Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20160926

The e wife of k keith lamont t t witntnessing her husbaband shotd killed b bcharlotte mecklenburg police, ththe charloe e police theief has vowededo demandd days of protests and releasese t police videos, dashcam andody cam footage, of scotts killing. We will get response from journalists Marc Lamont Hill coauthor of, author of, nobody casualties of americas war on the vulnerablble, from ferguson to flint and beyond. Then tonight, 100 Million People are expected to watch the first president ial debate. Among the topics, Foreign Policy and terrorism. Today in a democracy now exclusive, we speak with the former guantanamo prisoner who was cleared to leave under president bush and obama, but remained at guantanamo for over 12 years. His name is jihad Abu Wael Dhiab. States saysunited in the media, human rights, human rights, humanan rights. I never had human rights. Never, never, never. Amy released to uruguay, he is currently on a Hunger Strike to push for his demand to be allowed to leave uruguay in order to reunite with his family. We will also speak with his lawyer, with a lawyer, ramzi kassem, who helped negotiate the deal to get dhiab and others released to uruguay. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In north carolina, charlottemecklenburg police have released two videos of tuesdays Police Shooting of 43yearold africanamerican Keith Lamont Scott. One of the videos is from a Police Dashboard camera and the otheher from an offics body cacamera. The dashboard camera video shows scott exiting his vehicle and taking steps backwards with his arms at his sides. Police fire four shots at scott and he falls to ththe groundnd. The e body camera video showss scscott on the groround after bg shot. The e charlotte popolice have ao releasased pictureres of a handn , marijuana cigarette, and an ankle holstster they say y was n scotts possessision. It does the pice say nonot show he is clearly holdina gun. North carolina is an open carry state. Scotts family responded to the footage sunday. What we see will we look at the video, mr. Scott steps out of the vehicle. He doesnt appear to be acting aggressive towards any of the Law Enforcement officers on the scene. He doesnt appear to be making gestures or motions as though he is arguing with anybody. He doesnt want at the officers lunge a at the officecers. It appppears he has hisis handsy his side. Amy on frididay, nbc newsws obobtained cell l phone videoo capturing ththe shooting, fild and narratated by scottts wife rarakeyia scott. T. The video, she t tls officers that her husband is unard d and ffers from a traraumatic brain injury, or tbi. He doesnt t have a gun. He has a tbibi. He is not goining to do anythin. He just took his medicine. Quite drop the gugun keith, get out of the car. Dont you do it. Dont you do it. Keep. Dont you do it. Did you shoot him . Did you shoot him . Amy that was cell phone video filmed and nararrated by scotts wife rakeyia scott. Meanwhile, Charlotte Police have arrested a man they accused of shooting and killing a protester during demonstrations over Keith Lamont Scott step. 26 are all justin carr was apparently shot in the head near a line of riot police during protests wednesday in uptown charlotte. He died in the hospital on thursday. On friday, officers arrested Rayquan Borum and charged him with carrs murder. Charlotte police chief kerr putney said extensive Video Evidence was used to identify borum, though the department has not made those videos public. Several eyewitnesses dispute the polices explanation. Charlotte public defender eddie thomas told the guardian he believes the protester was shot by a tear gas canister, pepper ball or other police projectile , that caused him to stumble back and hit his head on the brick sidewalk. But daily beast reporter ryan james says he witnessed a civilian firiring a pistotol ina crowd leaving carr layaying on e , grouound in a pool of blblood. Meanwhile, hundreds contininuedo protest for a sixth straight day in charlotte. Uniformed National Guard soldiers carrying rifles were deployed outside a Carolina Panthers football game, while police in riot gear surrounded about 100 demonstrators who were chanting black lives matter. On sunday evening, charlotte mayor Jennifer Roberts lifted the curfew that had been in place since thursday. In tulsasa, oklahoma, hundreds packed the Antioch Baptist Church saturday for the funeral of terence crutcher, a 40yearold African American man shot d dead by police on septemr 16. Crutcher was remembered by his cousin, shea seals. s death is being mourned by an entire city. He was that special. That terencee is loved everyone. He had the incredible gift of putting others before himself. Amy p pole video shshowed crutcher a and shot dead while s hands s were in the air. His family says his suv stalled as he was driving home from m a Music Appreciation class. The killing sparked protests acacross the country. Officecer betty shelby w was bod and released last week on felony mamanslaughter charges f for crutchers death. If convicted, shelby faces between fofour years and lififin prison. We will l have a discucussion oe videos of keith lamont plus killing after headlines. In washington, d. C. , thousands gathered on the National Mall saturday as the countrys first black president helped dedicate the National Museum of African American history and culture. President barack obama and First Lady Michelle Obama joined the daughter of a slave, 99yearold ruth bonner, ringing a bell to signal the opening of the museum. [bell tolls] the 400,000 squarefoot museum will house some 37,000 artifacts, including relics from a slave ship, a shawl l owned by harriet tubman, emmett tills casket, shards of glass from the 1963 Birmingham Church bombing, a dress owned by rosa parks, louiuis armstrongs trumpet, and muhammad alis boxing gloves. President obama said the museum helps to teach a richer and fuller story of who americans are. Pres. Obama by knowing this bettertory, we understand ourselves and each other. It binds us together. It reaffirms that all of us are americans, that africanamerican history is not somehow separate from our larger american story it is not the underside off the american story. It is central to the amemecan story. Amy in news from ththe campaign trail, donald trump and Hillary Clinton are set to face off tonight