Colombian journalist who started survivors united for action. Cooks my name is Jineth Bedoya lima. Im a journalist from columbia. And a survivor of kidnap torture, and rate. Amy and we will speak to moment about boko haram fundamentalism. We go to baltimore where first, protests continue over freddie gray who died from injuries sustained in police custody. [indiscernible] we dont feel safe around our neighborhood. If we see Police Officer, we feel we are going to get shot. Were going to get look at this. This is crazy. All we want is answers, and we can get nothing. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In baltimore, maryland, police in riot gear fired teargas and smoke grenades overnight as hundreds of protesters defied a 10 00 p. M. Curfew to continue protesting the death of freddie gray. Gray died of spinal injuries a week after an arrest where witnesses said he was bent like a pretzel. He was accused of makingeye contact with a Police Lieutenant then running away. , his family said his spine was 80 severed at the neck. Overnight, at least 10 people were arrested amid relative calm, following the previous nights uprising, which led to more than 200 arrests, dozens of cars set on fire, and many buildings badly damaged. The overnight curfew was enforced by 3,000 police and National Guard troops. On monday, president obama called for soulsearching over Police Killings but criticized the previous nights destruction. There is no excuse for the kind of violence we saw yesterday. It is counterproductive. When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, theyre not protesting. They are not making a statement. They are stealing. Amy the death toll from a 7. 8magnitude earthquake in nepal has topped 5,000 with twice that number injured. Aid has reportedly finally reached an area near the epicenter for the first time four days after the earthquake struck. Remote villages remain cut off from needed supplies. Jens laerke of the u. N. Office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs called the aid effort a race against time. The headline really is this is a race against time. It is also a race against a moving target in the sense that we still do not have a full assessment of the needs and requirements in the rural areas outside kathmandu. As you know it is created a lot of infrastructure problems and it is simply a country that because of its urography, as such, it is difficult to move into these areas. Amy the u. S. Supreme Court Appears sharply divided after hearing arguments on a case that could establish the constitutional right to samesex marriage across the United States. Justice anthony kennedy, considered a key swing vote, gave conflicting signals, but appeared to side more with samesex couples. A decision is expected in june. The United Nations and African Union are sending envoys to the Central African nation of burundi amid the largest mass protests since the end a civil war in 2005. Protests erupted sunday over president Pierre Nkurunzizas bid for a third term. At least six people have been killed as Police Fire Tear gas water cannon and live rounds against protesters. The Nigerian Military says its has rescued nearly 300 girls and women from the militant Group Boko Haram in the northeastern sambisa forest. Despite initial hopes, the army said the girls are not the same ones who were captured from a school in the town of chibok a year ago. Saudi Arabias King Salman bin abdul aziz has fired his chosen successor, reportedly over his opposition to the saudiled military campaign against Iranianaligned Houthi rebels in yemen. Muqrin bin abdul aziz, the crown prince and deputy Prime Minister, was replaced by the kings nephew as part of a broader shakeup, which also saw the countrys foreign minister replaced by the u. S. Educated saudi ambassador to the United States, adel al jubeir. On tuesday, the Saudiled Coalition struck the International Airport in the yemeni capital sanaa, damaging the main runway, to prevent the landing of an iranian plane, which iran said carried food and medicine. President obama hosted japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe at a white house state dinner tuesday during abes weeklong visit to the United States. At a meeting earlier in the day, obama said the two leaders discussed strengthening military ties and the Transpacific Partnership trade deal. Based on the progress weve made, the Prime Minister and i discussed how the United States and japan has the two largest economies in the tpp negotiations will now Work Together to lead our tpp partners to swift and successful conclusions of the broader negotiations. Amy Prime Minister abe will push for the tpp before congress today. Last week, panels in both the house and Senate Passed a measure to give obama authority to negotiate the tpp, then rush it through congress on a yesornote vote. More than 2000 organizations have joined together to urge congress to reject socalled fasttrack authority for the tpp, saying the deal would hurt workers, undermine health, environmental and financial regulations and grant corporations special rights. Groups signing onto the joint letter alliance for retired americans, consumers union, the