Benghazi, libya is in a state of crisis as former livein general reportedly was trained by the cia has launched an offensive against militants islamist. We will go to aaa for the latest. Then we go to egypt where al jazeera journalist Abdullah Elshamy is on Hunger Strike, some say near death. Reached 106 days of my Hunger Strike [indiscernible] if anything ever happens to me. We will speak with his brother mohammed who is in new york. Then, you may know the adventures of robin hood and zorro, outlaws fighting for the poor, today we meet the newest member of that club. A chilean activist to goes by the name papas fritas. He says he is destroyed student debt records in chile worth 500 million. The papers are gone, burned completely and there is no debt. Existthese papers dont anymore, theres no way to charge the students. We will speak with papas fritas. All of that and more coming up. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. A new report reveals how closely state and local Law Enforcement officials as socalled Fusion Centers across the country were monitoring the daytoday activities of the occupy wall street movement. A trove of emails and reports obtained by the partnership for Civil Justice fund and provided to the New York Times revealed a massive, coordinated effort by federal and local officials along security contractors, corporate interest, and military stats to share my new details about peaceful occupy protests and speaking events. Vision centers have received hundreds of millions of federal fun since their creation after 9 11, but a Senate Subcommittee report found they had failed to yield any significant information for fighting terrorism. Army has summoned more than 100 political figures, including ousted Prime Minister yingluck shinawatra, after taking power in a coup. On thursday, the military suspended the constitution, bans gatherings of more than five people, closed schools, and imposed a curfew saying it had to restore order following months of antigovernment protests. It Obama Administration said is reviewing its military aid to thailand. In eastern ukraine, fighting between Ukrainian Forces and prorussian rebels has killed at least 13 soldiers just days before Sundays National elections. Progress and forces have been seeking to stop the vote in ukraine, which they view as illegal. And russia have blocked a resolution to refer the syrian conflict to the International Criminal court. Top u. N. Officials have collected a list of figures to target for indictment on war crimes charges, mostly from the syrian government. The u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. , samantha power, deplored russias opposition. My government applauds the vast majority of those whose voted to support in the countries who joined us in cosponsoring this effort to refer these atrocities to the International Criminal court. Sadly, because of the decision by the Russian Federation to back the Syrian Regime no matter what it does, the Syrian People will not see justice today. They will see crime, but not punishment. The United States agreed to back the resolution after ensuring israel would not face prosecution related to its occupation of syrias golan heights, which it seized in 1967. On capitol hill, house lawmakers have passed a diluted version of the bill to curb the nsas dragnet surveillance by keeping telephone metadata and the hands of phone companies. The critics, including the New York Times editorial board, say the bill has been so weakened under pressure from the Obama Administration that it could allow much of the bulk surveillance to continue. An analysis by the washington one found half of the hundred 52 lawmakers who cosponsored the original bill have turned against the latest version. Republican congressman for Jim Sensenbrenner acknowledged some weaknesses. That me be clear, i wish this bill did more. Amend toleagues who change this, i agree with you. The privacy groups who are upset about lost provisions, i share your disappointment. The negotiations for this bill were intense. We have to make compromises, but this bill still does deserve support. Dont let the perfect become the enemy of the good. The senate has confirmed a judicial nominee who coauthored memos providing the legal justification for killing u. S. Citizens abroad. David barron, former Justice Department official, will serve on the fifth sick it fifth Circuit Court of appeals despite opposition over his role in the killing of u. S. Citizen Anwar Alawlaki [captioning made possible by democracy now ]. The Internal Revenue service is delaying the release of new rules aimed at limiting political activity by taxexempt groups. The delay means the rules will not be in place before the next election. The agency said it is revising the rules after receiving a Record Number of comments. Last year, the irs faced a scandal over accusations they get extra scrutiny to rightwing groups. The fbi and a number of other federal agencies will soon begin recording interviews of suspects under custody. The fbi agents have previously been banned from making such recordings without approval. Attorney general eric holder announced the shift on thursday. Creating an electronic record will ensure we have an objective account of key investigations and interactions with the people who are held in federal custody. It will allow us to document detained individuals are afforded their constitutionally