Yemen and other countries, women from around the world have gathered once again in the hague to call for peace and to mark the 100th anniversary of the Womens International league for peace and freedom. 100 years later the distinct ladies and gentlemen, the questions are the same. What are the women doing in the horrific violence is encountering . When we started in Northern Ireland, mostly women, but also with men, to say very clearly, no to all violence. We have got to stop killing each other here. We reject the use of the bomb and bullets and all the techniques of violence. We can solve our problems through peace and dialogue. We women know what a security. It is food on the table. It is a house to live in. It is access to medical care. It is enough i jobs so you can raise your children. It is take all that money that is put to the weapons of war and death and use it for a better world. That is security. That is human security. Amy today we will speak to , three Nobel Peace Prize laureates Leymah Gbowee from liberia, Mairead Maguire from ireland and Jody Williams from the United States. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Were broadcasting from the world form in the hague. At least 3700 people have been confirmed dead after saturdays devastating 7. 8magnitude earthquake in nepal. More than 6500 people have been injured and the death toll has continued to rise sharply with the full extent of the damage still largely unknown. Dozens of people are also reported dead in neighboring china and india. The earthquake was the worst to hit nepal in more than 80 years. It opened massive rifts in roads and destroyed historic structures, including the 19th century dharahara tower in the capital kathmandu, which was packed with sightseers when it collapsed. Driving rains have hit thousands who remain in the streets, afraid to go inside amid intense and repeated aftershocks. The quake triggered avalanches on mount everest, where at least 18 climbers were killed, including three americans. The aftershocks have delayed attempts by countries around the world to send aircraft, rescue personnel and other aid. In yemen, the Saudiled Coalition has resumed airstrikes targeting Houthi Rebels in the capital sanaa after announcing it was shifting toward political negotiations. The strikes came amid fierce fighting in the Southern City of taiz between Houthi Rebels and forces loyal to yemeni president Abdrabbu Mansour hadi. At least 20 civilians were reportedly killed. On friday, the United Nations said over 550 civilians have died in the violence over the past month, including 115 children. Israel has acknowledged launching an airstrike on the border with syria after it says it saw militants carrying a bomb in the israelioccupied golan heights. Meanwhile, the United States has carried out three airstrikes targeting the selfproclaimed Islamic State in syria, and 17 in iraq. In baltimore, maryland, hundreds of people paid respect to freddie gray, the 25yearold africanamerican man who died of neck injuries in police custody. [no audio] in the Central African nation of burundi, police shot and killed two protesters opposed to the president s decision to seek a third term. Authorities had banned protests related to the candidacy of president pierre nkurunziza, whose critics say violates constitutional term limits. At least five people were reported killed on sunday, at least two shot dead by police. The United Nations has urged indonesian president joko widodo to spare the lives of 10 prisoners facing execution for drug crimes. The prisoners, who come from nigeria, australia, brazil ghana, the philippines and indonesia, have been given 72 hours notice, meaning their executions by firing squad appear to be imminent. Parents and relatives of the 43 students missing in the mexican state of guerrero have marked seven months since their loved ones disappeared. Some of the parents and relatives converged on new york city after traveling across the country in caravans. On sunday, they marched to the United Nations, asking the u. N. To pressure mexico to reopen the investigation, and calling for the u. S. To stop funding mexicos drug war under plan merida. The Mexican Government has said the students were attacked by Municipal Police acting under the corrupt mayor of iguala, then turned over to drug gang members who killed and incinerated them. But mexican news reports point to a role by federal authorities. Maria de Jesus Tlatempa bello, mother of one of the missing students, spoke at sundays march. We are here today marching april 26, in support of the school. I am a mother who has a disappeared son whose name is jo we ares here askinge. For the. Support of all the american people, asking for them to stand in solidarity with us as parents because it is the only way to demand our government help us find our children and a pressure our government for mexican president communion show, and all of our leaders because theyre all involved in the forced disappearance of our children. Amy in uruguay, four former guantanamo prisoners have been protesting for days in front of the u. S. Embassy, demanding u. S. Financial and housing support. The men were imprisoned at guantanamo for 12 years, before being released and resettled in uruguay. They have vowed to continue marching and sleeping outside the embassy until the u. S. Ambassador meets with them. In japan, a man has turned himself in to police, admitting he flew a drone containing low levels of Radioactive Material onto the roof of the Prime Ministers office. Yasuo yamamoto has said he equipped the drone with sand from fukushima, site of the 2011 nuclear meltdown, as a protest against Prime Minister shinzo abes push to restart nuclear plants. In pakistan, a leading human rights activist has been shot dead in karachi. Sabeen mahmud was the director of the second floor, a Progressive Community space. She was shot while leaving the venue after hosting a talk on the disappearances of activists in balochistan, where the Pakistani Army has been waging a decadelong campaign. The event was initially set to take place in lahore, but was cancelled and relocated following threats from pakistans intelligence services. And in the United States, the forprofit Corinthian Colleges system has shut down all of its remaining 28 campuses, interrupting the educations of 16,000 current students in whats believed to be the largest Higher Education shutdown in u. S. History. Earlier this month, the u. S. Department of education unveiled a 30 million fine against the company for misrepresenting job placement rates. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. 