A new trade pact to replace nafta. While myanmars leader Aung San Suu Kyi has literally arrived at the International Court of justice where she is beginning her remarks defending her country against allegations of genocide lets listen in the 948 Genocide Convention one of the most fundamental multilateral treaties of all the time invoking that 940 age Genocide Convention its a matter of a most gravity. This is a treaty that we made following this is to match it killing of malls and 6000000 year jews and thats my country wholeheartedly signed as ferdie assertiveness december 949 and ratified on food since march 956. 00 genocide is a crime that the International Criminal tribunal for rwanda applied in response to the mass killing of perhaps 70 percent of the 2 chief in rwanda. It is a crime that is not applied by the tribunal to the former yugoslavia for the displacement of approximately 1000000 residents of course civil in 1909 neither was it applied by that tribe you know no by this court when deciding upon the exodus of the population from croatia in 1905 in both situations International Justice resisted the temptation to use this strongest of legal classifications because the requisite specific intent to physically destroy the targeted group in whole or in part was not present. Required to pretty the gambia is placed before the court an incomplete and misleading fact picture of the situation and Rakhine State and not mine yet it is of the octopus importance that the court assess the situation obtaining on the ground in rakhine dispassionately and accurate the situation in rakhine is complex and not easy to fathom but one thing surely touches all of us equally the sufferings of the many innocent people whose eyes of a torn apart as a consequence of the Armed Conflicts of 201617 in particular those who have had to flee their homes and the knowledge living in camps in caucasus bazaar. Mr president and members of the caught the troubles of Rakhine State and its population whatever the background go back into past centuries and has been particularly sivia over the past few years. Currently an internal Armed Conflict is going on there between the ara can army and all denies to but this to on group with more than 5000. 00 fighting 5000. 00 fighters and the regular Defense Services none of the speakers yesterday made any reference to this the arak an army 6 autonomy or independence for a crime or add a can as it is called finding inspiration in the memory of the historic kingdom of africa at. This conflict has led to the displacement of thousands of civilians in rakhine standard security restrictions such as curfew and checkpoints are in place at present in the conflict zone and affect the situation of civilians there regardless of their background mr president on nines october 2016 approximately 400 fighters of the other can ruin just Salvation Army known as our sa law and signal to noise attacks on 3 predisposed and mando and repeat on townships in north america time near the border with bungler dish also claims responsibility for these attacks which led to the death of 9 Police Offices more than 100. 00 dead or missing civilians and the theft of 68. 00 guns and more than 10 pounds in rounds of ammunition this was the start of an internal Armed Conflict between our side and the mosque if the Defense Services which lasted until late twentys 70 the selective factual propositions contained in the canvass application actually concerned this conflict in the months following the 9 october 26 in attacks of grew in strength in the mando the dow and with the down townships in norton rakhine. It resulted to threats and intimidation against local villages in order to gain support and allegiance executing suspected informants according to among others the International Crisis group are said received weapons and explosives training from afghan and pakistani militants and the only morning of 26 august 2017 several 1000 hours of fighters launched a coordinated attacks on more than 30 police posts in villages and an army base and north of rakhine most of the attacks took place on the narrow mando plain which is framed by densely forested hills to the east and the border with bungler gate to the west indications are that our says objective was to seize mando township. It may aid the call to briefly consider the historical significance of mondo. When britain made burma a colonial entity separate from british 937 the border between burma and india was drawn along the river nath where we find todays border between bungler gauge and. The historical kingdom of addict can have at times extended much further to the north than the river nath including most of fortis to do chicken district in bangladesh members of some are Kind Communities therefore felt that the border drawn by the british was too far south of the us that it was too far north. Has never challenge this border since independence in 1948. Britain did not use control reporters today in monotone township during world war 2 from september 942 a number of local muslim families offered fighters to the british irregular the force set up to collect intelligence and initially absorbed and the japanese bonds many muslim muslims gave their lives in combat against the japanese in rakhine the sacrifices made by muslim fighters motivated to call for the creation of an autonomous muslim space in northern rakhine centered on mondo whether or not this is encouraged by british officers britain rejected this call as soon as it had reoccupied before independence in 1948. The muslim but this intercommunal violence of 1942 recurred in 1948 and several times after that this cycle of violence has negatively affected life in northern rakhine making it the 2nd poorest change and mema. Mr president and members of the court may i go back to the situation in rakhine on the morning of 25th august 28th 17 more than 30 police stations and villages and one military base had been attacked before sunrise and a highly coordinated fashion by an organized on Group Operating along a densely forested hill ranges that provide ample options opportunity for hiding many of the our suffixes had been recruited from local