protected rights. Beyhe hiphop artist yasiin has canceled his u. S. Tour over legal barriers. A boston Music Festival wrote on its website, due to immigration legal issues, he is not allowed back into the u. S. Last year he underwent forcefeeding in a viral video to show the plight of guantanamo Hunger Strikers. He is an american citizen. In tennessee, given her ill haslam has signed a measure allowing the state to execute governor bill haslam has signed the measure allowing the state to execute prisoners using the electric chair of lethal injection drugs become unavailable. Comes as wyoming lawmakers are considering allowing execution by firing squad. States are cigna shortage in Death Penalty drugs after european makers have barred their use in executions. Three out of five abortion clinics in louisiana could close under a new antichoice bill somewhat to measures in taxes and other states. The bill requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges to nearby hospital, step often impossible in part because providers and so few patients to hospitals. The bill passed the Legislature Wednesday in louisiana governor bobby jindal has said he looks forward to signing it. In california, man has been charged with kidnapping a 15yearold girl and holding her captive for 10 years. Garciaties say isidro drugged the victim, who is a mexican immigrant, then abducted her and told her family she would be deported if she tried to return. She forced her to marry him and sexually assaulted her multiple times and fathered her child. The victim reportedly reconnected with her sister and mother before going to police. A spokesperson for the Orange County prosecutor said the victim felt trapped. This is a victim who has been held against her will for 10 years. She is been convinced she was alone and this was her only ally. She was in a very, very difficult situation. The fact she found the courage to come forward is wonderful. A Brown University student has filed a federal complaint against the school over its handling of sexual assault. E said she was raped and strangled blaster by a fellow student. The panel found the student responsible, but he was only suspended for a year and was allowed to remain on campus for half that time. Sclove has filed charges accusing brown of violating title ix and the clery act. Addcomplaint will likely browned the list of at least 55 colleges and universities under federal investigation for their handling of sexual violence. To see our interview with lena sclove, go to democracynow. Org. Those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin todays show looking at lidia. In washington, the focus remains largely on what happened in the libyan city of benghazi on september 11, 2012. When ambassador Christopher Stephens and three other americans were killed in an attack. Fierceident sparked a political fight between republicans and democrats over the Obama Administrations handling of the Embassy Security and the steps it took in the aftermath of the attack. Since then, Congressional Republicans have led eight separate investigations into the matter. On may 8, the republicanlet house of representatives noted to launch another congressional probe. Earlier this week, House Minority leader nancy pelosi announced that democrats would participate. Why giving the validity to this, but i do think it is important for the American People to have the pursuit of in a fairtions done and open and balanced way as possible. That simply would not be possible leaving it to the republicans. That is why im appointing my distinguished colleagues here today to serve on the select committee. This committee will include seven republicans and five democrats. Many democrats have accused republicans of exploiting the benghazi incident to scuttle Hillary Clintons expected 2016 president ial bid. Clinton was secretary of state at the time of the attacks. F washington, d. C. Is focused on benghazi, libya may be confronting its worst crisis since the nato intervention and ousted colonel moammar qaddafi in 2011. Fears growing of an allout war between militias aligned with the islamistdominated parliament and forces led by a former general named khalifa was onceo reportedly trained by the cia. He has accused the government of fostering terrorism and is calling for an Emergency Administration to oversee elections next year. Khalifa haftar is a former general undercut hoppe and says he wants to rid libya of islamist, and led an assault against militant groups in benghazi last friday. On sunday, worse is allied with him took control of libyas Parliament Building in the capital tripoli. At least 100 people have died since the fighting broke out last week. On wednesday, Khalifa Haftar called on the government to hand over power to the countrys top judges. Following the refusal by the expired National Council to meet the peoples demands and the high council of the armed forces call on the Judicial Council in charge to meet the armys demand for civil and political stability in libya, and asked them to form a high counsel to rule the country. To find out more we go to two guests in tripoli. Mary fitzgerald is a journalist based there in libya. Her latest piece for Foreign Policy magazine is headline, libyas Muslim Brotherhood struggles to grow. And Sharif Abdel Kouddous is with us, independent journalist, democracy now correspondent, usually based in cairo but has been reporting