naacp. Indonesia has executed eight people for drug crimes despite pleas from around the world to spare their lives. The eight men shot to death by firing squad earlier today include two australians, four nigerians, a brazilian and an indonesian. A filipina woman also scheduled to die was granted a stay of execution after a woman who allegedly recruited her to carry drugs reportedly turned herself in. Australia has deplored the executions and recalled its ambassador to indonesia. Swedens top court has granted wikileaks founder Julian Assange the right to appeal an arrest warrant which has kept him holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in london for nearly three years. Julian assange sought refuge in the embassy in 2012, fearing the warrant on sex crime allegations could lead to his extradition to the United States. Last month, after years of refusal, swedish prosecutors said they would travel to london to interview assange. He has not been charged with a crime. Attorneys for an indiana woman sentenced last month to 20 years in prison for what she says was a miscarriage have filed an appeal. Purvi patel was convicted of both feticide and felony neglect after she arrived at a hospital, bleeding, and later acknowledged disposing of her stillborn fetus in a dumpster. Prosecutors accused her of taking abortioninducing pills even though no such drugs were found in her system, and used a discredited float test to argue the fetus was born alive. Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is running for president. News reports say sanders, a selfdescribed democratic socialist and the longestserving independent member of congress in history, will announce his candidacy on thursday. He is expected to continue his focus on climate change, inequality and opposition to the Transpacific Partnership freetrade deal. To see our interviews with senator sanders, you can go to democracynow. Org. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. As we broadcast from the world form in the hague we begin , todays show in baltimore where an overnight curfew has taken effect following mondays riots sparked by the death of freddie gray, the 25yearold africanamerican man who died of neck injuries suffered in police custody. Last night, police in riot gear fired teargas at hundreds of protesters who defied the curfew when it began at 10 00 p. M. At least 10 people were arrested. But overall, the Baltimore Police department declared the city is stable. On tuesday, thousands of forces, including National Guard troops, were deployed throughout the baltimore streets as residents took stock of the damage from mondays unrest, which led to more than 200 arrests, dozens of cars set on fire, and many buildings badly damaged. Democracy now s aaron mate and was in baltimore to speak with locals as they took part in both the cleanup effort and the continued protests over freddie grays death. Were at the corner two blocks from where freddie gray was killed. It is one day after the uprisings left a trail of damage and two dozen arrest. Were here on the front line of the protest zone. Theres a large Police Contingent here. Behind them, some armored trucks and other vehicles. In front of the police, there is another line of residents who are standing guard. We will talk to some of the people who are here. Hi, there. Can you tell us your name and what is going on here . My name is kevin. Were just maintaining peace. Aaron how did this get organized . Just volunteers from the neighborhood. Just stepped up to the line. It is our city. I am not going to sit back and watch my city burn down. And not do nothing. Even if i have to just in here and make sure that we maintain peace and no one on this site gets hurt and no one on that site gets hurt. Aaron what is the mood like here today . So far, so good. Tensions is rising. It has been peaceful for the most part of the day but i dont know. We want to try to maintain the curfew. Hopefully, things remained peaceful. The only people who have been getting the story rise so far has in the Baltimore City paper. It is been miscategorized by mainstream. Its fun. I get it. Look at them. Black rage. Its nice. But its not. When yall leave any scammers turn off in the stores about garbage bags and people ate fun no more, were still going to be here with the same problems. The only difference between freddie and tyrone west, the early difference is camera footage. Theyre like, why are you so mad . These situations happen over and over and over again. If we dont have the kind of roof the Mainstream Media wants, were told to shut our mouths and go throughout on with our business. People are tired of that. If you can understand why people are tired of that, it is unamerican. Then you dont understand why George Washington was tired of that. People are tired. Enough people together are tired, something is going to happen. You may not like it, but something is wonder happen. Im not going to apologize. That i will help to make sure my city doesnt burn down. Theyre not talking about the rec Centers Close down, the Youth Program struggling for funding, but you build a couple Million Dollar casino downtown, you build a Milliondollar Hotel