villages in the weeks and months of receiving the attack there must defend services sponsored to the attacks of us of fighters by the use of Ground Forces there were armed incidence in more than 60 locations the main clashes occurred in 12 places in mindi dont like to leave in late september late manu really good job in village and they have done job village. The dates Indian Village chain carly of. Village knew the ward joe pond a village watch of mondo town and sutton mon dieu. Mr president please allow me to clarify the use of the term clearance operation name is simply in your mind its meaning has been distorted as early as in 1950 s. This has been used during military operations against the Burma Communist Party and because range since then the military has used this expression and Counter Insurgency and Counterterrorism Operations after attacks by insurgents or terrorists in the memoir language nation me literally means clearing off the caliphate simply means to clear an area of insurgents or terrorists it is still not easy to establish a clear pattern to events in these 12 locations many are self i just died they may have been several 100 casualties and some of the 12 occasions there was some into communal violence but this and hindu minority communities also feel that the security after the original author attacks and many fled from their home. It may be worth noting that the use of air power in military operations is avoided as far as possible to minimize the risk of Collateral Damage however in one incident in order to extract a unit surrounded by hundreds of hours of fighters the use of the helicopter was required there was shooting from the helicopter which assaulted and fatalities which may have included noncombat. Mr president it cannot be ruled out that disproportionate force was used by members of the Defense Service is in some cases in disregard of International Humanitarian law or that they did not distinguish clearly enough between ourselves and civilians they may also have been say this to prevent civilians from looting or destroying property after fighting or in abandoned that it is but these are determinations to be made and the due cause of the criminal justice process not by any individual in the government. These ben mind this complex situation and the challenge to sovereignty and security in our country when youre assessing the intent of those who attempted to deal with the rebellion surely under the circumstances genocidal intent cannot be the only hypothesis and its 2008 constitution. Has a military Justice System criminal cases again so does offices for possible war crimes committed in rakhine must be investigated and prosecuted by that system on 25th november 29000 the office of the judge advocate general announce the start of a Court Martial for allegations linked to the good doc and village incident one of the 12 main incidents referred to earlier the office also let it be known that there will be additional call smart show if further incriminating evidence is brought out by the independent commission of inquiry. The i. C. U. In is an independent special investigation procedure a stablished for a crime allegations by the president of myanmar chaired by a former deputy minsk minister from the philippines but 3 other members including a former undersecretary general of the United Nations from japan. On 26 november 29000 this commission announced that it had taken about 1500 witness statements from all affected groups and rakhine and that it has interviewed 29 military personnel who are deployed to the affected affected townships in northern rakhine during the military operations from country if all goes 2172. 00 fists september 27th team. As well as 20 Police Personnel who were stationed at the police posts that were attacked on 25th or 27 q theres currently no other fact finding body in the world that has garnered relevant 1st hand information on what occurred in rakhine in 2017 to the same extent as the independent commission of inquiry and the office of the judge advocate general in. This fact reinforces my sense that i said refrain from any action or statement that could undermine the integrity of this ongoing criminal justice process is in. They must be allowed to run their costs it is never easy for armed forces to recognise self interest and accountability for their members and to implement a will to accountability to act till investigations and prosecutions. I respectfully invite the members of the court to consider for the moment the record of other countries this is a common challenge even in results from the countrys. Recent cases in the news in the News Headlines and the strange that even when military Justice Works there can be a versus this can also happen in myanmar as part of the overall efforts of the new government to provide justice a Court Martial found a 10 muslim men had been summary executed in Indian Village one of the trial of the case and of serious incidents refer to. It sentence for offices and 3 soldiers each to 10 years in prison with hard labor after serving a part of the sentences they were giving a military pardon many of us in your mom were unhappy with the spot other cases are undertaken without control to see for example in the months to case a Court Martial sat close to that location in question stage where 3 internally displaced civilians had been killed it sentenced 6 soldiers its to 10 years in prison in january 28th Team Relatives of the victims and local Civil Society representatives were invited to the proceedings to the office of the judge advocate general in amman is always standards well resourced with more than 1000. 