THIRD WORLD MAJORITY LAUNCHES PILOT SECURITY TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR ORGANIZATIONS PARTICIPATING IN NOV. 17-19 VIGIL AT FORT BENNING, GEORGIA

On November 17 – 19 Third World Majority (TWM) will launch its pilot security training curriculum and workshop, COINTELNOW. In collaboration with the School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch), Third World Majority will host two sessions on security for organizers at the SOA Watch Annual Vigil. Topics within the workshops include a broad overview of the history of surveillance, tactics and techniques used by the government to monitor, track, control & break apart social movements, and recommendations for organizers to document and protect themselves from government surveillance and abuse. In addition, participants will receive a first edition copy of the COINTELNOW curriculum to take back to their communities.

Created to address concerns of organizers targeted by the Bush Administration on a local, regional & national level, COINTELNOW is a security curriculum that provides hands on recommendations and guidelines for activists to continue their important work in an age of draconian laws and legislation that attack their rights to privacy and freedom.

In May 2006, The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Georgia released evidence that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting investigations into School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch), a faith- and conscience-based human rights group. SOA Watch, which organizes the yearly nonviolent demonstrations calling for the closure of the WHINSEC), formerly known as the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA), a controversial training school for Latin American soldiers located at Fort Benning, charged that the files demonstrate a clear attempt to stifle political opposition.

“It’s clear that this surveillance is politically motivated, and it’s a disgrace that instead of investigating any of the heinous crimes of graduates of the SOA, our government is using its resources and time to monitor peaceful demonstrators, people who are working for true democracy in this country.” said Reverend Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest and founder of SOA Watch.

The annual Vigil at the SOA/WHINSEC has grown from a dozen people in November of 1990 to more than 19,000 in 2005. This year’s gathering will culminate on Sunday, November 19 with a symbolic funeral procession to the gates of Ft. Benning. Since protests against SOA/WHINSEC began more than a decade ago, 211 people have served federal prison sentences. Simultaneously on the weekend of November 17-19, demonstrations will take place in Ecuador, El Salvador, Paraguay, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and in Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

For information about the SOA Watch Vigil please contact: Joao Da Silva, media@soaw.org, 202-234-3440