for the Washington Post from tripoli for the past 10 days. His latest piece is headlined, in libya, fears of allout war as islamist militias allied with parliament deploy in capital. To democracyu both now mary fitzgerald, described the situation in tripoli, especially for an audience that is not familiar with lidia right now at all, except perhaps the benghazi controversy in washington, d. C. The mood in tripoli right now is extremely tense, with most of the and describing the Current Situation as the most serious juncture that libya has found itself insist the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Theres a real sense of apprehension here. There is also a sense of people choosing sides. Libya has suffered from increasing polarization in recent months. And that seems to be coming to some kind of crescendo. Several different dynamics that have been rolling in recent months, peer to be appear to be coming to a head with the events in the last week. In terms of the existing parliament, mary fitzgerald, it has been characterized as islamistdominated, but it has many divisions with in it. Can you talk about some of those divisions, especially the role of the party connected to the Muslim Brotherhood . The National Congress was elected in libyas first elections in decades in july 2012. It is important to note the makeup of the congress, 80 seats in the congress were allocated to party list. 120 were allocated to individual candidates. Of the 80 allocated to party list, the more liberalleaning party, the National Forces alliance, won the majority of seats out of the 80. The Muslim Brotherhood affiliated justice and Construction Party won the second largest of seats. But what was key was the 120 individual candidates. The headlines in july 2012 that were based on the results from the 80 Party List Candidates declaring libya as a liberal landslide, were extremely misleading. Independentthe 120 individual candidates, we saw there were far more were far larger component of what is referred to here as the islamic current than was previously set. This was bolster later on by the controversial passage of a law known here in libya as the political isolation law, which affected the National Forces alliance that men its leader was banned from Holding Political office in libya for 10 years. This law affected people who had worked for the qaddafi regime in some form. It was extremely controversial because it was a very sweeping law that affected even members of the opposition who had previously served under could offer you several decades ago. So all of that created the sense within the Wider Population here that islam, even though there was a perception they had lost or had not been triumphant in the election in 2012, that they had managed to dominate the congress. In many respects, within congress, they managed to be more savvy political operators. They succeeded more in terms of building alliances and blocks within the congress. The National Forces alliance, basically, fell prey to infighting. It became all but at a mice compared to the strong islamist alliances within the congress. Mary fitzgerald, it has been three years since nafta declared victory rather, since nato declared victory. Several commentators are suggesting that libya is lurching toward a civil war. Is that fair to say . Well, it is something that many libyans are discussing. They see this as the most serious point since 2011. Several Different Things are coming to a head. Rhetoric on both sides has hardened and there is an extreme increased belligerence. One point two stress is at the root of the Current Crisis is the question of legitimacy. Legitimacy in relation to a relatedl institution, loo to Security Forces in the country. To go back to the controversy over the congress, the congress in february decided to extend its official mandate. This proved a very unpopular move by very unpopular body. And since then, critics of the congress have argued, including Khalifa Haftar, have argued that essentially, commerce has lost its legitimacy. The supporters of congress say, no, it is still the only elected body or congressional body, representative body here in libya. Remains legitimate. Also related to the armed forces. For example, right now we have two claims in libya to an army. We have that headed by the chief of staff, which is against Khalifa Haftars move, and Khalifa Haftars forces, which he is grandiosely referred to as the Libyan National army. We have very different definitions and very different claims for the legitimacy, and that is the root of the problem here. Khalifa haftar what about Khalifa Haftar himself what about Khalifa Haftar himself, his history . How did he rise to his current position . Haftar has a checkered history in the minds of many libyans here. This is one of the reasons why many libyans have been discussing his moves within recent days and said we support the campaign, but not the man. This goes back tore his history. He served under qaddafi. Very much withd the disastrous war in the 1980s. After that he defected and lived for several decades in the u. S. , returning to libya are in the 2011 uprising. I was in benghazi when he arrived there in early 2011. There was a sense of what people would do with them. Because at that point, there was a commander of the opposition forces. Ad Khalifa Haftar was given rule almost equal to that, but the two that men continued to