00 staff and to present an all regional commands to out the country. Im encouraged by the good Court Martial and i expect the office to continue its investigations and prosecutions based on reliable evidence gathered in rakhine and from persons who witnessed but have seen that. Can that be genocidal intent on the part of the state that actively investigates prosecutes and punishes so does in offices who are accused of wrongdoing all the focus here is on members of the military i can assure you that appropriate action would also be taken against civilian offenders in line with due process there will be no tolerance of Human Rights Violations in the rakhine or elsewhere. Mr president there are those there are those who wish to externalize accountability for alleged war crimes committed to in rakhine almost automatically without proper reflection some of the United Nations human rights mandy relied upon in the application presented by the gambia have even suggested that there cannot be accountability to military Justice System this not only contradicts article 20 b. Of the constitution of myanmar it undercuts painstaking domestic efforts relevant to this stablish of cooperation between the military and the sith civilian government in myanmar in the context of a constitution that needs to be amended to complete the process of democratic i say. That process is now under way at the super tall the union parliament. The emerging system of International Criminal justice rests on the principle of complimentarity accountability to domestic criminal justice is the norm only if domestic accountability fails may International Justice come into play it would be inconsistent with complementarity to require are the domestic criminal justice should proceed much faster than International Criminal justice a rush to externalize accountability may undermine professionals in domestic criminal justice agencies or disappearance of competition between domestic and International Come to better to due to the Publics Trust in the intentions of impatient international actors. Nose to incent be left unturned to make domestic accountability work it would not be helpful for the International Legal or illegal order if the impression takes hold that only results rich countries can conduct adequate domestic investigations and prosecutions and that the domestic justice of countries still trust striving to cope with the burden of unhappy legacies and present challenges cannot be made good enough the gambia will also understand this challenge with which they too are confronted. Mr president and members of the court these reflections are relevant to the present hearing because the applicant has brought a case based on the Genocide Convention we are however dealing with an internal Armed Conflict started by coordinated and comprehensive attacks by the other country hinges salvation salvation on our side to which namaz the sense of the responded. Tragically this Armed Conflict led to the exodus of several 100000 muslims from the 3 northernmost townships of rakhine into bungler day just as Armed Conflicts increase retreats the court had to deal led to the massive exodus of 1st ethnically kurds and later ethnic serbs and have already stated if war crimes have been committed by members of memoirs to send services they will be prosecuted to our military Justice System in accordance with the mouse constitution it is a matter for the competent criminal justice of torah cheese to assess whether the example they had been in adequate distinction between civilians and are so fighters disproportionate use of force violations of human rights. Here to prevent plundering of property or destruction or acts of forcible displacement of civilians such conduct if proven could be relevant on the International Humanitarian law or human rights conventions but not under the 948. 00 Genocide Convention for reasons on which Professor William shapers elaborate in a moment. Mr president allow me to share one further reflection in this great hall of Justice International law may well be our own need Global Values system and International Justice a practice that affirms our common values. Leaders of states and relevant intergovernmental and to nongovernmental organizations should also be cognizant of their responsibilities to express and of fundamental values feeding the saints of the extreme polarize ation in the context of rakhine for example can harm the values of peace and harmony and me among i do reaching the wounds of conflict can undermine unity in rakhine narratives im not simply confined to hate speech language that contributes to extreme polarization also amounts to hate narratives several International Activists face a challenge. Judgment but nemo also could have done more since 1980 s. To emphasize the shared heritage and deeper layers of unity among the diverse peoples of our country. Cycles of into communal violence and of crime going back to the 1940 s. Should be counted not just by practical measures aimed at Sustainable Development and rule of law but also by nursing a spiritual mindset of unity it is a moral responsibility of leaders to guard the aspirations of people for harmony and peace. Done the 3rd United Nations secretary general had understood this he wrote in his memoirs view from the un published in 1000 separate fall i didnt believe that the mark of the truly educated and imaginative person facing the 21st century is that he feels himself to be a planetary citizen. And courage and this added layer of identity a sense of planetary citizenship is a fundamental importance for peaceful relations between nations as well as between ethnic and religious groups. A commitment to broadening the mindset must go hand in hand with practical steps to improve lives even before the events of 2016 to 2070 muslim but this and out the communities in rakhine faced what the Kofi Annan Advisory Commission described as complex challenges of new development and poverty rooted enduring social conflict between the communities the mob government is committed to addressing these challenges. Together without partners we are now striving to ensure that all the community its enjoy the same fundamental rights to expedite citizenship verification and application a mobile is already in operation all children born in rakhine regardless of religious background issued with but certificates arrangements have been made to enable more you muslim youth to attend classes as universities across myanmar with the support of international and local partners scholarships will also be made available to students from all communities living in rakhine. The government has started a social cohesion model project in mondo