downtown am a you shut down the rec centers and schools and summer programs. And the new go, oh, look at these animals running wild. Well, theyre angry. What do you expect them to do . We have been trying to calm them down as much as we can. It is only so much you can do before the levee breaks. Aaron the community has gathered for a spontaneous rally. It is a festive scene. There is a band playing over here. People are milling about in conversation and also with cleaning supplies, trying to clean up some of the mess that was left after yesterdays protest. Right here is the cvs pharmacy at the intersection of penn and north that was looted yesterday. People are still coming in and out as we see. Theres a very strong smell of ash and dsoot. You can see some heavy damage that was sustained. Can you tell us what is going on . Were try to clean out this chaos right here and make sure [indiscernible] doing something to help by cleaning some stuff out of here. Aaron how did this get organized . I dont know. I saw some things on facebook. I just wanted to come help the community. Wordofmouth, that is how i came out here. Aaron what have you guys been doing . Just cleaning out the shelves, pushing it forward so maybe we can get a duster and maybe bulk trash to come in and get this out of your later. We need more manpower, if youre watching, to help out, to come down here. Aaron the store was torched on monday. Were looking at the aftermath. There is debris and soot and sludge all over the four floor. Overpowering smell of ash and smoke, remnants from the fire. Local residents are trying to clean up the mess. We will talk to them and hear why they have come down. When you do get down here . Ive been down here since 1 00. Aaron what have you been doing . Just helping cleaning organizing, putting in trash bags where they nd to be at. It is a sad day right now. It is unbelievable. Aaron how do feel about what happened yesterday . No words for that. No words for that. Sad. Destroying our community. People who dont have a pharmacy now, they probably got to go somewhere else to get their prescriptions. Who knows how far that might be. How far away that might be. What can you do . Aaron are you encouraged to see people come out and help to clean up . Yes i am. We just want to get our Community Back in order and basically, hopefully, everything will work out for us. Aaron tell us about your day and how things are organized. Is there someone leading this effort . I just walked in. I was like, hey, df extra gloves . People are just coming in and out, helping out. Theres really no organization. It is really just a bunch of people that care. Aaron what you want to see happen in the coming days . I do want to see conviction and come honestly, less violence. I dont want to see baltimore go up in flames. I lived in maryland all my life. Im 21 years. I love the city, i love this allstate. It is just a shame sing a place unit so much as a kid on national tv, and youre explaining to her friends who live out of state coming yeah im sorry, guys, thats just how it is now. Times are tough. People are getting killed. Its really hard out here, man. People dont really understand it. It is just tough. Hello, my name ismiriam. We just came down here to clean up, clean up the area after what has happened, just to help with the efforts of everything. The first thing we have to do, i feel come is clean the community. We just want hes. We just want peace. The hope is that we have some justice. I think the anger is very much justified. People are going to be angry. Like a herd many times before and i read, a riot is just the voice of the unheard. People are going to feel angry. Being frustrated, things happen. This is the result of one thing happening. Yes, property is damaged but i feel like you can replace property. You cant replace a life. Aaron we have a volunteer who doesnt want to remain on camera or give her name, but wants to share her thoughts. Im here with my friends. Im not cleaning. I dont want out to clean up because im the mother of 81yearold young black male and that could have easily been my son that was murdered by police. So im not cleaning up. You got the medias attention by burning things down in the city and importantly, for every action there is a reaction. Here is the reaction. This is what you have to deal with. So if and when it happens again then this may happen again. Thats what it is. Aaron you say you dont want to clean up. Im not cleaning up. Aaron when you say youre not cleaning, is that your way of saying this had to happen for anything to change . Unfortunately, yes. If we protest peacefully, how many young black males were hurt after we protested peacefully for Trayvon Martin . Is still happen. This is not the first murder and it will be the last murder. It is going to happen again. But now we have their attention. E of emergency. If this has to happen for them to get a clue, then it has to happen. Aaron the crowd is breaking out into a march was starting to walk away, chanting we want peace. Can you talk about what is happening . Pretty much, the community is angry and upset about what is been going on. We would like to shed light on the Peaceful Protesters