jockey for power, which left a bad impression of him in many respects. After the uprising, Khalifa Haftar took on a rather low profile. Though what i was struck by in the last couple of years was when i visited libya and people would say, where is haftar . He wasas a sense that somehow planning something, that he was trying to gain some kind of support base. Indeed, immediate interviews in recent days, he has said he had been planning this for over two years. So that is before congress, before the security situation in Eastern Libya unraveled to the extent it did, which raises, i think, interesting questions about his motives here. Sharif abdel kouddous, youre also in tripoli right now. You had a chance to interview Khalifa Haftar. Can you describe what the conversation was about . I reached him on the phone from his base just outside of benghazi. I think the most striking thing he said, which it said another interviews as well, he was not open to negotiations, that he would rely on force to achieve his objectives. And as mary mentioned, he told me there had been some kind of planning happening for year and a half. He often spoke of the militias he is fighting in benghazi as a foreign entity. In turn national g hotties who are not libyan. He spoke as them coming from other countries. He also denied accusations that he has received support from abroad from egypt, from the united emirates and said quite bluntly that he is not winning contact with the he has not been in contact with the United States. He called on the International Community doubt would be a politically and economically. He painted this as a larger global war. [indiscernible] the question is, when does the war on terror and . When does Khalifa Haftar declare Mission Accomplished . Sharif, the parallels you see or do you see any between lidia and what is happening in egypt, in your own country . Parallels have increasingly been drawn. I speak with libyans and i hear my accent and often referred to cc and said we want someone like him here and haftar is like cc. Cc and haftar is like that he is riding a wave of anger. People are set up fed up with his campaign of violence and assassinations happening by islamist militias that have left ores of military and judges and lawyers and activists dead. The comparison is convenient for both sides. Has per tradeaftar his war on terrorism and a few days ago he referred to the Supreme Council of them forces, which is a previously unknown entity and libya but theres the same name as the military council in egypt, that alsisi had. I think that had a polarizing effect on the narrative. Many libyans speak in these terms. Opponents often make no distinction between political groups like the Muslim Brotherhood of libya and the. Xtremist islamist militias meanwhile, the government has labeled hesters revolt a two in the making. It is had an effect on the rhetoric. But the parallels drawn between egypt and libya are very tenuous. The situation is extremely complex. nonislamist divide is more than National Level manifestation of a series of local conflicts over control of territory by militias and groups [indiscernible] sharif, youre cutting out. Were going to switch from moment to meritage gerald. Tripoli. So there in i want to ask about a group that is considered it has gotten a lot of attention here in the u. S. , supposedly behind the attack on benghazi that led to ambassador stephens death. Your reporting on how the level of popularity, what is been happening with that group . What is interesting about this in the last year or so is how it has evolved from being the armed group of some 250 to 300 men under arms in 2012 to what is essentially a broader social movement in benghazi right now. What theyve tried to do is concentrate on charitable works and preaching in an effort to gain hearts and minds in the city. Theyre very much focused on trying to give the sense theyre very much part of society, part of the population in the city. This has made the debate here in libya over how to tackle the issue very difficult. Theres been a very contested debate in recent months. It usually flares up after there. As been clashes in benghazi a debate over how to tackle this. Should this be tackled through dialogue or should it be tackled by force . Khalifa haftar seems to have tipped the scales on this one, leading to fears of a wider conflict. It is important to note, Khalifa Haftar has talked a lot about a war on terrorism, but he is given few details on the parameters of that, where it would begin and where exactly it might end and who exactly it would target. He has given interviews saying to the arab media that he considers the Muslim Brotherhood the main enemy and vowing to clean it from libya. In benghazi, we are talking generally in Eastern Libya, a region with extremely complex opene social tapestry. This not difficult to find family members we will have one member one relative who is a member of the Security Forces and another who is a member of our sharia. Ofis drawn across associate thetrum crossed spectrum. They estimated its membership stands out more than 4000 in benghazi alone. What i want to turn remarks made earlier this week by deborah the stimsonng at center in washington, d. C. Ambassador joe said she would not condemn the actions of general Khalifa Haftar was forced to storm the parliament on may 18. Frankly, it is not necessarily for me to condemn his actions