township to promote social harmony among all communities interface for athan encourage these are some of the steps taken to improve livelihoods security access to education and Health Citizenship and social cohesion for all communities and rakhine 3 i. D. P. Camps have already been closed and an r. G. P. Camp closure strategy has been adopted there ma is also committed to the voluntary safe and stigma fight it had to ration of displaced persons from rakhine under the Framework Agreement reached between 100 days and them. Mr president how can there be an ongoing genocide or genocide or intent when this country steps are being taken in rakhine to conclude mr president and members of the caught her crying today suffers an internal conflict between the buddhist african army and myanmars Defense Services muslims are not a party to this conflict but may like other civilians in the conflict area be affected by security measures that are in place. We pray the court to refrain from taking any action that night i give rate the ongoing conflict and Armed Conflict and peace and security and rakhine right now in northern rakhine an army base near the watch is under attack by a group of more than 400 arak an Army Fighters and some 200 insurgents have surrounded a military column on city in rakhine. Since remark gained independence in 1948 our people have not known the security of Sustainable Development just a fruit of peace and prosperity our greatest challenge is to address the roots of distrust distrust and fear prejudice and hate that undermine the foundations of our union we showed our tears steadfastly to our commitment to long violence Human Rights National reconciliation and rule of law as we go forward to build a Democratic Federal union to which our people have aspired for generations past we look to justice as a champion of the reconciliation and harmony that really should the security and rights of war people mr president and members of the court i thank you for your kind attention and i ask that you nor called upon Professor William choose to continue the no massive missions. Of the well weve just been hearing from our own sons to cheney myanmar state counselor defending her country that against charges of genocide she meant there was disproportionate force used by the military which resulted in civilian deaths but she says that there wasnt genocidal intent describing what she says is accounted terrorism operation and a complex situation in Rakhine State that this is also an internal Armed Conflict and she is promising domestic accountability well lets go live now to wayne hey who is in the hague for us and has also been listening in a way no surprises there shes been sticking to the lines weve heard before and a narrow Legal Definition of genocide. Yes i think youre exactly right no surprises in what we just heard in that long Opening Statement from myanmars state council on sun sujit it started out very much as expected with a History Lesson of the complex background to the situation that we see unfolding over the past few years and continuing to unfold in Rakhine State the tensions over the decades between the buddhist and muslim communities in that state but what she didnt do really is address the issues the discrimination that is faced by the communities and has been faced by them for a very long time she again in the past has refused to even use the word reading go when describing this ethnic group which as we know is not regarded as an official ethnic group and me and they are regarded as Illegal Immigrants she only in this speech that we just heard used that word when referring to the militant group of the ruling a militant group that attacked the Security Forces in 20162017 the overriding theme of this speech i think was that this court the International Court of justice is not where the allegations of crimes committed by the me and my Security Forces should be decided basically she was saying that this is an internal situation they have the Justice System both within the military in terms of a Court Martial system and the criminal Justice System to handle this and any crimes against humanity that have been committed by Security Forces or indeed by civilians in Rakhine State can be and will be handled handled domestically and it certainly as she pointed out on several occasions in that speech is not a case of genocide when weve seen demonstrators both in myanmar and outside the court where you are standing in support of her so clearly all of this really are. Isnt it with many of the people from myanmar and has for many years. Yes it has and you know one of the things that she pointed out in this speech and has pointed out many times before and in fact it was one of the 1st thing she mentioned in the speech is that this is a very complex situation in Rakhine State and yes there is a very strong nationalist Buddhist Movement within me and that still exists today so to some extent she may well be playing to that audience to that base in the lead up to an election next year in which of course shes hoping to be reelected we saw large gatherings in me and my as she was departing for the netherlands to appear at the International Court of justice some people have traveled with her to support it weve seen a few 100 people gathered here outside the court in the past few hours supporting her as she arrives on tuesday when the gambians opened their case open this genocide case we saw opponents of Aung Sun Suu Kyi supporters of the ring get caused by coming here as well to voice their support of the case to voice their criticism of Aung San Suu Kyi and government so yes that support and the protest is still here and we expect they will be here for the closing of this case on for the moment anyway on thursday when have a live press and the whole hes been following those hearings and will continue to do so thank you ryan well lets go live now to stephanie. And bangladesh with more than 700000 reckoner refugees so if i imagine the people there are trying to follow this very closely and Aung San Suu Kyi has now admitted the use of disproportionate force says their west civilian casualties but says they wasnt genocidal