And with adriana benjumea, director of the bogotabased Human Rights Group humanas colombia. Then, we return to the United States to look at debtors prisons in arkansas where a county has been jailing poor people who owe fees for writing bad checks. Well speak with a woman who once wrote a check for 1. 07 for a loaf of bread. The check bounced and her debt ballooned after fees and fines to nearly 400. Well also speak with nikki were Kristen Clarke represents a mother who spent 35 days in a county jail after she accidentally bounced a 20 night check five years ago. Then a federal judge has denied a request for lifesaving hep c drug for Mumia Abujamal. He found penciling his protocol or who gets the drug in prison is unconstitutional. Judge recognizes with the commonwealth is doing and has been doing for years is not only unjust, but not right. Unconstitutional. A violation of phenomenal dish environmental fairness and the human right to life. Amy we will speak with Mumia Abujamal plus attorney bob boyle. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Hurricane hermine has made landfall in florida, unleashing torrents of rain and storm surges and up to 80 mile per hour winds. As many as 23 Million People may be affected by the storm, which is the first hurricane to reach landfall in florida in more than a decade. More than 70,000 people have lost electricity in tallahassee. The storm is now headed toward georgia, although forecasters say it has weakened into a tropical storm. In Campaign News donald trump , has lost support from members of the Latino Community following his hardline speech in phoenix on wednesday, in which he promised to deport 2 Million People within his first hour in office. Houston attorney jacob monty has resigned from Trumps National hispanic advisory council. Alfonso aguilar, president of the Latino Partnership for conservative principles, has withdrawn his endorsement for trump. Ramiro pena, a pastor in texas who is also on trumps hispanic advisory council, wrote in an email to Republican Leaders that the council appears to be a scam and said trump mr. Ther trump lost the election tonight. Meanwhile, trump is again changing up his campaign team. Hes now hired david bossie, the president of citizens united, to be his Deputy Campaign manager. Bossie is a longtime rightwing operative who has spent years investigating hillary and bill clinton. The Washington Post is reporting part of bossies job will be to craft attack ads against clinton. Donald trumps wife, melania trump, has sued the daily mail online and a maryland blog for libel, alleging the two sites falsely claimed shed been involved with an escort agency. Shes being represented by lawyer charles harder, who also represented hulk hogan in his lawsuit against gawker, which forced gawker media to declare bankruptcy, sell itself to univision, and shut down its flagship website. Hillary clinton is winning the backing of more members of the military establishment. Retired fourstar generals bob sennewald and david maddox issued their firstever publish endorsements both saying they , support hillary clinton. Clinton has also embraced the endorsements by general john allen, who led u. S. Forces in afghanistan, and john negroponte, the former director of National Intelligence and former u. S. Ambassador to honduras while it was the staging ground for the u. S. Backed contras in nicaragua. In pakistan, at least 13 people have been killed after a suicide bomb attack on a District Court in the northwest city of mardan. In a separate suicide bomb attack, at least one person was killed in a christian neighborhood in the city of peshawar. No one has claimed responsibility for either attack. In the small african nation of gabon, more than a 1000 people have been arrested and several have been killed amid ongoing protests after gabons contested elections sunday. Incumbent president ali bongo has claimed victory, continuing his familys decadeslong rule. Protesters have torched the parliament building, while opposition candidate jean ping says his headquarters have been bombed. This is one of the protesters. We are tired of the bongo family. 50 years. 50 years. 50 years. We are tired and this is why we are making demands. Amy in india, more than a 100 million workers have gone on strike today to protest the modi governments antiworker and antipeople policies. Workers blocked Railroad Tracks and roads across india. Trade unions say as many as 180 million workers may participate in todays strike. This is brinda karat of the communist party of india. Places strike is plaguing taking place where there is false propaganda. It is accentuated inequality to the extent that todays 100 of the most families which were the most well in india have more wealth, have more assets than around two thirds of the rest of the population. In colombia, coca cola and more than 50 other companies have been accused of financing terrorism. Colombian courts accuse coca cola of hiring assassins from the paramilitary group, united selfdefense forces of colombia, to murder at least 10 labor leaders between 1990 and 2002. American Fruit Company chiquita is also accused of financing the paramilitary organization. Families of the victims of this have also sued chiquita in u. S. Court. The case against coca cola and the 50 other companies will be heard by a Transitional Justice tribunal. Well have more on colombia later in the broadcast. Delegations of veterans for peace activists have arrived in okinawa, japan, to join protests against the construction of u. S. Marine helipads in takae, as well as the construction of a new u. S. Military base in henoko. Residents of okinawa have staged