and going against very specific groups, which as far as i am seen, have been extremely specific, warning suppliants to move out of the way and really attacking groups that frankly, are on our list of terrorists. Im not saying that is the best way to deal with them at all and im not supporting it from that perspective, but what im saying is, i personally am not going to come out and condemn blatantly what he did in that specific instance. That was u. S. Ambassador to libya, deborah jones. Fitzgerald, the whole issue in washington, d. C. , top adviser, calling for reinvestigation into what happened with the killing of u. S. Ambassador the previous u. S. Ambassador as well as three other americans. How is that understood in libya . Well, that entire episode in the political tempest that continues to rage in washington. I have to say it hardly impacts the public debate here in libya over this issue. Because apart from the attack on the diplomatic compound in 2012, people in benghazi have experienced a string of assassinations not just members of the Security Forces, but Civil Society activists, journalists, lawyers, and judges. We are talking about assassinations that have crept into the hundreds at this stage. So for those in benghazi, it is a wider issue than the debate raging in washington. To go back to what how the ambassador the u. S. Ambassadors remarks were interpreted here, certainly, a broad range of libyans have been discussing this and have interpreted this as an implicit support for what Khalifa Haftar is doing. Some are concerned about the fact apart from Khalifa Haftars much wanted war on terrorism, if we look at the trajectory of what is unfolded last week, since those initial clashes, the initial tack, rather, on several islamistleaning militia bases in benghazi, ending i it is been an attack on elected congress. On sunday, those loyal to Khalifa Haftar carried out an armed attack using heavy weaponry on the congress in tripoli. Since then, Khalifa Haftar has focused very much on getting rid of the congress. In many of his comments in libya media here, he has proposed different options in terms of how that might work. The people find it interesting that he is focusing on the congress as much is the socalled war on terrorism. The forces that attacked the congress on sunday our forces who in february actually threatened the congress. They warned congress that if it did not dissolve itself within a matter of hours, then the members would be captured by these particular militias threatening it. This threat was seen as so serious at the time that it prompted the intervention of the uns envoy to libya. So there is concern here among certain circles in libya. This is basically an effort to push libya at the democratic trajectory. Sharif, i want to ask you about another comparison with other countries in the region that have experienced popular uprisings. In both libya and iraq, you had an International Intervention and iraq was a u. S. Invasion and in libya, and naval bombing campaign. It not only overthrew the dictator, but also dismantled the military forces of the country. And in egypt, and the other hand, the United States it is impossible to ensure the Egyptian Military remained as a viable force in the country. Can you talk about how you see this issue . When the armies are dismantled, libya,ly, in iraq and you have the void filled by all of these insurgent groups that develop. Right. Well, in libya, the government here did not create or failed to create a unified military force from the scores of militias that are in the revolution in [indiscernible] them salaries even though they remain loyal to their commanders rather than the state. Analysts have told me after the nato bombing, the International Community largely libya set it adrift. Rin ssue of the [indiscernible] it did not have the capacity to build its own state. I think it needed some assistance in the democratic transition, but there it from parallels. In egypt, the army is the main ally, the main contact between thepentagon and the army is strongest relationship that egypt has with the United States, much stronger than the compact between the state department and the governments in egypt. So it is a very different situation. No order is as relative balance of force, excuse me. Even between the different forces and theres no single entity that is able to deploy nationwide military supremacy. So unlike the army in egypt, which has national legitimacy and virtual monopoly on violence, libya doesnt have that. In a way [indiscernible] the outcome is still too uncertain. Finally, unfortunately, Abdullah Elshamy plus brother was not able to join us today. Strike, justhunger put in solitary confinement last week, and sharif, you have talked to him. The egyptian journalist who works for al jazeera, one of the four who are still held. In these last few minutes, can you talk about his situation . Abdullah elshamy [indiscernible] we are losing you. Can you hear me now . Yes. He is a correspondent for al jazeera who was arrested when thetary and police raided promorsi sitting in cairo. [indiscernible] he began a Hunger Strike in january. His health has seriously deteriorated. November him once in. His conditions were very draconian. I saw him in the courthouse and the defendants cage where he was packed into a room much too small for the number of prisoners and in the sweltering heat of egypt. There were only given water for an hour a day. He is searcy starting to feel the effects of the Hunger Strike. Last week, he was taken we have 30 seconds. He was put into solitary confinement. His family says the Prison Administration is trying to break his Hunger Strike. There are three al jazeera journalists also held. I want to thank you for being kudos Sharif Abdel Kouddous. Fitzgerald, based in libya. When we come back, were going south to chile to hear about a young activist who burned what looks like Something Like 500 million worth of documents around student loans. We will talk to papas fritas in a moment. [music break] randy weston. I saw him last night. