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> Saludos desde Puerto Rico,
>
> The Navy practice that is planned for Vieques from June 13 to the 30
> concentrates on Aircraft to grownd fire. The Navy says that it needs this
> practice to be able to bomb better in Irak and Kosovo. They say that the
> only place they can do this is in Vieques.
>
> We will confront this in our usual peaceful manner through peaceful civil
> disobedience.
>
> Rep. Accuses Navy on Vieques
>
> By JENNIFER LOVEN
> .c The Associated Press
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) - A congressman accused the Navy on Tuesday of
> "dehumanizing, degrading and punitive treatment" of protesters arrested for
> trying to close down a Navy and Marine Corps bombing range on a Puerto Rican
> island.
>
> The criticism by Rep. Robert Menendez came during a five-hour hearing of the
> Congressional Hispanic Caucus into the events of April 27-May 1 on Vieques,
> just off Puerto Rico's main island, during demonstrations against bombing
> exercises on the Navy's range.
>
> Among about a dozen witnesses testifying of alleged mistreatment by naval
> personnel were a Menendez colleague in Congress, Rep. Luis Gutierrez,
> D-Ill.;local Puerto Rican politicians and religious leaders; and actor
> Edward James Olmos. They were among 180 people arrested during the protests.
>
> The pictures they drew of the events included students vomiting from pepper
> spray, women being subjected to repeated body searches and protesting being
> given little food and water for long periods. They spoke of physical abuse
> of detainees, obscene gestures toward young women and racial insults.
>
> "Never in my life have I felt so denigrated as a woman and as a human
> being," said Jazmin Mejias, a member of the Puerto Rico Senate. "I could not
> understand or comprehend what was happening."
>
> "We do not question that acts of civil disobedience have consequences. We do
> not question that arrests would be a reasonable consequence of trespassing
> on a U.S. military base," said Menendez, D-N.J., who chaired the hearing.
>
> "What we do question are the allegations about the dehumanizing, degrading
> and punitive treatment received by those arrested at the hands of the United
> States Navy."
>
> Most of the 18 members of the all-Democrat caucus oppose the Navy's use of
> the Vieques bombing range as a threat to the health and livelihood of island
> residents. The hearing was to draw attention to the allegations of Navy
> misconduct in arresting the demonstrators.
>
> "These actions have absolutely no place in a democratic society," Rep.
> Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., said.
>
> Acting Navy general counsel William Molzahn refused to comment on the
> arrests, saying it could compromise criminal proceedings. The U.S. District
> Court for Puerto Rico has not yet tried all those arrested on trespassing
> charges.
>
> Molzahn said he had no knowledge of the events on Vieques, whether the Navy
> intends to investigate the allegations or the Navy's procedures for
> detentions and arrests.
>
> At the time, a Navy spokesman in Puerto Rico said the accounts by Gutierrez
> and others were "absolutely false" and that all the protesters were treated
> with dignity and respect. They said Gutierrez provoked altercations by being
> "rude, obnoxious" and by threatening the careers of naval officers.
>
> The Navy has used its range on the tiny island for six decades and says the
> training it affords is vital for national security.
>
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