and let everyone know that baltimore stands for something more than violence. We are bigger than that and we want to bring people together. We want peace and our communities and our streets. That is pretty much it. Im sorry, we want peace this is it. This is a you do that. But all of the looting and all of that, i dont think that had anything to do with that man. He was a peaceful man. He would never go around busting windows. So as long as they had someone to leave people in a positive way, it is going to work. Aaron the marchers have arrived at a park a few blocks away from the north and penn intersection where began. Because of the outcome a, were going to get justice. We cant turn on each other. We cant turn our community down. Aurants and barbershops and outlets. If we believe in each other and we believe that we love baltimore, we have to show it every single day, not just last night, tonight, but every single day. Change going to come. We tired and frustrated, but we can do what happened last night. It took attention of what they what we wanted. We are to get some answers. Through the frustration of what happened and not being able to get an answer, that just allows everyone to explode. Not everybody in our Community Knows how to deal with frustration and how to explode. Part of that reason no one knows is the lack of resources. The lack of Health Resources mental Health Resources, the lack of education system, the lack of being able to have support in schools. The teachers be able to give their students the support their families are support the nonprofit or support the different people in the community. This is just the screen of at all. Aaron are here with queen. Aaron and your daughter charisma. Aaron your thoughts about people coming together today . Baltimore loves baltimore. Get that straight. Baltimore is pulling together. Again, i say this event that transpired in the city we will go from there, peace pipe these, try to put the city back together. It will be even stronger. No more freddie grays. Let that be a symbol to us that he came for a purpose and his purpose was to wake up and bring us together. No more fighting each other. No more anything just, you know, coming against each other, just come together. Somethings had to fall apart. Aaron the sun has set on west baltimore and were now approaching me 10 00 p. M. Curfew that was opposed after mondays unrest. What you saw today was a very different scene from the cleanup crew inside the cvs pharmacy to the spontaneous march people chanting, i love baltimore. A sense of people trying to reclaim the spirit that we saw in the first few weeks after freddie gray stat. Peaceful protest. Marches, organizing, trying to seek justice in the case of freddie gray address the structural issues around police brutality. [indiscernible] our public systems in everything that youll take away. Josh at the buses down an hour before it even happened. Excuse my language, but you shut it down an hour before it happened. How are the kids supposed to get home . They had nothing but to be out here. They dont have no way to get home. They dont know what is happening. All they know is what theyre used to sing on tv, getting shot by police, gunned down by police. Who wants to go home and get gunned down by police when they are just trying to get home . And we can stand up for our lives. Our lives dont mean nothing. You can stand up for because it dont mean nothing to them. You get what im saying . You understand . [indiscernible] this could have been any one of us. People were down there marching peacefully. This is what i want to make a statement on. You see police turned their job, right . When the bad police do what they do, i feel like good cups should speak up cops should speak up. It makes you look bad, too. The police move like a gang. They kill one of us they dont say nothing. We dont feel safe walking run our neighborhood. When we see a Police Officer were going we feel like were going to get shot. Were going to get question. Were going to get task force. This is crazy. All we want is answers, and we cant get nothing. Amy democracy now s aaron mate reporting from the streets of baltimore. Special thanks to anna massoud who leaps from Tall Buildings in a single bound. Stay with us. [music break] amy revolution, nina simone performing live at the harlem cultural festival in 1969. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are live at the world forum in the hague in the netherlands. One hundred years ago this week, over 1,000 female peace activists gathered from around the world to meet here in the hague to call for an end to war. The extraordinary meeting known as the International Congress of women took place as world war i raged across the globe. The gathering was organized by a dutch suffragist named dr. Aletta jacobs. The event took place in the netherlands because of its neutral position during world war i. At the event jacobs said two future Nobel Peace Prize winners took part in the u. S. Delegation jane addams, the cofounder of hull house, and the sociologist emily greene balch. The event marked the formation of the Womens International league for peace and freedom or wilpf. Well, today, as