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. A democracy now exclusive, we turn to chile, where an artist act of protest against student debt has gone viral. Fransisco tapia, known as papas fritas, or french fries, said he burned 500 million worth of debt papers from the private university. Chilean authorities are in the process of shutting down the university over financial irregularities. That hasnt stopped the school from collecting on his student loans. During the student takeover of the school, papas fritas took the papers, burned them and display the ashes inside a van as an art exhibition. He released a video describing what he called an act of love. Its over. You are free from debt. You dont have to pay one more cent. This is the artwork. This is the project. This is a small project. If we all have the ability to continue doing things for love, for solidarity, we will find each other again. But we have to lose the fear. The fear of the idea about criminality that the state has wanted to impose on us, that we are criminals for being poor, for wanting our rights to be met. Overe video has received 120,000 hits on youtube since it was posted last week. It comes as chile faces renewed protests over its education system. On wednesday, authorities fired tear gas and Water Cannons on thousands of students demand for education for all. The president has vowed to reform the system, but the students say her plan doesnt go far enough. Following efforts to privatize education under the dictatorship of pinochet, the high cost of education in chile is among the highest in the world. We interviewed papas fritas on wednesday in his first u. S. Broadcast interview. I asked him to describe what he did with the student debt documents. The universidad was occupied. It was one of the longest occupations that has occurred in chile. This was the Main Building on campus. I went looking for the keys. I want to see free could figure out a system for them to be able to continue to occupy the building for more than a year. I contributed as much as i could, but i went with a specific role of funding those debt papers. I knew chilean authorities through the judicial system would eventually use the documents to continue to charge students for that money. I told us to the students, that because of my trajectory as an artist in chle, i explain i was going to make an exhibition about the problems that the students face and that i was going to collect objects from the university. But the debt papers, or ious, were not considered among these objects. So i rescued them, taking away all the notes and those documents. I secretly took them from the back with other things that were not valuable. The for me, they could be used to make a work of art. They even helped me to take those things out, after being there for nearly two months in different stages. I brought them to santiago and began to burn these documents. Little by little, in different places. Were there noyou, digital backups of records, electronic records of these loans . Know, the way it works in chile, the creditor of the university are the ones that have to take care to keep these debt papers. Not the banks. Theres always a digital backup, for example, if you give me a copy of a dollar bill, i cannot use it to go shopping. I have to have the original bill. Nobody knows what happened to these copies. There are two theories. Either the chilean investigator please investigated the backup or the contributed to hiding and removing them. Thinking the directors of the university, the creditors, the owners of the university would be able to recover the original ones and get away with it because the digital backups were denied by the prosecution. Aat is why theres been digital backup today. Now it is a concrete fact that the papers were burned. They are gone. There is no debt. Since these papers dont exist anymore, theres no way to charge the students. On wednesday, student protesters used the fan or you used to display the actions ashes during a protest. News footage showed a driver ramming the van into the barricades around the National Congress. What is your reaction to sing this use of your artwork, papas fritas . Well, im not a moral judgment with the students want to do. Nor will i charge their creativity for what i donated to them, this object, this artistic work, so they could keep using. Was to alwaysea do a project, and artwork that belonged to the students. And as a victory for the students and the social movement. It is not about putting myself in a position of heroism or to be a martyr. Rather, it is about extending this action. Thanks to a lot of people in have fought that against constant dictatorship, people who have been killed by the military dictatorship as well as