intent how does that square with the stories that youve been hearing from refugees. When you only have a look at the very end here are that stretch all the way. To the me and mar border which are the mountains and this is quite a hazy day its the biggest refugee camp in the world now and this is a consequence of whatever it is happened 2017 if you decide to believe and from suchi saying yes disproportionate force what does that have to apply as well weve been covering this story myself and colleague our colleague since day one what chain hundreds of thousands of people really within the space of 2 weeks. Carry nothing but just their babies whatever belongings they could telling stories of mass rape people being chopped into pieces being people being burnt inside a home so it is the story of everything good hunter has a similar story and similar tragedy its been very difficult listening to these stories over the years some of them are so terrible that you think theyre unbelievable but when you have such a mass of people giving a very similar account of what happened you must question what kind of atrocities were committed by the 1000000 more military so yes people here at protection want to point that way you mentioned we spoke to Community Leader just earlier he said this is not about her defending any genocide yes or no this is about reelection this is about domestic politics this is why she has taken the forefront of something that she has tried to remain quite quiet about so were going to have to wait and see what the court rules but certainly i think its going to be very difficult to see whatever that ruling is and then hate to have an impact on the future of these people who are well stefan sunset she also has been promising to messick accountability and one of the things she said was that Human Rights Violations and wont be tolerated i mean thats quite a big Statement Given the number of people around you who has run away from these atrocities how is that likely to be perceived by the refugees that. Thats and also the fact that 2 continuing documentation reports out of the running gear that still reside in iraq are in get the picture because its very difficult to act. As a journalist as a foreign journalist in the United Nations no one can access that area that discrimination continues theyre confined to come theyre not allowed to have access to education certainly the retractor ation program that was in place here to try and get some of these people to start going home because of perceived to want to go home they dont want to live in these kinds of conditions but they dont trust the situation they dont believe that theyre going to be safe they dont believe that what has happened is for on top and again so these are the big question marks about the future of these people Human Rights Violations well its a broad term genocidal intent has to do with targeting a group because of their ethnicity because of their makeup and that is what people here will tell you and you heard from when they weigh in as well over the decades that its been a case of the ruling going to say has been their situation theyre not even seen as you know as residents of be in march so i think its a very complicated situation Going Forward particularly when it comes to resolving this because bangladesh is frustrated they dont want them here anymore i can tell you weve been harassed throughout the day by Security Forces there trying to stop us from doing our work even though we have permissions its very sensitive these are tense times theyve cut the internet theyre trying to fence the camps. We dont know where this is going to go and theres concern also about the potential insurgency coming out of this in the future if people are not given opportunities and being able to go so i think very difficult times ahead and yes this case is significant is it going to resolve anything its going to be difficult stephanie to have that bring us the view from coxs bazaar thank you stephanie. Well lets take a look back at the political journey that Aung San Suu Kyi has made from prodemocracy activist to now defend of genocide charges she is the daughter of myanmars independence leader general aung sun who was assassinated when she was just 2 years old in 1908 suu kyi came to prominence in politics when myanmars military crackdown on prodemocracy protesters killing hundreds the following year the military put her under house arrest in 1901 she won the Nobel Peace Prize while still being detained she finally received the award in 2012 she spent 15 years of her life between 1909 to 2010 and some form of arrest and in 2015 her m. L. D. Party won the general election by a landslide in the countrys feste free election in 25 years the following year she became state counselor and the de facto leader of myanmar well lets dig into this a little more with me a sward she is a producer of the Aljazeera Center for public liberties and human rights and she joins us now live here in doha may lets start with you shes speech shes gone from a Nobel Peace Prize laureate from 28 years ago to now defending the military who imprisoned her against genocide charges today whats going through her head as she stands there and makes that speech. Good morning anastasia yes thats a very long fall from grace what i make of the speech is that you know 2 things to me stand out in this speech that was really riddled with contradiction and denial to me it was a bit surprising the extent to which he admitted or was about to admit that the war crimes were committed committed by myanmar because we know that the i. C. J. Is not the only International Court that is going to hear this case the i. C. C. Is investigating the case the International Criminal court and theres a case pending in argentina so thats very interesting that she mentioned that it is also interesting the extent to which she hermod on the sort of theme of leave us alone you know we will take care of what needs to be taken care of in myanmar including saying that there is already a project going on to the ward citizenship to people but to me this indicates that shes. Saying that the provisional measures are not necessary that