wars rage on in afghanistan, iraq, syria, libya, yemen and other countries, women from around the world have gathered again here in the hague , close to 1000 of them to call , for peace and to mark the 100th anniversary of the Womens International league for peace and freedom. Today we are joined by the wilpfs secretary general Madeleine Rees and newly elected president kozue akibayashi, a from japan, and director of programs for the association for womens rights in development in africa. She prefers not to say exactly where for security reasons. We welcome you all to democracy now matalin, you have been with this organization for some time. 100 years ago, 1200 women. Tell us the story of how they got here in the hague. It is credit incredible quite incredible, really. It would not have happened, but for the suffrage movement, because you dont just start a mass movement. You actually have to have an organizational structure to make that happen. That is how it started. Every single one of those women who was to the hague was suffragist. Amy from britain to the United States. Talks every single one of them were demanding the right to vote because this all, quite rightly the absence of women in making decisions and government meant the resume or greater likelihood of war and they were right. So they organized. They were in touch with each other. Aletta jacobs had 1000 women helping her to try to bring them in from all over the world. The americans came by boat. That was jane addams, the organizer of that leg is for his dover amy in england. Talks they had to stop because the militarization of the channel, there activities going on and they could not cross. They had to wait four days. 180 women wanted to come from the United Kingdom to protest and they were stopped by the u. K. Authorities who prevented them from traveling. Goodness knows, it is not good have women protesting war. Eventually, several of them were able to make it to the hague. Amy basically 180 british women were stopped. Yes and prevented from attending. Eventually, people made it to the hague, 1300 of them. They had to organize at the zoo. Amy the organized what was a zoo. Its not anymore. And had congress. They made demands, which were as relevant then as they are now. Amy and those demands among them, what they were calling for in the midst of world war i . They wanted immediate cessation of hostilities. They wanted the neutral powers to engage with the belligerent powers to stop the conflict. They were bringing their demands at the time come over 100,000 men were at the very days being slaughtered. What they wanted was a complete commitment to addressing root causes of conflict. They saw colonialism was one of those rich conflicts so they demanded there be arbitration to understand the Power Dynamics and the decolonization process. Importantly, and i think for us particularly today, they wanted democratization of foreign policies. They wanted they said war was to profound impact to be left to those who had power and would use it for wrong. They wanted we, the people to be in charge of making those decisions. Underpinning all of that was the demand for universal suffrage for women. Amy today, one of the things you have spoken about in this huge gathering at the world forum in the hague is the foreign minister of sweden. Talk about the recent controversy around that. We had what i thought was one of those moments in history when things should have shifted. For those who dont know, she was speaking about saudi arabia and the treatment of a blogger as you may will recall, was sentenced to 1000 lashes for criticizing the regime. She said this treatment was medieval. She went on to denounce the lack of human rights for women in saudi arabia. She was saying no more, no less than we all say. And most heads of states will say behind closed doors. One doesnt say that about saudi arabia because of the huge trading applications. As result of her making that clarity, she was refused entry into the arab league or she was going to make a speech on human rights. As a result, instead of giving way, she went home and said, ok, we will now cancel our Cooperation Agreement with saudi arabia on all things military. They did that and the response from the saudis was to withdraw their ambassador to pose visa restrictions on swedes to go into saudi arabia and the arab league would go to follow suit. So there was uproar in sweden amongst those who sought to trade with the arab league. There were saying Companies Like h m, volvo shows how easily the military is seen as a way of or the sales of military women and others is seen as a way in for trade agreements which then follow from that. I closing that door, they were afraid they were going to have the door closed on their trading agreements. They tried to get the trade unions and others were saying this is going to lead to the loss of jobs, trading possibilities. Some say it prejudice swedens attempt to get on the Security Council. Standing up for human rights and furthering the real hard love the arms trade treaty, was aptly something which the Security Council should not be responsible for. The backlash in sweden from those interests was