Organizers expect the group to total 1,000 by April 29, the vigil's end. Graduates of the Ft. Benning school made up over two thirds of the Salvadoran officers cited by the 1993 United Nations Truth Commission for atrocities during El Salvador's civil war. The SOA's best known graduate, former Panamanian President, Manual Noriega, is now serving 40 years in a US federal prison for drug trafficking. SOA defenders maintain that the Army School's training strengthens understanding of democratic values and respect for civil control of the military.
Critics say otherwise.
LCWR represents 78,000 Catholic nuns across the country. Critics of the School, including those gathered for the vigil on the Capitol steps, have long maintained that the SOA has been actively teaching Latin American soldiers to kill and oppress their own people. In September 1996, the Pentagon released seven-Spanish language training manuals used at the SOA until 1991. These materials, used to train Latin American soldiers, advocated interrogation techniques like torture, execution, blackmail, truth serum and arresting relatives of those being questioned. US Army School.