenting information about the institute as evidence explaining their violation of the trespassing law.

The most recent trespassing protest was held last November 21, 2004. The 14 people currently on trial crossed the line that day. Among them are Chicagoans Elizabeth Deligio, 22, and Ron Durham, 23. Massachusetts resident Tom McLean, 79, is the eldest. The two high school students are not identified since they are legal minors.

At a closed session hearing on Tuesday, January 25, the two high school students were given deferred sentences and community service requirements. If they fulfill their community service, charges will be dropped and their records cleared of any mention of the incident. The other 12 were not treated so leniently. Liz Deligio and Ron Durham were both sentenced to 90 days in federal prison and a $500 fine. For more information, go to www.soaw.org

Catholic Connections

"In our advocacy and citizenship efforts, we are called to use the resources of our faith and the opportunities of our democracy to help shape a U.S. foreign policy clearly committed to human life and human rights. Through legislative networks and broader participation in the political process, Catholics can take our principles of peacemaking into the public arena, where they can help shape an active and constructive U.S. role in the world."
-- U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Harvest of Peace is Sown in Justice, 1993.

Reflection Questions

Would you as a Peacebuilder ever find it necessary to "cross the line" in order to protest some injustice that concerns you?

Join us in our Forum to discuss these questions!