theyre already taking measures to improve the situation of course she was very sort of cleverly sidestepping the central issue which is genocide and the severity of the crimes of which is accused of well near genocide itself is notoriously tricky Supreme Court because it comes down to intent right right and these proceedings could drag on for some time talk us through that and some of the legal arguments that were likely to hear so as you and i speak william sabres the. Canadian. Professor will be speaking in court and he will no doubt be focusing on the requirement of specific intent which is what distinguishes to an aside from other severe crimes such as war crimes or crimes against humanity he will be saying that there was no specific intent to destroy the hinge or. And we know that the i. C. J. Has a track record of being extremely rate dissent and careful in finding genocide and this is clear from cases such as the bosnian case in which they didnt find in a cite now what is particularly tricky about proving specific intent was that you have to say that there was almost sort of an intellectual mosser mind behind the genocide behind the intent to destroy a group in power in part or in whole and you would have to say that there was a plan with a clear purpose in mind now in some countries or cases there has been documentation proving this the holocaust is a very good example of this where there was very clear entailed expressed in documentation now its going to be an even daintree challenge. For the gambia in this case to bring evidence that hes going to persuade these judges that there was specific intent to destroy the entire group in whole or in parts but we know that destruction doesnt necessarily mean the physical destruction that it can be interpreted in a bit of a wider sense than you know the physical destruction of the group well regardless of the findings the i. C. J. Itself also has no kind of implementation mechanism so well any of this have any actual impact on the lives of the hundreds of thousands of rango or make it any safer for them to be able to go home that is a very good question. A part of my own reason ration with this case is that it creates tremendous expectation on the part of the ranger and it has to be borne in mind that the i. C. J. Is not a criminal court it cannot imprison anyone and it doesnt have the same informant megan isms it is a huge leigh important and Symbolic Court but we know that in the case of the wall opinion issued against israel for example handed down against israel israel smoothly ignored easily ignored. The judgment so it is possible that. Even though the Security Council is mandated to enforce the judgment that myanmar might not take the provisional midgets should provisional measures be taken be ordered by the court in the next few days and. Provisional measures that are being asked for is to stop the genocide is to stop any further actions. Violating the rights of the me and of the of the regime. So i think that. Its a it is positive from the point of view of focusing attention on myanmar they can no longer escape these charges and its really you know focusing the attention of the entire International Community on this issue it is negative from the point of view of raising expectations nonenforcement and a possible judgment of that doesnt you know if its decided that this wasnt genocide the danger is that one city can manipulate this you know into a kind of a victory especially domestically with the elections coming up as weve just heard i will be continuing to watch these hearings very closely indeed meus what a producer at Aljazeera Center for public liberties and human rights thank you for your analysis with us today. Theyve gone on to other news now and u. S. President donald trump has not impeachment charges against him labeling them weak Democratic Party leaders announced 2 articles of impeachment on tuesday charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of congress it makes trump only the 4th president to face a formal process to remove him from office how does your cast our reports from washington d. C. Standing before a portrait of one of the nations Founding FathersGeorge WashingtonHouse Democratic leaders made a historic announcement today in service to our duty to the constitution and to our country. The House Committee on the judiciary is introducing 2 articles of impeachment charging the president of the United States donald j. Drum with committing high crimes and misdemeanors the 1st article is abuse of power for withholding security aid and a white house visit with ukraines leader in exchange for political investigations that would benefit trumps reelection the 2nd obstruction of congress for refusing to cooperate with impeachment investigators the evidence is every bit as strong that President Trump has obstructed congress fully without precedent and without basis in law if allowed to stand it would decimate congresss ability to conduct oversight of this president or any other in the future trump is only the 4th u. S. President to have impeachment proceed this far he denies all wrongdoing tweeting during the democrats announcement witch hunt democrats say the evidence against trump is damning it includes testimony from more than a dozen witnesses and a white house call summary showing trump asked ukraine to launch investigations into his political rivals republicans though say thats not enough to remove a president theyre not impeaching the president because they they can the list and Impeachable Offense theyre impeaching him because theyre afraid he will get reelected thats not why you have the power of impeachment thats the abuse of power democrats are keeping the impeachment articles narrowly focused on trumps recent conduct with ukraine they decided not to charge the president for trying to stop the previous moller investigation that examine whether his campaign had colluded with russia in the last president ial election in less than a years time a deeply divided america will return to the polls that will be after trumps impeachment trial in the senate where hell likely be acquitted by his fellow republicans democrats say despite