Protestors arrested at fort

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- More than 90 people, including at least six nuns, were arrested for marching onto Fort Benning grounds Sunday during an annual protest of a U.S. military program that trains Latin American soldiers.\n"I feel anger at the deliberate teaching of violence," Caryl Hartjes, a nun from Fondulac, Wis., said as she entered the compound, where she was arrested.\nAbout 6,500 protesters gathered for the 13th annual demonstration by the School of the Americas Watch, which continues to protest the Nov. 19, 1989, killings of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador. Protesters said they demonstrate because people responsible for the killings were trained at the School of the Americas, a Fort Benning-based program that was replaced last year by a new institute. Protesters say the change was only cosmetic.\nThe demonstrators Sunday passed through the base's gates, including one where they cut the padlock and slipped through fence posts to get onto the property.\nInside, a line of military police guided protesters up a hill where they were arrested. Illegally entering base property is a federal offense that can carry up to six months in prison.\n"I don't want to give up my freedom. And I would enjoy peace and justice more, but as a person of faith, I can't stand back and watch the atrocities," Dorothy Pagosa, a 48-year-old nun, said as she was arrested.\n"The atrocities that have happened have brought shame on this country," she said.\nAbout 7,000 protesters took part in the protest last year. Twenty-eight later pleaded guilty or were found guilty of trespassing -- including three nuns over the age of 67 -- and most of them served their sentences in federal prison.\nDemonstrators Sunday carried American flags and crosses honoring the alleged victims of the abuses in Latin America. Three protesters carried a mock-coffin draped in black. Others wore shirts that said "No War in Iraq."\n"We're here to support the voices that are trying to make our country's international actions more just," said Bill Quigley, a lawyer representing the protesters.\nThe Army's School of the Americas was replaced last year by a new institution operated by the Department of Defense and supervised by an independent 13-member board that includes lawmakers, scholars, diplomats and religious leaders.\nOfficials say the new school, known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, still trains Latin American soldiers, but also focuses on civilian and diplomatic affairs. Human rights courses are mandatory.