SOA Watch Staffperson Incarcerated for Three Days by Capitol Police and the Department of Homeland Security

This past weekend, Hendrik Voss, a volunteer in the SOA Watch national office and an organizer in the struggle to close the School of the Americas, was being detained on an order from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He was held for three days in DC’s Central Cellblock, the DC Jail and at a Homeland Security Detention Center in Northern Virginia.

Due to swift and successful organizing, solidarity, and movement contacts, Hendrik was released from custody on Monday evening. Many thanks to all the people who have worked over the past few days to secure Hendrik’s freedom! See below for more information on Hendrik’s situation.

This incident is a reminder to all of us about the repressive political climate in the United States. Here are some more examples of how this climate is manifesting itself in regards to the movement to close the School of the Americas:

# Sixteen human rights activists who crossed the line onto Fort Benning to call attention to the human rights abuses connected to the SOA were found guilty in federal court and received sentences from 1 year on probation to six month in federal prison. Click here to Support the Prisoners of Conscience.
# The FBI has placed SOA Watch under "Counterterrorism Surveillance".
# Harassment of people who organize events or write letters to the editor about the School of the Americas by SOA/WHINSEC officers (read Aaron Shuman’s article "Fighting to Close the SOA and to Stop Government Spying")
# Denial of SOA Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request by the Pentagon. (Click here for more info)

The way to counter the repression is to keep up the resistance, to organize more effectively and to change the values in this country. We can’t let intimidation and fear outweigh our commitment to justice.

Organize and take action:

Contact your Representative and urge her/him to sign-on to HR 1707, the legislation that will suspend operations at the SOA/WHINSEC and investigate the connection between the school and atrocities in Latin America.

Organize in your community for the Fast to Close the SOA (April 25-27, 2007).

Background

Hendrik Voss was stopped by Capitol Police on Friday, March 23 for allegedly putting a "Close the SOA" sticker on a parking meter on Capitol Hill in preparation for the upcoming Congressional vote on the SOA/WHINSEC. Several officers of the Intelligence Unit of the Capitol Police were called to the scene. After Hendrik retained his right to not consent to a search of his belongings, he was arrested.

Hendrik was held overnight in jail and appeared in court on Saturday morning. There, the judge told Hendrik that for this DC charge, he could be released on his own recognizance to await an April 17 hearing date - BUT that the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigrations and Customs Enforcement had put a detainer or "hold" on him, preventing his release.

Neither Homeland Security nor Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (the new name for the INS) charged him or gave an explanation during this arbitrary detention. Hendrik is a German citizen and is in the United States with a visitor’s visa and has not been convicted of any crime.

For three days, Hendrik joined thousands of people who are being detained by the Department of Homeland Security in the United States, and his arrest is just another example of increasingly oppressive policies towards immigrants, grassroots organizers and human rights groups that are working to make positive social change.

Hendrik was unusually lucky that he had an advocacy network outside of prison that alerted the German embassy, made contact to immigration lawyers and Congressional offices. No immigration related charges were filed but he is still facing a court date on April 17, 2007 on the charge of "defacing DC government property".

School of the Americas Watch

http://www.soaw.org