Greetings,

A number of religious and secular NGOs in the US are working together to
pressure congress to bar training of foreign military forces in regimes
that make use of child soldiers, and to assure that any training that is
conducted includes human rights issues, including human rights law, in
the training. Details on the rationale and process of the efforts, and
the petition to Congress, is given below. Amnesty International is a
major organizer of this effort.

I propose that NIHAC signs on as an NGO as supporting this bill. Please
let me know if you have questions, comments, or objections.

Mary Anne




---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 17:50:34 -0500
From: Karen Orenstein <etanorganize@...>
To: undisclosed-recipients: ;
Subject: NGO Sign-on Request - Reminder

Friends -

I am sending out a final reminder to urge you to sign onto the attached
statement (explanation below) asking Members of Congress to introduce
broad-reaching legislation on military reform. The deadline is this
Friday. To sign on, please write to eolson@....

Thank you for your consideration,
Karen Orenstein, ETAN



Dear NGO Colleagues:

Please join us in the fight to reform U.S. training for foreign security
forces by signing the attached statement asking Members of Congress to
introduce legislation on this issue. We plan to use the statement in
lobby efforts to secure congressional sponsors for the legislation. To
sign on to the statement send name and organization to eolson@...
by Friday, Dec. 17.


As you may know, the United States has greatly increased its training
for foreign security forces since the 9/11 tragedy. Several of the
countries now receiving training were prohibited from such training
prior to 9/11 because of poor human rights records. For example, the
effective ban on U.S. training for militaries in Pakistan, Tajikistan,
and Azerbaijan has been lifted since 9/11 even though the State
Department's annual report on human rights practices lists these
countries as having "poor" human rights records. In addition, foreign
militaries receiving U.S. training have in some cases used child
soldiers or worked closely with paramilitary forces or armed groups that
utilize child soldiers. Examples include Colombia, Angola, Burundi, and
Uganda.

The U.S. justifies much of its training on the grounds that training
helps professionalize these forces, and maintains that through
"professionalization" and contact with U.S. soldiers, human rights
practices will improve. Yet, this hypothesis has never been tested
because there is no systematic way to monitor or track the record of
those soldiers who do receive U.S. training.

Given this situation, several organizations have come together to
propose some modest reforms of U.S. training for foreign militaries.
This coalition includes The Africa Faith and Justice Network, Amnesty
International USA, East Timor Action Network (ETAN), and School Of the
Americas Watch. Together, we met and consulted with many researchers and
advocates with expertise in military training, child soldiers, and
geographic areas across the globe. We also met with several Senate
allies who have a track record of concern about human rights and
training issues.

The result is a draft bill - the product of many revisions - that
reflects politically viable proposals that begin to address some of our
concerns. It represents an important step forward in improving the U.S.
record in foreign military training. Specifically, the proposed bill
would call for the United States to do these three things: 1)
Discontinue military training to countries with militaries that use
child soldiers; 2) Mainstream effective human rights and humanitarian
law education into all foreign security force training; and, 3)
Establish a joint Departments of Defense and State database of
U.S.-trained foreign security force personnel.

While this legislation would not exhaust all our concerns, we feel it is
a good starting point. For example, the bill will expand current U.S.
commitments on ending the use of child soldiers. While training in
human rights and international humanitarian law is no guarantee of
success, as demonstrated by WHINSEC, a training program at all 275 US
training facilities, not just WHINSEC, is important to ensure that no
one can say that they did not know the laws of war, as has been
suggested in the Abu Ghraib scandal. Finally, the bill will also
provide improved access to information about whom the U.S. is training
so that policy makers and NGOs can better monitor human rights practices
after training is completed.

Please find attached a fuller description of the proposed legislative
language with justifications.