profound. At the support from people with excellent. And i think, for me, that is one of the greatest outcomes of is, everth foreign nister stayed silent. Insteandup and sayingactually, what margaret has just d assert international law, International Human rights, principles, and the dominance and predominance we must give to the control of arms to countries where they subordinate human rights to their own interest. Instead of doing that, there was this resounding frese for those who criticize her and to say she was just being emotional naive. Amy as peace activists gathered in the hague, japan is moving towards making or taking a more active role militarily, internationally, despite having pacifist constitution. On tuesday, president obama hosted japanese pro minister shinzo a. B. The new president from japan kozue akibayashi. As you are being inaugurated in this gathering of almost 1000 women from around the world Prime Minister abe is in our national and our Nations Capital in the United States. Theyre talking about how their welcoming him into the military fold. What is changing in japan . Can you explain what the peace constitution is, or should i say, was . It still is. It is our constitution. Made in 1946 after world war ii, after japan was defeated by the allied countries. It is called the peace constitution because it has an article, article nine, that renounces war to Settle International disputes and possession of armed forces. That has been there and is still there. Amy it says you cant have a military. You cant have a military. In reality, we do have a military and that has been controversial as well. We dont call it military. Amy it was the u. S. That pushed for that to be included after japan was defeated in world war ii but now it is the u. S. Pushing for it to be amended. Both the u. S. And some people within japan. I think those in japan is still supporting the peace constitution the majority of those in japan are still supporting the peace constitution. Those in power, obvious the, want to change the constitution so we can legitimize the military and even increase the military power. And also increase the military cooperation with the United States. The selfdefense forces has been participating and, not operations, but exercises with the United Nations i mean the United States for quite a while. We have been living in that contradiction and the community has been working hard to change or to put it back to what he used to be, the constitution was originally to be, but that is been a struggle. Amy you have been a peace activist in okinawa for a very long time. What is happening in okinawa today . As of now people processing more people are participating in nonviolent action on the street, on the sea. There have been a sitin on the sea in both, even in canoes, against huge coast guard ships that have been very brutal against people amy the u. S. Military . The japanese coast guard. I participated in many of the si t around theins amy u. S. Military . Yes. Amy how big is the u. S. Military presence in okinawa . A little less than 30,000 soldiers stationed and additional 25,000 dependents and amy why do you object to them being there . Because it is our land, our sea. The u. S. Military has been granted almost diplomatic immunity to whatever they do. Crimes are committed, but they are not punished. They get away. Many peoples property has been damaged. The United States military has never compensated. I been working on Sexual Violence by soldiers, the issue on Sexual Violence by u. S. Soldiers, for many years. Since 1945, that is occurred in many, many cases. Amy 100 years ago, women can from around the world, not from africa as the Nobel Peace Prize winner said, but that gap has been filled in nigeria although, the latest news hundreds of bodies have been found in the northeastern town of damasak after an apparent attack by boko haram. Local forces say the death toll is over 400. Hakima abbas is also with us. Can you talk about poker from boko haram militarization and overall fun alyssums . Thank you, amy. The massacre of about 400 people was found yesterday. At the same time, the news is between 200 and 300 women and girls have been rescued from boko haram. Is is not there how many of those might be there is much International Attention around yesterday. Or throughout the last year. But i think what is important to note around the story of boko haram is how much of an intersection it is. A fundamentalism, violence, with global capitalism and militarization. What we see in Northern Nigeria is that boko haram is waging the socalled war on western education and most education is from the private part of the country. Only 10 of women in Northern Nigeria are literate. Boko haram is also active in a country that was named the top economy in africa, surpassing south africa only to exact her the girls were taken. Only two weeks after the girls were taken. In real terms, live in increased poverty than they were in the 1960s. What were seeing in Northern Nigeria is the country spending up to 2. 