by the dictatorship we call democracy today here in chile, and people have been tortured in various ways. Thanks to all those people and you have taken to the streets that this work could be completed, this work is a joint effort, anything that happens in communities facing the same social problem. And it is by understanding this erratic rush that we are able to feel empathy, compassion because of the problems we face as human beings. So what will be happening to the van as to something that affects an individual. It is part of the decision that they want to take. In that sense, dylan thing i can say is that i support and applaud what they did yesterday. It is their decision. I completely agree they can use the van however they want. I want to ask you if theres been any criminal charges lodged against you and whether you fear being arrested because of your acts . Look come i approached the authorities in the first place. I collaborated with the Justice System. They dont have a plan to bring rumble charges against me. It is not enough that i declared to them im guilty and i did things like this in the declaration of me. I clearly explained the process of burning the documents. But the prosecutors in charge of my case have to find evidence. If they find evidence, there are two possibilities for charging me. ,imple theft or forced burglary which is breaking and entering. In this case, even if it is a private university, it was occupied and so does no longer breaking in and so it is no longer breaking in. I wouldve had to have broken the door by kicking it and perhaps having intimidated the people, and that was not the case. Then the most serious thing im facing would be a very small sentence that has two mitigating factors, which are that i have convict beyond reproach and that im collaborating with the Justice System on how to fix this problem technically. So i might send to be let free with the condition of not stealing even a piece of chewing gum. That is chilean artist papas frenchfrom a known as fries. He said he burned 500 million worth of debt papers from the and describessity it as an act of love. Special thanks to our democracy now spanish team further help in this interview. We will be back in a moment. [music break] day hesday march the would have turned 100 years old. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. We turn now to yemen where u. S. Backed offensive against al qaeda and the Arabian Peninsula rages on. Yesterday, four civilians were killed and three were injured when their vehicle was shelled in the country southern province. In april, yemens president embarked on an allout war against al qaeda and began a series of heavy air strikes. Since then, an estimated 21,000 people have been displaced amidst the fighting. The government has cracked down on the media. Earlier this month, journalist adam verne was deported from yemen after reporting from there for three years for mcclatchy. He was deported a day after the u. S. Closed its and missy and sanaa over security fears. Soon after, journalist thus the country after hearing from her sources journalist iona craig left a country after hearing. Rom her sources shes the yemen correspondent for the times of london. Welcome back. Nice to have you in the studio for the first time. What is happening right now in yemen . Very tense times. We have this conflict that has been going on for almost months. It is difficult to know exactly what is going on on the ground. It is the most significant assault against the military offensive, against al qaeda i think ever in yemen. And that is causing a kind of ,acklash with issues in sanaa of al qaeda been carrying out assassinations, ied attacks, retail arabian against the military retaliating against the military offensive. The situation is pretty dire. On a daytoday basis for the yemenis, the economy is declining, a major feel sort it at the moment a major fuel shortage at the moment. The price of water has doubled in the last month. Just on a daytoday basis, aside from the security issues, it is a real struggle for the yemenis at the moment. It is pretty tough in yemen for people right now. What was the impact of the arab spring protest in yemen on government policy or any kind of social reforms . At the moment we are in a period of transition. President former wouldve been in power for 33 year step down in 2011, it was then the oneman election and the Vice President was voted in. His transition process was in theory only supposed to take about two years initially to then have elections. That has gone on and on and there was a period of National Dialogue that was then extended. At the moment, yemen is trying to create a new constitution. Within that there will be a new system in yemen of federalism. What that will look like, we dont know yet. Hopefully as well, those issues brought up in the National Dialogue relating to social structure and things like that will also be included in the constitution, but it is a long process. Talk about the drone strikes in yemen. U. S. Been involved with them, the yemeni military, the u. S. Military. Strikesssues of drone from this in a drop off more troubling in yemen has been issue was civilian casualties, which has been a problem. That really brings into question the whole issue of intelligence between the Yemeni Government, the american involvement with case recentlymost been the 12 civilians killed in a drone strike