THOUSANDS MARCH AT EX - ARMY SCHOOL

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Bucking the pro-military mood of the nation, thousands of
protesters descended on the site of a former Army school they blame for
training soldiers who carried out human rights abuses in Latin America.
Despite tight security, 40 protesters were taken into custody by military
police Sunday after getting around Fort Benning's locked gates.

Three more were arrested sitting outside the main gate. Fort Benning
spokesman Rich McDowell said they were all released after receiving letters
barring them from the base for five years. "At least eight are second
offenders," McDowell said. "They could be prosecuted in federal court."
After the protest, 31 other demonstrators were arrested by Columbus police
for unlawful assembly.

It was the first time city police have made arrests in the protest's
11-year history. With the United States at war against terrorists and
Americans riding a patriotic wave, organizers said it was more important
than ever to protest the former school. "We use our voices to speak for the
thousands in Latin America who have been killed and tortured," said the
Rev. Roy Bourgeois, who has been leading the demonstrations for 11 years.
"We will continue coming until this school is closed." Twenty-three people,
including two nuns, went to prison earlier this year for trespassing during
last year's demonstration against the Army's School of the Americas, which
trained Latin American soldiers. The Army closed the school in December and
the Department of Defense replaced it with a new school, the Western
Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. The new school has a
congressional mandate to focus on 21st century challenges such as drug
interdiction, disaster assistance, anti-terrorism and human rights.

Protesters contend it's the same old school with a new name. Between 6,000
and 7,000 protesters carried signs reading "Imperialist Assassins" and
"Terrorists are US." They created a memorial to the alleged victims by
sticking crosses, flowers, placards and pictures onto the chain-link gate.
Organizers vowed to return next year. Col. Richard Downie, commandant of
the institute, visited with the demonstrators and answered their questions.
"I look at this and I see dedication," he said. "I admire the fact that
they are trying to promote democratic values.

That's exactly what we're trying to do. I'd much rather work with them."
Downie said the institute no longer teaches combat courses, but still has
some courses that involve firearms.

Instead of training only the military, the school now admits civilians and
police officers. The annual demonstration commemorates the Nov. 16, 1989,
killings in El Salvador of six Jesuit priests, to which some of the
school's graduates have been linked.