2 billion on it, 73 million man military. That is a huge amount of money. Putting that in context, that is about 30 of the national budget. You can imagine what could be done with that kind of money other than putting it into military spending. And yet the response to the massive Civil Society mobilization is to bring back the girls was more militarism. In fact, some u. S. Troops on the ground in chad and nigeria. The story of fundamental sums fundamentalisms, we see it in uganda and the persecution of lg do lgbtq people. People forced to flee their homes. It also doesnt begin and and in africa. We see fundamentalisms throughout the world. He started a program with a segment from baltimore. I think in your own country, the White Supremacy and christian right fundamentalist also are exacerbated by the gun culture and promotion of an armed police force, which is killing black women, men, trance people, and children in the usa. Fundamentalisms is something we have to address globally. The people at the forefront of that battle are womens rights organizations and women roared what is right organizers. Amy when we come back, we come back, well speak with a colombian journalist, rape survivor herself, as well as a woman who is been organizing in iraq will step thank you so much, Madeleine Rees, secretary general of the Womens International league for peace and freedom. Kozue akibayashi, the new president of wilpf and hakima abbas. We will be back. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Were inside the world form at the hague for women jineth from around the world are gathering here in the hague for the women stop war conference organized by the Womens International league for peace and freedom, wilpf. On sunday i spoke to the colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya lima, who received the International Women of courage award in 2012. She started survivors united for action in colombia. I asked about what happened to her. We were speaking as women from around the world were greeting each other as they gathered for the world form in the hague. Covering the Armed Conflict in colombia for 18 years as a journalist. As part of my work on the 25th of may, the year 2000, i was kidnapped by a Paramilitary Group in colombia. I was documenting arms trafficking inside a prison in colombia at the time. And they kidnapped me, tortured me, and three of them raped me. I refuse to go and exile after this and i continued working as a journalist in colombia. And five years ago, i decided to come out and publicly speak about what happened to me. Amy how long are you held for . There were actually two different kidnappings. The first one in which i was raped was held for 16 hours. The second kidnapping was in 2003, and that was by the farc guerrillas and owes held by them for 10 days. Amy were you also brutalized during that kidnapping . They did not attack me physically but i was isolated, held separately along with the photographer that was with me, we were treated in a degrading manner. They took our equipment. Clearly, the first kidnapping is the one that really changed my life. Amy talk about what it meant for you to come out five years later. Had you kept this from the public that this had happened you so talk about that decision to come out and then what you did. I think taking the decision to because been the toughest decision ive ever had to make. To go publicly and say you have been a victim of Sexual Violence changes your life forever. Because we live in a very world in which they tell you that you are guilty for your rape. I realized that i did not speak other women would not be able to, either. And i feel like having spoken out has changed the lives of many women in colombia and that is how i decided to take this on. Amy talk about what you did, the organization new started. When i decided to speak, the campaign, now known nationally, is called its not time to be quiet. And the goal of this organization is to motivate a lot of women throughout the world to not feel shame of it meeting and announcing that they have been victims of Sexual Violence. For this past year, ive been part of the nobel Womens Initiative project as one of the survivors of Sexual Violence in the world. Who has the goal of trying to give courage to other survivors. As a means to be able to change the reality of many women who like us, have had to face such Sexual Violence. Amy so what do you do with the survivors . The first thing is to tell them they are not alone. In second place, to explain theres a lot of way to find support, to get ahead, and move forward. But i think the most important thing, not necessarily with the survivors, but with the people who are responsible for changing the reality of women survivors that is the biggest work we have to do. Amy and talk about the government response, your neighbors response, the community, and if things have changed. In my case, i still receive threats. I have to live with bodyguards in colombia and drive in a protected car, and armored car. But i think i have obtained a lot and achieve a lot as well. The first thing is to achieve that really Sexual Violence is on the agenda of my country and the government. Thanks to our work theyre theyre now is protocol set forth within the arms forces about Sexual Violence. In six months ago, i was able to achieve the