back in december, where that intelligence is coming from, how it is possibly being manipulated, and how reliable it is when you have civilian casualties as a result of these drone strikes. But they are still being used. The military offensive going on, launched by three days of aerial bombardment. Used asyre still being part of this conflict going on at the moment as well as more targeted killings out in rural areas. Emagin the drone strike in december. Human rights watch said the drone strike failed to comply with rules imposed by president obama last year to protect civilians. Human rights watch concluded the attack killed 12 men aged 20 to 65 and wounded 15 others. They were taking part in a wedding procession. This is a clip of the video that accompanied the Human Rights Watch report. U. S. Government nato big mistake. They killed innocent people. This was a serious crime. They turned many kids into orphans and many wives into widows. Othersre killed and many were injured, although everyone was innocent. What is the impact of this trend strike and others in terms of the yemeni population . I went down to six days after the strike happened. I spoke to a lot of the families who have lost family members. I spoke to some of the survivors as well. I think the big problem, particularly in instances like that worry have a large number of civilian casualties, is silence meant by washington. There is no admittance an error has been made. It is left to the Yemeni Government to pick up the pieces and try to mediate with local tribes. There was fighting every night down there in the area where the drone strike happened, between whether it was sure he or local tribes, even the local people didnt know, and the military, as a result of that drone strike because people were angry about it. When theres this wall of silence from washington, europe is slightly ridiculous situation in yemen at the moment where the government has been willing now to admit when they have killed civilians. For example, in the last couple of weeks, the tribesmen killed in sanaa the government originally claimed by al qaeda and then came out a few days ago in a statement and it meant it they were civilians and not al qaeda. In return, al qaeda themselves when they carried out an operation in december and killed civilians, they put out a video release saying, were sorry, we killed civilians, we will offer compensation. You have the Yemeni Government willing to admit when they have done wrong, al qaeda on the other side. But when washington or the americans responsible, nothing. There is a wall of silence. This is a propaganda war now in yemen. When you have the government willing to admit theyve done something wrong and al qaeda, but not the u. S. In between, theyre losing the propaganda war. They are really losing a lot on that by not speaking out when these errors happen. Iona craig for the Obama Administration says it will release the secret government memo that authorizes the killings of americans overseas. The federal Appeals Court ordered the memos disclosure after the New York Times and aclu sued after the killing of Anwar Alawlaki and his son as well as samir khan, three u. S. Citizens. Talk about the significance of this. It is supposed to be released any day now in exchange for david barron to become a federal Appeals Court judge, which he has become. I think this is all about the issue of transparency. Ins is something obama said may last year, were going to be more transparent about the drone program, and it just hasnt happened. For the yemenis, they want the same for their citizens in the sense of why people are targeted or end up on the socalled list. What threat did they impose for america . Many times we dont even know the identity of people being killed. As much as this is important to see this from a u. S. Citizens perspective im a it is still a long way off a finding the same reasons why yemenis are targeted or other individuals in yemen are targeted. When youre trying to push toward some form of transparency, i guess it is a step in the right direction. But it is still very unclear in yemen what the threat to these individuals pose because most people are being killed on the ground most are just foot soldiers. These are just people a body is lying in the morgue months later after they have been killed because nobody knows who they are. The impact of expelling so many foreign journalistss . You are the last foreign creditor journalist in yemen. I chose to leave. I hope to go back but i dont know how easy that will be. What we have to watch for is how the local journalist it doesnt matter about the foreigners in the sense theyre going to do is kick them out of the country, get treated badly. Some local journalist face imprisonment and worse. Earlier about the al jazeera journalist to was kicked out of the province china cover the conflict. We have no indication of independent verification of civilian casualties, how the local population is coping in a conflict, but all we have is information from al qaeda or the government and that is where easy the local journalist a really important getting information out. You, iona craig, for joining us, based in sanaa for the last three point five years. She is the yemen correspondent for the times of london. That does it for the show. 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 ]
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.