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 those of us who have convened this congress of women assembled to protest against war and to suggest steps which may lead to warfare becoming an impossibility. Two future Nobel Peace Prize winners took part in the u. S. Delegation jane addams, the cofounder of hull house, and the sociologist emily 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 to call for peace and to mark the 100th anniversary of the Womens International league for peace and freedom. In a democracy now exclusive at the hague, we are joined by three Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Jody williams, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her work with the International Campaign to ban landmines. In she helped launch the 2003, campaign to stop killer robots. Her memoir is called, my name is Jody Williams a vermont girls winding path to the Nobel Peace Prize. Leymah gbowee received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work in leading a womens Peace Movement that brought an end to the second liberian civil war in 2003. Gbowee shared the prize with fellow liberian Ellen Johnson certainly, now president and , yemennative tawakkol karman. Gbowee and sirleaf became the second and third African Women to win the prize, preceded by the late Wangari Maathai of kenya. She is the founder and president of Gbowee Peace Foundation africa based in liberia. She is the author of the book, mighty be our powers how sisterhood, prayer, and sex changed a nation at war. And Mairead Maguire is with us. She was awarded the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 32 for her actions to help end the deep ethnic and political conflict in her native Northern Ireland. She shared the award with Betty Williams. They helped start peace people a movement committed to building a just and Peaceful Society in Northern Ireland. At the time, mairead was the youngest recipient of the peace prize. She is the author of the book, the vision of peace faith and hope in Northern Ireland. Leymah gbowee, Jody WilliamsMairead Maguire are also all part of the nobel womens initiative, which was formed in 2006 to support womens groups around the world in campaigning for justice, peace and equality. We welcome to democracy now. Mairead maguire you may have been against recipient at the time of the Nobel Peace Prize but you are the first twin the peace prize of the three of you here. Talk about the significance of this meeting today. Once again, about 1000 women have gathered here at the hague. Were broadcasting from the world forum. To take on the issue of war. In these very violent times. What does this group what can groups like this accomplish . I think first off, groups like this, women and men from many countries, and their agenda is to end militarism and war and to build peace and International Law and human rights and democracy. And you know, that is 100 years ago when they gathered here at the hague and went offered nobel offered nobel was set up, over 100 years ago their agenda was amy birth his name was not very well known, who she was and how she inspired alfred nobel. And that is incredible. She was the first nobel woman over 100 years. Her agenda was cooperating together to solve the problem. The second one was abolished armies and militarism and war because theyre not working. The third one was through dialogue and negotiation through solving the problem through listening to each other and build International Law and human rights. That is the way forward today. Amy how did you use this philosophy in ireland . In Northern Ireland, with a very deep ethnic political problem. It was very complex. At the base of it all was fear and injustice. But we try to solve it through militarism, hurray militarism, and it was getting worse and worse hurray militarism and it was getting worse and worse. And in the 1970s, my sisters and three children were killed. Amy how are they killed . In a tragedy between the british army and an active service unit of the irish republican army. One of my younger sisters went walking with her four children and three of them were killed. She was dangerously ill. Amy british shoulders soldiers . And the ira. She was an expected to live. She subsequently died of her injuries. Theres a simple message no to violence and yes to peace and dialogue. We can solve our problems without violence and killing each other. Amy Leymah Gbowee, you helped in the second civil war in liberia and jailed the president Charles Taylor. Talk about how you accomplished this. Here of the three of you, you must recently won the nobel prize in 2011. What did you do in liberia . One of the things that we were able to accomplish in liberia was doing together groups that would come together to build peace. Christian muslims. If you look at the world and the order of the world today, there is a lot of religious extremism and fundamentalism. We had those kinds of issues in liberia at the time. Because while all of the different warring factions were from the different ethnic groups with religious undertones, and we knew that if we had to build peace, we needed to bring not just the women together, but women from diverse backgrounds. Different ethnic groups. In the two major religious groups, christian muslims who were able to bring those women together, to work together. I would say one of the strategies we used was the strategy of reconceptualizing a lot of the time, people used religion as a means of empowering women. If you go into the koran and even in the bible, youll find there were some great women. We use the examples of very great women to talk about how the helped to change their time. As a christian and working with christian women, we used people who were english and political issues in biblical times. Once the narrative of those women had been kind of reconceptualized, then we were able to resonate and bring them together. But not just bringing the groups together, but to protest nonviolently. 14 years of violent uprising. We started with two groups. By 2003, we had gone through almost 12 or 13 different groups. So everyones reforms to the world was bringing in more violence are bringing in more guns. And we realized that if there were changes that you happen in liberia, it had to be nonviolent. So we protested. We did sitins. We were just like invading spaces that women would not necessarily be. Amy how did president taylor responded you . When we started we had an invitation to get him to come and listen to us. People said, well, if you sent one invitation, he is going to say he didnt get it. I remember sending six invitations. One directly to his office, 13 his religious council one through his religious council 13 his wife, one through parliament, want to the president of the senate, and one through i think it was National Security persons. Six letters for one event. There was no way he could have said he did not receive the letters because we had multiple people telling us they handdelivered it. Because he did not know how to respond us, we sat and we just decided we were going to protest and demand three things immediate unconditional ceasefire dialogue, and Intervention International intervention. Three things that taylor said he wasnt going to do. Liberia was a sovereign nation and he was not going to allow foreign troops on the ground. He was a legitimate president and he wasnt going to sit with illegitimate groups. And talking with them was something he would fight until the last soldier died. So going to him with the things he was defining the world within saying, we will protest more or less, to find the world and we are defying you. You will continue and to give it to us. Finally, he at a given. Finally, here to say, i will go to the peace table. It did not end our protest. We continued until the pressure from us, the pressure from other African Leaders and the rest of the world forced his arm to resign. Amy were going to take a break and wont come back, i would ask about the sex strikes that you engaged in an liberia that made an enormous difference. Were joined right now by Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Mairead Maguire who won the prize in 1976, and you will also be hearing from Jody Williams who won in 1997. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, broadcasting from the world form of the hague. It is the 100th anniversary of the Womens International peace and freedom. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace repo