How can I stand silent while our government perpetrates violence?

Laurel Albina, formerly a Bay Area resident, returned home this week from her trial in Columbus, Georgia, where she was convicted of trespassing on a military reservation while protesting the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC). WHISC, formerly known as the School of the Americas (SOA), teaches counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics to Latin American soldiers, and is housed at the U.S. Army's "Home of the Infantry," Fort Benning, Georgia. As a "first-time offender," Laurel was sentenced by federal Magistrate Judge Faircloth to 12 months probation, 250 hours of community service, and a $1,000 fine.

Laurel writes about the dozens of show trials she witnessed and participated in: "They were awful and amazing, they were inspiring and heartbreaking. How do I explain the pain I felt as I saw my friends being handcuffed and led away from courtroom? How do I explain that even though I received probation everything is NOT okay? How do I explain the waiting and goodbyes that will be continuing over the next months as one by one we receive our orders to self report? How do I explain the feeling of standing below Muscogee county jail scanning the windows hoping to recognize one of our friends?"

Following is Laurel's sworn statement to Judge Faircloth:

Statement to Judge Faircloth

February 10th 2003

Your Honor,

I have nothing to say to you today that has not already been said. You have heard about the atrocities committed by the graduates of the School of the Americas. You have listened to why we feel that the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation is in no way different from the SOA. You have heard the accounts of torture, abductions and assassinations all at the hands of SOA and WHISC graduates.

The actions I took on November 17th 2003 were about the SOA/WHISC and the actions I take beyond this day will be about the SOA/WHISC, but here, right now, I can't help but feeling like this moment is about you and I and I come to you speaking from my heart.

I am 27 years old. I am a student, an organizer, a musician, a writer, a dancer, a sister and a friend. I am the daughter of two immigrant parents both of who fled their countries because of war. They came looking for peace and opportunity and it is because of their hopes and history that I am bound to the future of this country.

Our country has amazing potential, our wealth, our resources, and our people. But I am frightened by the way our government uses and misuses this power. How can I stand silent when I see these injustices perpetrated by our government's foreign policy? At what point do I decide that enough is enough? I cannot these actions be supported by my silence, my complicity and my inaction.

I am asking you to see me today as a citizen so invested in this country that I am willing to risk my freedom to change it. I am asking you to see that my vision of peace and my pursuit of justice are two of the most important qualities of any citizen and of every human being.

I am asking that you look at me today and know that I am not a criminal who taunts that law and deserves punishment but rather a young woman committed to justice, not just for the people of Latin America but for all or us, for this generation and generations to come.

I am asking you to see me today as a daughter, a sister, a mother, a grandmother and a friend.