massive protests against both the proposed base and the helipads. Okinawa already houses about 26,000 u. S. Troops. The veterans for peace delegations arrived as a u. S. Marine was arrested in okinawa for allegedly trying to enter a womans apartment. Earlier this summer, massive protests erupted on okinawa after a former u. S. Marine working as a civilian contractor at a u. S. Base was accused of raping and murdering a 20yearold woman. The victims father has called for the removal of all u. S. Bases on okinawa. Back in the United States, Florida Hospital and Orlando Regional Medical Center have announced they will not bill the victims of the june 12 pulse nightclub massacre for their medical care. 49 people died during the attack. Most of the victims were young latino members of the lgbtq community. This is one of the survivors, rodney sumter. I was shot in the back. I had a hole the size of a baseball. This arm is bothering the the most. Being that we do not have to pay bills iospital was in the for 16 days. It is definitely a big thing for me. Amy in virginia, the romanian hacker known as guccifer 2. 0 has been sentenced to 52 months in prison. In june, guccifer claimed responsibility for hacking into the dncs computer network. Hes thought to be the source of the 200,000 dnc emails released by wikileaks in july. He was extradited from romania earlier this spring and has pled guilty to Identity Theft and unauthorized access of a protected computer. In indiana, purvi patel who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for what she says was a miscarriage has been freed. In 2015, patel was convicted of feticide, becoming the first person in u. S. History sentenced to prison for what the state said was an attempt to end her own pregnancy. Her conviction sparked widespread outrage. In july, her conviction was overturned. She walked free from an indianapolis prison on thursday. Meanwhile, stanford swimmer leaveturner is slated to a santa clara jail today after serving only three months of a sixmonth sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. His short sentence has sparked massive outrage against the judge in the case. Judge aaron persky. It has also inspired california lawmakers to pass a new law requiring prison time for those convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious victim. In a widely read letter, brock turners victim wrote you took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice until today. Georgetown university has announced it will afford preferential admissions status to the descendents of africans enslaved and sold by the university itself. In 1838, georgetown sold 272 enslaved africans belonging to prominent jesuit priests to help secure the future of the catholic institution. On thursday, georgetowns president john degioia said hed issue a formal apology for the sale, as well as afford their descendants the same admissions treatment afforded to children of faculty and alumni. At the ceremony, however, the descendants of the enslaved challenged the georgetown president saying georgetown had , excluded them from the process. One of the descendants, joe stewart, said we are those faces and our attitude is nothing about us without us. If reconciliation is gonna take place as it has to, it needs to start at home and you dont start reconciling by alienating. And more nfl players are joining 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in refusing to stand for the national anthem. Kaepernick began the protest last week, saying i am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. On thursday night, 49ers safety eric reid joined kaepernick, who kneeled during anthem ahead of a preseason game against the san diego chargers. That same night, seahawks cornerback jeremy lane also refused to stand, instead. Reid and lane are both african american. Kaepernick is biracial his biological father is black and mother is white. He was raised by two white adoptive parents. Last week, kaepernick vowed to continue sitting until theres significant change. I will continue to sit. I will continue to stand with the people being oppressed. To me, this is something that has to change. When theres significant change and i feel like that flag represents what it is supposed to represent and this country is representing people the way it is supposed to, i will stand. Amy according to the guardian, 723 people across the United States have been killed by police so far this year. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and im juan gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin todays show with the historic peace accord in colombia between government officials and farc rebels that is the latest step in efforts to end one of the worlds longest conflicts. Fighting first began in 1964 and has claimed some 220,000 lives. More than 5 Million People are estimated to have been displaced. Early monday morning, farc leader Timoleon Jimenez ordered his followers to lay down their arms. In my position as commander of the farc ep, i order all of our leaders come all of our units, every and each one of our combatants to ceasefire and hostilities in a definitive manner against the colombian state from midnight tonight. Amy colombian president Juan Manuel Santos applauded the deal, saying it heralds a new and brighter chapter in the countrys turbulent history. This morning at midnight, the bilateral and definitive ceasefire started in this war with the farc. Today, hours later, we are and not grading the inclusive most important and complete center of rehabilitation and all of latin america. It is a joyful coincidence because it shows the closing of the chapter and