Our next step is to secure primary sponsors for this legislation. The
plan is to meet again with the offices we first met with, and then
expand the circle to others. Our hope would be to identify chief
sponsors in the House and Senate before the 109th Congress begins, so
that we can hit the ground running. If your organization can endorse
the attached statement, we will use this to demonstrate the broad-based
NGO and grassroots support for this kind of reform agenda. We are
seeking institutional endorsements primarily, but are aware that some
individuals with a well-known track record on this issue cannot make
institutional endorsements, so we will include individuals on a limited
basis and reference their institutional affiliations for identification
purposes only. To sign on to the statement send name and organization
to America@....

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of us at the
following numbers:

Sincerely,


Marcel Kitisou, Africa Faith and Justice Network, (202) 635-3705
Eric Olson and Colby Goodman, Amnesty International USA, (202) 544-0200
ext. 251 and 328, respectively
Karen Orenstein, East Timor Action Network, (202) 544-6911
Jacqueline Baker, School of the Americas Watch, (202) 234-3440.


NGO STATEMENT TO SUPPORT REFORM OF U.S. TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR FOREIGN
SECURITY FORCES:


We, the undersigned individuals, and human rights, religious, and
solidarity organizations, believe there is an urgent need to reform
current United States training programs for foreign security forces. The
dramatic increase in training for countries with poor human rights records
continues to have a serious impact on human rights for ordinary citizens
around the world, and will have a lasting impact on the security of
hundreds of millions. We join together in asking Members of Congress to
introduce legislation that would include the following proposals for
reform:

Discontinue military training to countries and groups that use child
soldiers.

Mainstream effective human rights and humanitarian law education into all
training of foreign security forces.

Establish a joint State and Defense Department database of U.S. trained
foreign security force personnel.

We believe the attached draft bill provides a viable platform that
addresses these concerns. We endorse this draft legislation and ask for
your co-sponsorship and active support for its passage.

Africa Faith and Justice Network
Amnesty International USA
School of the Americas Watch
East Timor Action Network

Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America
Benedictines for Peace, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Benedictine Sister s of Mt. Angel, Oregon
California Peace Action
Conference of Major Superiors of Men, Office of Justice and Peace
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd
CorpWatch
Center for International Policy
Daughters of Mary and Joseph, Rancho Palos Verdes, Califoria
Friends Committee for National Legislation
Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, Derby Group: Grassroots Social Justice
Indonesian, Chinese and American Network
Interparliamentary Conference on Human Rights and Religious Freedom
Institute on Religion and Public Policy
International Labor Rights Fund
Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic
Nicaragua Center for Community Action
North American Province of the Society of Missionaries of Africa
Peace Education Center, Colombia University
Presbyterian Church (USA) Washington Office
Presentation Sister of Dubuque, Iowa
PROGRESS Media
The SHARE Foundation
Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth
Sisters of the Good Shepherd - National Advocacy Center
Sisters of the Holy Cross, Congregation Justice Committee
Sisters of Mercy, Baltimore Regional Community
Sisters of Mercy, Detroit Regional - Community Leadership Team
School Sisters of Notre Dame - International Network for Justice, Peace
and Integrity of Creation
Sisters of St. Francis, Tiffin, Ohio
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet - Leadership Team
Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield, Massachusetts Justice &Peace
Committee
Sisters of St. Joseph of Wichita, Kansas - Leadership Team
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary- The Leadership
Council
Society of African Missions Inc. (SMA Fathers)
The Society of the Holy Child Jesus, American Province Leadership Team
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)
University of Wisconsin -Oshkosh Student Environmental Action Coalition
U.S. Office on Colombia
Washington Kurdish Institute
Washington Office on Latin America
Winnebago Peace and Justice Center
World Organization for Human Rights USA

Individuals. Organizations listed for identification purposes only.

Rachel Stohl, Center for Defense Information


To endorse this statement, send your name and organizational affiliation
to america@.... For indidiviuals signing on, institutional
affiliation will be for indentificaiton purposes only. Closing date is
December 3, 2004. Questions, call Eric Olson, (202) 544-0200 Ext. 251.