SOAW update

Last week a federal judge in the US state of Georgia jailed 31 activists for between one and six months for their nonviolent protest against the Western Hemisphere Institute of Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), the US army training facility formerly known as the School of the Americas, which has long been linked to human rights abuses in Latin America. After Abu Ghraib you would think that the US would be keen to show the world its opposition to the use of torture by shutting down WHINSEC or at least opening it up to greater public scrutiny through an independent investigation of its activities over the years. After all, even 24, the ultimate 'the end justifies the means' TV drama of recent years, is losing its popular appeal.