opening of another different one than the one all colombians have experienced and suffered for the last 50 years. Amy well, the ceasefire that would bring an end to latin americas longest Armed Conflict must now be approved in a referendum in colombia, where its likely to face staunch opposition from rightwing sectors led by the former colombian president , alvaro uribe. For more, were joined now by two guests. Mario murillo is a longtime colombian activist and a professor of communications at hofstra university. Author of colombia and the United States war, unrest, and destabilization. Day adrianas to , benjumea, the director of humanas colombia, a bogotabased ngo that promotes human rights and, in particular, womens rights. Benjumea is also a feminist lawyer, specializing in International Humanitarian law. We welcome you both to democracy now mario, your response to this his store deal that was reached in havana, cuba . A majorestion it is event. Most colombians are welcoming it. It is a major, Historical Development that everybody should be applauding. We have to be clear to call it a peace process, a Peace Agreement is one thing with the farc and government. But there is a long way to go before we see a Real Development of strong and lasting peace. This is the end of a military , perhapsbetween farc the Largest MilitaryGuerrilla Organization and latin america, with a government, but there is plenty of evidence this ongoing armed violence is going to continue until a lot of issues are resolved in the countryside. Juan mario, we mentioned this is the longestrunning conflict possibly in the world, but he goes back even further because, really, this particular guerrilla war started in 1964 but that was preceded by 10 years of civil war that is known dating back to 1948. We can talk about the roots of the internal conflict going back to the early part of the 20th century, but the violence in the countryside and the farc rebels emerging as a result of the lack of addressing them in issues in the countryside, rural developments, security issues, infrastructure, human rights all of those issues that the farc laid out in the 1960s, they go back a decade earlier. And they will continue to be issues even as the farc lay down their weapons hopefully in the next six months or so. It is a long, historical conflict that is hopefully beginning to make some changes some changes will be happening that will be favorable to the longterm peace. Amy explain how this works now. It is not done. This is where it gets complicated. Again, it is great news for colombia. I want to be clear on that. So the agreement was publicly disclosed or the full agreement was put out publicly last week by santos and the rebels. So the Peace Agreement is now official. The ceasefire is in effect. We have seen a decrease in violence and the countryside between the army and the farc over the last 18 months. So there is a level of tranquility. The farc in the next couple of weeks will be meeting and what theyre calling the final congress. The leadership of the farc and the rankandfile have to approve the piece still. The farc leadership has collectively said theyre committed to peace. The issue of demobilized combatants is another issue which complicate some of the issues because a lot of farc rankandfile on the ground did not contend with the agreement itself and what is going to happen with them in terms of the future, guarantees, etc. Are agreeing to the accord, the congress has to take of a number of issues, particularly justice, Transitional Justice. As legislation has to be passed regarding who is going to be able to receive the socalled amnesty, right . That is where a lot of the criticism is coming in about the peace accord. Impunity for years of violence in socalled terrorism. But it looks like the combatants who are not involved in crimes against humanity, the combatants will get amnesty and become part of the political life, but still uncertainty as to what will happen to those who are implicated in massacres and crimes against humanity on the ground an issue that Human Rights Groups are concerned about. They raise similar issues visavis the paramilitary groups that demobilized in 2006 and 2007. Theres the question of narco trafficking. Is that issue considered a political crime because narco trafficking played such a central role in funding the armed insurgency . Or is that going to be considered a crime that cant be amnestied. October 2, that is what was announced last week am a the country will go to vote in a socalled referendum. Yes or no. It is a complicated simplistic question. . Climbingt piece commentators are saying were the only country in the world we have to ask whether or not we want to live in peace or not. That is supposed to happen october 2. Juan i want to bring in adriana benjumea, longtime human rights attorney in colombia. Your reaction to the accord and also to the issue of the punishment of those who did commit human rights crimes during the war . In colombia, men and women are very happy about the Peace Agreement between the colombian government and the farc guerrillas. This is a very important contrast for women would be to see to it that Sexual Violence committed by the actors and the Armed Conflict not be subject to amnesty or pardoned. All of the armed actors who have dissipated have committed sexual crimes, and this should not be part of the amnesty or the pardon. This would represent major progress for the human rights of women and this is why us women and why women are pleased with the Peace Agreement in colombia, and we have great hopes that on october 2, we will vote yes and we will say yes. Juan judge those who di