My Transgression Turns Me Into a Prisoner of Conscience
Statement by Father Luis Barrios
The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of
great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. Dante (1265-1321)
A solidarity greeting and blessings
On Monday, January 26, 2009, in the city of Columbus, Georgia, the Honorable Judge G. Mallon Faircloth, Federal Court, found me along with five others – Sister Diane T. Pinchot, Louis N. Wolf, Theresa Cusimano, Albert L. Simmon, and Krysten L. Holm - guilty of crossing and entering the gates of the military base Fort Benning which houses the School of the Américas. This SOA is the military school where Latin American soldiers are trained in torture, disappearance, and assassination techniques, to protect anti-democratic governments and, of course, the imperialist interests of the political, economic, and military hegemony of the US government in Latin America.
At the time of our arrest, due to the act of civil disobedience, our message was clear and precise: shut down the school of the assassins! I added to this process the element of being able to bring justice for my saint and spiritual guide, San Romero of The Américas (San Romero de Las Américas), assassinated by graduates of the School of the Américas. This is my offering of gratefulness to him.
After the court hearing, four federal officials drove me to be finger-printed and photographed, and later to listen to other officials, who made sure to remind me on countless occasions that I now belong to the prison system. The sentence requires us to serve two months at a federal prison, the actual location to be selected by the prison system, and it will become effective in approximately three or four weeks. In the interim, I must report to an officer on a weekly basis so they can track my whereabouts and actions.
Why, then, a prisoner of conscience?
A prisoner of conscience (POC) is any person that has been imprisoned because of his race, religion, color of skin, language, sexual orientation, or creed, as long as the person has not committed or practiced violence. The term was created by the Association for the Defense of Human Rights Amnesty International, at the beginning of the 1960’s (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preso_de_conciencia).
On this occasion, the action for which I am going to be imprisoned is of a social, political, moral, and spiritual character. This action was very well planed, within the context of non-violent, civil disobedience and resistance. I am not guilty of committing any crime against humanity. However, I recognize that I am guilty of being a transgressor of any “law” that pretends to justify oppression, exclusion, or assassination! I do it because these are not laws!
What did I want to make clear to the Judge?
First, that it is not correct when it is said that there are pre-established laws and that it is my duty to obey them. I told the judge very clearly that he was wrong, because unjust laws are not laws, thus it was not my duty to obey what is not just. Furthermore, I clarified that those were the exact reasons why Jesus disobeyed in Palestine, Mahatma Gandhi in India, Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Cesar Chávez and Rosa Park here in the United States, Luisa Capetillo in Puerto Rico, just to mention a few. However, I want to emphasize that I am not comparing myself to these teachers of justice, their shoes being too large for me. I was humbly looking for examples that could illustrate my actions.
Similarly, the message was clear when it was explained that it is not correct try to divorce US government foreign policy from the creation of the School of the Americas. Namely, it has become clear, since the implementation of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 –which promotes the isolationism of the new continent and the veto of the European nations’ intentions to intervene in the Americas, that there is a project of dominance and control that corresponds to the colonialist and imperialists interests from this government. All of this taking place with the intention of maintaining the pattern of US intervention and dominance over the countries in Latin America. Hence this doctrine gave the US government the opportunity to expand greatly its territories. Obviously, there was the need for institutions that would secure that “order.” These institutions were to protect this expansionist ideology. This is the reality that has victimized my homeland, Puerto Rico, since 1898, having become a US colony. This reality emerged as well from the School of the Americas, located from 1946 to 1984 in Panama, and then relocated to the military base of Fort Benning, in Columbus, Georgia.
Along the same line, I asked the Honorable Judge Faircloth, that if he truly believed in processes of justice, he could be of great help in achieving on one side that the International Penal Court conducts the hearings for the School of the Americas and those graduates who have committed the following crimes: Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes.
When will be the time?
For those that wrote or called to me with a melancholic and short-sighted message, saying that it was not the time for this type of action, I would like to respond to them that I very much appreciate their concern. Yet, only a single question emerges, which I am not sure that I could answer: when is the right time to fight for peace with justice to reign? If anybody knows the response, I kindly ask him or her to share it with me. Perhaps is that I am not up to date with all these affairs, which become pop culture references, and maybe I missed the recipe or season.