president of colombia actually to clear the day i was kidnapped as a national day of women who have been victims of Sexual Violence. So that is really a way to change womens lives. Amy how have the lives of women changed for speaking o it is amazing. I believe that it has been difficult because it really is exposing oneself and exposing our pain, but at the same time to feel we are not alone, to be able to raise ouroices has shown these women that life can go forward that our dignity is much larger than the weapons of the man who marked our bodies and our lives. Amy through all of this, youre still a reporter and editor in bogota. How do you continue to do that work . Because journalism brought me back to life. And journalism is what gives me life every day. I cant imagine moving forward without writing stories. That is my oxygen. Amy colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya lima. I also spoke on sunday with yanar mohammed, cofounder and director of the organization of womens freedom in iraq. She came to the netherlands from her home in baghdad. I spoke to her on a bus after she had addressed nobel Womens Initiative on her way to the wilpf event. I began by asking her to describe the Current Situation in iraq. The country is under something that is nothing less than a civil war. Where the Iraqi Government led by the islamist parties is attacking the isisconcord cities, and the massacres are on the way, both sides. And we and the organization of womens freedom are trying to get to the women who are escaping the enslavement of isis and opening shelters for them. But in general, the country is under prevailing culture from militias, which have the upper hand and nobody can be complaining about this because whenever we say anything, they say, but were the liberating you from isis. It is either us, or isis. So the islamist government is bombarding us with the shia culture, militia culture first and then we are afraid that they bring us the that we had just stopped last year bring us the laws that we had just stopped last year. They bring legal status to the marriage of nineyearold girls daughters. This is a law that we had just stopped in 2014. And now with the victory of the shia militias, they might take the opportunity and bring it back on us. So the Civil Society is doing its best to work against the trafficking of the yazidi women, to speak out against the oppression of isis. The people, we are being sandwiched between a culture of Shia Islamism from the government and soon you barbaric islamist schism from isis. If you are young person in iraq, young person in iraq, youre totally alienated because there are massacres left and right. And the is enslavement in the 21st century. And everybody tells you, this is a democratic time that we are living in. Amy what do you see . I see only secular answer to the real solution. It cannot be done in a short time. It will take its time, but it is the only savior for all the people of iraq. The muslims, the sunni, the christians, the yazidis can only a secular government and constitution can save everybody. Amy your valuation of what happened after the u. S. Invaded iraq in 2003 and what responsibility today do you think the United States has and what the u. S. Should do at this point . When the u. S. Invited iraq under the oppression of one single dictator. And there wasnt much discrimination between the people of iraq. Whoever was in opposition would be discriminated against. We didnt have problems on how to deal with dictatorship, but nowadays, we are at the neckxs of each other. We found that we are sunnis and shia and we are given some and he reasons to be killing each other. Given so many reasons to be killing each other. We have 10 million youth who are carrying a shooting guns and going through the rest of the country, killing the rest of the youth in that part of the country. We in a very big trap where killing each other doesnt seem to be ending soon. Once youre in the trap of hatred upon ethnic and upon sectarian lines, it takes many years to wash away, to cleanse this hatred. I feel at this point, even when we destroy when the Iraqi Government destroys isis, we have a very big problem on our hands. There are major massacres that have been committed both ways and this will not end because the relatives, the children of the People Killed will still continue these been just womens rights have been totally lost. By laws, they have been lost. By status in society they have been lost. Our voices of the women are being silenced continuously. Our radio, Committee Radio for women, was shut down by the government on june 12. They gave us different stories and we still dont know what is the final story for silencing us, but we know this is not a democracy. Women youth are killing each other based on a sectarian idea. This is something we were not expecting. This is not democracy. Amy yanar mohammed. That does it for our show here at the hague. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] theres nothing more beautiful than swaying fields of grain, but i love to cook with grain just as well, and todays the day. [theme music playing] tutti a tavola a mangiare the italian art of good eating