the slim chance of removal doing nothing or waiting what amounts to complicity with trumps misconduct the argument why dont you just wait amounts to this. Why dont you just let him cheat in one more election why not let him cheat just one more time democrats say trump remains a threat to the Upcoming Elections and to his own country hi joe castro aljazeera Washington Well during a rally in the battleground state of pennsylvania donald trump called the 2 articles of impeachment against him phin see and pathetic these are their socalled articles of impeachment today people are saying theyre not even a crime what happened all of these horrible things remember bribery and this is where are they they send these 2 things are not even a crime this is the light is weak is impeachment you know our country said actually many appreciate you call judges and lots of a many approaches but it was on today everybody is a this is impeachment lite. Now a controversial citizenship bill is being debated currently in the indian parliaments upper house the bill would grant citizenship to those fleeing religious persecution is excludes muslims critics say the bill violates indias secular constitution by discriminating against muslims it was passed by the lower house of parliament on monday and as for explains from new delhi the bill is unlikely to face opposition in the upper house. Well its very likely to pass because its to believe the government along with its allies in the upper house will make sure that the bill is passed its very likely that it is passed to date some of the debate is going on the countrys home minister spoke out and he said it is indias responsibility to make sure that minorities whove been persecuted in neighboring countries are given protection in india are given shelter but the opposition politicians or members of opposition parties are saying that behind this is the ruling party which is a Hindu Nationalist Party theyre polarizing politics theyre essentially trying to divide people one of the parliamentarians from an Opposition Party has even equated this to nazi politics. Come in there perhaps but there is a sort of concern among people that this may divide the hindus and muslims in the country over the last few days weve seen massive protests in assam investment all and also in delhi and yesterday also in the state of with the police but it is very important here to mention that these protests are happening for Different Reasons in assam mainly the protests are happening because assamese want to protect their assamese identity and they dont want any migrants where they are hindus or a Muslim Bengalis investment all there is a different politics at play which is between the Hindu Nationalist Party which is ruling in the indian a ruling india so this is the dominant party and the local party which is t m c there it is about protecting the rights of the muslims in delhi again people are saying that this is a discriminatory law weve also seen last Night Protests in a legal Muslim University where students have said this legislation is discriminatory and should not to be passed. Now an investigation by the Reuters News Agency has found former white house executives helped to build a controversial spying unit for the United Arab Emirates the program was code named dread by the u. A. E. And it was built to follow suspects in the is after the september 11th attacks royces says richard clock hes a former counterterrorism chief for president s clinton and george w. Bush set up that program back in 2008 with other americans and it was sanctioned by the United States in its focus went further they targeting human rights activists and i think government of cats and footballs governing body over the 2022 wild cup bid well Joel Shechtman is the Investigative Reporter who broke that story for voices he says the u. S. State department probably didnt intend for the program to become what it has you think that the legal lines of what they could do became very blurred and i think they became more blurred over the years you know as we previously reported you know the same project would end up targeting aljazeera itself would end up targeting media figures human rights activists b. B. C. Journalists womens rights activists all over the world and i dont think that thats you know what someone like Richard Clarke or or the state department have had ever necessarily intended the problem is when you when you create a Surveillance Program like this its very easy for it to spiral out of control and become like sort of a tool for for those in power to go after their enemies i think the u. S. Government its within their power to say that. You know former n. S. A. People cant go to work you know for the u. A. E. As hackers you know they cant stop the program from functioning but theres no reason that the u. S. Government has to authorize and allow people who gave these kind of hacking skills to go and work for a monarchy that is you know using those skills to you know to to stifle dissent. Canada mexico and the United States have signed a new Free Trade Agreement to replace the 25 year old enough to deal it was sealed hours after the us congress and on state support the new republic reports from the mexican capital where the agreement was signed. The. Mexican president of that is when we met with representatives from the United States and canada on tuesday for the signing of the us and seeing. A trade deal that stalled for months pending a series of changes demanded by democrats in the u. S. House of representatives u. S. Trade officials touted the deal as a major accomplishment one that ends the age of the north american Free Trade Agreement or nafta and its nothing short of a miracle that we have all come together i think thats a testament to how good the agreement is but perhaps more importantly its a testament to how long it will last and how people will be coming to north america and how vibrant the economy this will be for all of us it is such canadas deputy Prime MinisterChrystia Freeland called the u. S. Embassy a win for all 3 countries all of us together have finally accomplished what we set out to do at the very outset a