FOES OF ARMY SCHOOL WIN CUT IN FUNDING

Military: Latin American officers trained at the U.S. facility abuse rights
at home,critics say.

Washington-After years of frustration,foes of the Army's School of the
Americas won a key House vote Friday to cut funding for the controversial
facility, which they blame for training Latin American officers who trample
human rights at home.

The 230-197 vote was the first congressional move against the School of the
Americas to win the support of the House, and marks a significant victory
for opponents who have tried to close the school for more than a decade.
Graduates of the school were linked to the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests
in El Salvador, and to the region's notorious death squads.

The House bill would eliminate only about 10 percent of the $20 million in
federal funds ear-marked for the school, but the relatively wide margin of
victory signals trouble for the facility - which had survived four similar
House votes since 1993.

"We can't say the United States stands for human rights when we are training
terrorists right in our own country," said Rep.J. Joseph Moakley, a
Massachusetts Democrat who led the investigation into the 1989 murders and
sponsored Friday's amendment. "This vote sends a loud and clear message that
we want this school closed."

The school, located at Fort Benning near Columbus, Ga., is a military
training ground for soldiers from Latin American countries. Soldiers there
learn tactics to combat communist guerrillas and drug cartels.

For years, opponents have argued for its closing because the worst violators
of human rights in Latin American history, including Panama dictator Manuel
Noriega, attended.

House proponents of the school argued Friday that investigations led by
Congress and the Pentagon over the past 10 years have failed to prove
allegations that the school teaches torture tactics to its students.

They also argued that a majority of the 60,000 graduates have not been
involved in human rights abuses. In fact, many of its graduates promote
human rights and support democracy, they said.

"Those who persist in accusing the school of criminal and evil conduct are
turning their backs on the facts," said Rep. Sanford Bishop, a Georgia
Democrat.

The measure, which came as an amendment to the $12.7 billion foreign-aid
bill, would withhold funds for recruiting and transporting officers to the
school, cutting the number of students the school can admit per year.