SOA - ATROCITIES

Virtual Truth Commission

Telling the Truth for a Better America Atrocities
Associated with Graduates
of the School of the Americas

El Salvador Death Squads
El Salvador Death Squads. Cited in H. R. 611, introduced by Congressman Kennedy Feb 5, 1997, calling for the closure of the School of the Americas.

Panamanian Drug Deals
Panamanian drug deals. Cited in H. R. 611, introduced by Congressman Kennedy Feb 5, 1997, calling for the closure of the School of the Americas.

Haiti Coup
Haiti coup. Cited in H. R. 611, introduced by Congressman Kennedy Feb 5, 1997, calling for the closure of the School of the Americas.

Murder of Six Jesuit Priests
November 16, 198, San Salvador, in El Salvador: Six Jesuit priests and their housekeeper and her daughter were assassinated in San Salvador. H. R. 611, introduced by Congressman Kennedy Feb 5, 1997, calling for the closure of the School of the Americas.

Murder of American innkeeper
The death of an American innkeeper in Guatemala. Col. Julio Roberto Alpirez, a Guatemalan officer, was linked to it. Cited in H. R. 611, introduced by Congressman Kennedy Feb 5, 1997, calling for the closure of the School of the Americas.

Argentina's "Dirty Little War"
The deaths of 30 civilians as part of the Argentinian "dirty little war". Argentianian dictator Leopoldo Galtieri, a SOA graduate, was found responsible. Cited in H. R. 611, introduced by Congressman Kennedy Feb 5, 1997, calling for the closure of the School of the Americas.

Assassination of Archbishop Romero
March 24, 1980, San Salvador, El Salvador. While celebrating the Eucharist, Archbishop Oscar A. Romero was shot and killed at the altar by a death squad assassin. As Archbishop of San Salvador, Father Romero was a source of strength and hope for the poor and for the oppressed of his country, working with and for them, taking their struggles as his own. Romero wrote and spoke passionately and publicly of the need for Christians to work for justice, frequently faced with threat and danger from those who opposed his ideas. Introduction to Archbishop Romero
Or see Longer biography by Craig Johnson. Two of the three killers were SOA graduates. Cited in H. R. 611, introduced by Congressman Kennedy Feb 5, 1997, calling for the closure of the School of the Americas.

Rape and Murder of Four Churchwomen
Dec 2, 1980, El Salvador. The rape and murder of four United States churchwomen, Roman Catholic nuns Ita Ford, Maura Clark and Dorothy Kazel and layworker Jean Donovan, at a military checkpoint near San Salvador. Source: H. R. 611, introduced by Congressman Kennedy Feb 5, 1997, calling for the closure of the School of the Americas.

Guatemala Death Squads
Early 1980s. Guatemala. Tens of thousands of civilian deaths, 440 rural villages destroyed, one million persons displaced out of a country of nine million. Piet van Lear, A War Called Peace

El Mozote Massacre
December, 1980. El Mozote, El Salvador. U. S. trained Salvadoran battalion massacred 800 men, women and children in El Mozote. Robert Parry, "Lost History: 'Project X' and School of Assassins. The Consortium. Ten of the twelve officers responsible for the murders were SOA graduates. Cited in H. R. 611, introduced by Congressman Kennedy Feb 5, 1997, calling for the closure of the School of the Americas.

Rape and Torture of Sister Dianna Ortiz
1989. Guatemala. Sister Dianna Ortiz, a United States citizen, while working as a missionary, abducted and brutally tortured by Guatemalan security agents. "My back was burned over 100 times with cigarettes. I was gang-raped repeatedly. I was beaten, and I was tortured psychologically, as well--I was lowered into a pit where injured women, children, and men writhed and moaned, and the dead decayed, under swarms of rats. Finally, I was forced to stab another human being. Throughout the ordeal, my Guatemalan torturers said that if I did not cooperate, they would have to communicate with Alejandro. Hector Gramajo, former Guatemalan defense minister, a SOA graduate, was found liable in United States court. Cited in H. R. 611, introduced by Congressman Kennedy Feb 5, 1997, calling for the closure of the School of the Americas.

Colombia Death Squads
1992-1993. Barancabermeja, Colombia. At least 57 people were murdered in and around the city of Barancabermeja. Eyewitnesses have linked these murders to killer networks run by the Colombian navy. The killer networks in turn were created as the result of a 1991 Colombian intelligence reorganization in which a U.S. Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) team [beginning in 1990] worked with Colombian military officers. Human Rights Watch Report: Colombia’s Killer Networks--The Military-Paramilitary Partnership

1995, April 6. Sabana de Torres, Colombia. Wilson Jose Caceres. Before dawn, Caceres "set out from his home in Sabana de Torres, a municipality in Colombia’s Magdalena River valley. Caceres, a community leader, founding member of the Sabana de Torres Community Movement, and human rights activist, was a candidate for mayor on the ticket of the Popular Peasant Worker Movement, a local political group. Along with eleven others, Caceres had been included on a death list then reported to be circulated in the name of the Peasant Self-Defense Group of Colombia (Autodefensas Campesinas de Colombia, ACC), a paramilitary group. In Colombia, paramilitary has come to mean a clandestine organization of armed men, which can include active duty and retired military officers, who work in partnership with the security forces. Like Caceres, several of those reportedly named had been active in promoting human rights.... "Despite the threat, Caceres continued his campaign and human rights advocacy, and had volunteered to help contact local people who could give testimony to the Human Rights Watch mission that began our work on this report. Driving his white motorcycle and wearing a red cap, Caceres stopped that afternoon at his family’s farm, where he worked. It was the last time anyone is known to have seen him alive. His cap was later found on the Panamerican highway.... "Wilson Caceres remains missing." Human Rights Watch: Colombia’s Killer Networks--The Military-Paramilitary Partnership

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Titles "Virtual Truth Commission" and "Telling the Truth for a Better America" © 1998, Jackson H. Day. All Rights Reserved. This site supports the work of School of the Americas Watch but is not affiliated with it.
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Updated February 27, 1999

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