Something that I have always believed in are issues related to revolutionary activism –including Christians, Marxists, and atheists, among others. This labor towards justice allows for no vacation, no fixed location, no concrete moment, or particular people. Furthermore, these are not temporary, fashionable businesses. You and I know very well that the most effective way of criticizing is by acting. Namely, show me what you are doing in favor of peace with justice, and that way I will learn.
That remains clear, I do not play the idiocies of being neither hero nor great less to looking for personal recognitions. I overcame many years ago, this stage of egoism, narcissism or individualism. It is for this that I realize well that the struggle for the peace with justice is not a goal, but rather it is a process it continued. The wealthy classes invented the opportunist style in order to justify their lack of involvement or their quietness, so that they could escape the personal sacrifice that was realized for the benefit of the community. That personal sacrifice they skip is done with the sole purpose of benefitting the community. This personal sacrifice must become a duty, and later a personal satisfaction. As we evolve socio-spiritually at this level, I want to explain that I am not against appreciation from the people, which often intends to bless us through the act of sharing. I am categorically criticizing those individuals who put public recognition as a pre-condition to their work in favor of peace with justice. In any case, as our brother Pablo Milanes says: what shines with its own light, nobody will be able to shut down. Therefore, do not put the shine aside and let your actions speak for themselves.
Let me put it in rice and beans, as my grandmother, Ms. Barbara, would say: while graduates from the School of the Americas continue harassing, torturing, disappearing, and/or killing rural workers, labor movement leaders, labor union leaders, students, journalists, communists, etc. in Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and other places, the time for our actions to result in peace with justice is now. Period.
Once again, as a priest, my spiritual activism holds as the ultimate goal being able to organize the religiosity of the people, so they can reach their liberation. This does not need social recognition, economic compensation, or psychological gratifications in order to be fulfilled. This is my socio-political duty, to walk with the people and become a companion in their struggles. It is beautiful to learn to live without glory or personal recognition and we continue satisfying our corresponding duties, to build a world of peace with justice! Here, we could say that we reached the gates to immortality. This is my challenge each day, when I have the opportunity to open my eyes and thank God for still being alive in this world. This of course, at the same time has granted me the right to die in peace when the time comes, because I fulfilled my duty to our Goddess to build a better world. From this point on, this small sacrifice is a contribution to the struggle.
What to do as a collectivity?
For those who have been in communication, and expressed interest in receiving suggestions about how they could be contributing, here are some ideas:
First, we need to morally, spiritually, economically, socially, and politically provide unconditional support to the work developed by SOA Watch (www.soaw.org). This is a serious struggle that challenges power structures.
Similarly, we need to begin a wide-range educational campaign, so that our communities here, in the United States, may comprehend the existence and modus operandi of the School of the Americas. Above all, we must spread the word so that everyone may be aware of the atrocities against civil and human rights committed by SOA’s graduates in our Latin American countries.
Also, the support of this framework must be geared towards all the prisoners of conscience. There were six of us being sentenced, and each person’s sacrifice must be recognized.
We ought to have the ability to connect in this campaign with the relationship that exists between our political prisoners and our prisoners of conscience, until we achieve their freedom. For instance, we must connect all struggles: the brothers and sisters, and compañera/os political prisoners from Puerto Rico (Carlos Alberto Torres, Oscar López Rivera, Avelino González Claudio and Haydeé Beltrán); the five brothers and compañeros Cuban heroes (René González, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernández and Ramón Labañimo); our brother and compañero black political activist and US journalist, Mumia Abul-Jamal; and our brother and compañero from the Nations Anishinabe and Dakota/Lakota, Leonard Peltier; only to mention some names. Let’s remember that these struggles for peace with justice are not antagonistic, they complement.
Last, but not least, use your creativity and come up with your own initiatives. Please see the attached declaration of defense in front of the judge last Monday. Thank you so much for your attention to this matter.
In solidarity love, hugs, and blessings,
Fr. Luis Barrios
St. Mary’s’ Episcopal Church
January 27th of 2009
New York, New York
Lbarrios@jjay.cuny.edu
http://wcw-nyc.blogspot.com/2009/02/statement-by-luis-barrios-concerning.html