win win win agreement which will provide stability for workers in all 3 of our countries for many years to come. That is no small thing especially in todays world those economists like dr jose rizal are clues however when the benefits for mexico could be mostly conditional but i mean he call from mexico i believe an opportunity has been created but it will depend on mexico being able to move from a low value added manufacturing economy to one that could generate through higher productivity and competitiveness the intermediate inputs of north america tracks from other regions of the world. Since the rise of ecommerce the u. S. Mexico and canada have been looking toward overhauling existing trade relations the u. S. M. C. Is the result of a renegotiation of the north american Free Trade Agreement unlike now after the us m. C. A. Broadens International Regulations affecting everything from intellectual Property Rights to environmental law. The signing of the trilateral document means the agreement now moves to the legislative branches of the us mexico and canada for ratification. And mexico city. Volcanic activity has significantly increased our new zealands white island delaying efforts to recover the bodies of 9 people missing believed dead as a ruptured on monday killing at least 6 other. People and hospital many with bands to more than half of their bodies theres mounting pressure from relatives to find those still unaccounted for this is an utterly cryptic situation. We all agree that retrieving bodies of the deceased from the island isnt it salute imperius of. Every day that passes with those bodies recovered is a day of anguish for the loved ones who have been affected we recognize this and were doing everything we can. There is always a delicate balancing act when it comes to recovery operations of we risk to human life exists and right now the science tells us that this is just too high. Well thousands of protesters are rallying in sydney to demand action on Climate Change after months of out of control bushfires across parts of australia demonstrators accuse the government of ignoring a Climate Emergency the fires have been made worse by unseasonably hot conditions and drought while those protests are taking place as leaders attending the un climate talks in spain teenage climate activist president addressed of the summit there and told leaders they once doing enough to halt the global temperature rise finding Holistic Solutions is what the cop should be all about. But instead he seems to have turned into some kind of opportunity for countries to negotiate loopholes and to avoid raising their ambition. Countries are finding clever ways around having to take real action when World Leaders signed the paris Climate Change agreement in 2015 they said they do their best to prevent Global Temperatures from rising by more than 2 degrees celsius progress talks going on now in spain have shown just how many countries will miss their target maybe on a honda explains what even minor temperature increases will do to our planet. Our planet as around one degree celsius warmer than preindustrial times and Scientists Say were on track to go up by another half a degree by 2030 and so past that if Greenhouse Gas emissions keep going up now half a degree may not sound like much but the uns body dealing with the science on Climate Change the i. P. C. C. Says it will cause subtle but significant shifts and long term with the passions so drawing on the work of analysts and brief heres an insight into what half a degree means theres a 10 percent chance of an arctic summer without ice at least once before we had one and a half degree rise and you can take that up to an 80 percent chance before 2 degree rise the number of people exposed to severe drought will go up on average by more than 130000000 with a 1. 5 degree rise and almost 200000000 at 2 degrees and the number of people flooded in coastal areas is projected to go up by at least 28000000 people every year by 2055 in a one and a half degree world and 30000000 each year with a 2 degree rise half a degree will kill between 70 and 90 percent of the worlds coral scientists predict and squeeze by half the habitats of 6 percent of insects creating a cascade of negative effects now limiting warming to a one and a half degree celsius rise a well below 2 is what nations signed up to in paris but those numbers werent chosen because they whats best for the planet they were chosen because thats what nations could agree on and the pledges well they were never going to be enough anyway a report by the universal Ecological Fund shows that even if countries delivered on every single pledge from paris the average global temperature would rise by around 3 and a half degrees. The i. P. C. C. Says we need to have global Greenhouse Gas emissions by 2030 to stick to a 1. 5 degree rise but to do that nations must commit to nurture much more ambitious pledges and in the years since paris levels of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere have infect grown up. Well that said for me and for this news out about will be in the chat in just a moment with one news stay with us. To years of overgrazing. To the precious. With one of the biggest conservation projects. Theyre pretty emblematic of the patagonia. If theyre plentiful and theyre like this. Then you know that the system is coming back and that they feel no threat. And thats our. Business updates brought to you by Qatar Airways going places together. Business updates brought to you by Qatar Airways going places together. Discover the world of aljazeera. The best films from across on the network of channels in the heart. Of citizenship fresh perspectives and new insights to challenge and change the way we look at the world oh well. On elders you. Aljazeera. This is the news hour live from on noble headquarters in doha coming up in the next 60 minutes. Defends her country against genocide charges for its treatment of real hangup muslims. Democratic leaders in the u. S. To outline impeachment charges against the President Donald Trump says they are weak and baseless also this hour after years of planning and several false starts chad