in whats expected to be the mostwatched president ial debate in u. S. History. Some tv Network Executives predict as many as 100 Million People will tune in. Third party candidates, including libertarian gary johnson and the green partys dr. Jill stein, will be excluded under stringent rules set by the commission on president ial debates, which is controlled by the democratic and republican parties. Tonights 90minute debate will be held at Hofstra University on long island. Nbc nightly news anchor lester holt will serve as moderator. Ahead of the debate, Hillary Clintons Campaign Said holt should act as a factchecker and call out trumps lies and false statements. This is Clinton Campaign manager, robby mook, speaking sunday on abcs the week. Ifall that t we are asking is donald trump lies, that it is pointed out. It is unfair to ask for hillary both to play traffic cop with trump, make sure his lies are corrected, and for her also to present her vision. Amy Trump Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway fired back, telling abc i really dont appreciate campaigns thinking it is the job of the media to go and be these virtual factcheckers and that these debate moderators should somehow do their bidding. The head of the commission on president ial debates later agreed that moderators should not factcheck during debates. This is the commissions executive director, janet brown, speaking on cnn. If you start getting into fat checking, im not sure what is a big fact . What is a little fact . If you and i have different sources of information, does your source about the unemployed it rate agree with my source . I dont think it is a great idea to get the moderator into essentially y serving as the encyclopaedia britannica. Saiddonald trump had lester holt is a democrat and in fact he is a registered republican. Meanwhile, donald trump said on saturday he might bring Gennifer Flowers to sit in the front row of tonights debate. Flowers had an affair with bill clinton in the 1970s. The Trump Campaign later said it had not extended an invitation to flowers and that she would not attend. Democracy now will have be broadcasting the debate with, to her afterwards. You can tune in tonight from 8 30 to 11 30 Eastern Standard Time. Texas senator ted cruz has endorsed donald trump for president. Fridays endorsement came despite a bitttter primary seasn that saw the pair hurl invective at one another. During the campaign, trump suggested cruzs wife was not as attractive as his own, and linked ted cruzs father to the plot to assassinate president john f. Kennedy. Cruz previously called trump a a pathological liar, a narcissist, a bully, utterly amoral, and someone who lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth care go in july, cruz was booed off the stage after telling delegates to the Republican National convention to vote your conscience rather than voice support for trump. But on friday, senator cruz said prayer and careful consideration led him to an endorsement, citing trumps likely Supreme Court nonominees. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Hillary Clinton and donald trump on sunday in closeddoor meetings. Trump hosted netanyahu at his new york penthouse, where his Campaign Said trump compared israels separation wall favorably with his proposed wall along the mexican border. Netanyahu met with the clinton who said whose Campaign Said she expressed support for a new u. S. Military aid package to israel of 38 billion over 10 years. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo seeking to distance himself from a corrtion scacandal backs all two of his closest eight indicted last week on federal corruption charges. Prosecutors say they took bribes using the positions to help companies received hundreds of millions of dollars in new york state contracts and other official state benefits. Both are claiming their innocent not in cuomo said he was charge of the contracts involved and that he at no idea about the alleged bribery and contract reading laid out by prosecutors. Brazils Supreme Court has opened a corruption investigation into newly installed president michel temer. The inquiry stems from allegations that temer solicited bribes in return for contracts with the Brazilian Oil company petrobras. Temer was sworn in just three weeks ago after lawmakers voted to impeach his predecessor, president dilma rousseff. On thursday, temer told business and Foreign Policy leaders in new york that he worked to impeach rousseff after she refused to implement his partys economic plan, which included cuts to health, education and welfare spending. That contradicts the official reason for her impeachment accusations she tampered with government accounts to hide a budget deficit. In britain, Jeremy Corbyn will remain head of the labour party after winning 62 of the vote in a leadership contest. The win strengthens corbyns position as head of labour, which has grown dramatically under his leadership to more than 500,000 members. In washington state, 20yearold arkan cetin will be arraigned on murder charges today after a shooting spree in a burlington Shopping Mall friday left five people dead. Cetin used a rifle to fatally shoot four women and a man at a Macys Department store, leaving the weapon at the crime scene. He was arrested on saturday after Police Identified him from surveillance video. Theres no known motive for the killings. Inin southeastern iowa, twelve activists were arrested saturday as they disrupted efforts by the Dakota Access Pipeline Company to drill under the mississippi river, fearing a possible oil spill could contaminate the water. Three of the protesters chained themselves to a backhoe just before the start of the work day, delaying construction at the site for several hours. They were charged with criminal trespass and interference with official acts. And in news from the Berks Family Detention Center in pennsylvania, a woman from el salvador who has been detained fofor over 400 days reportedly fainted last week after she suffered headaches, dizziness, and vomiting. She was taken to a hosospital thursday to undergo gall bladder surgery, only to be returned to detention on friday. Her fellow berks detainees issued a statemement saturday tt the woman had no nurse to tend to her in her room, and was relying on her two teenage daughters who are detained with her. They say the womans prescribed medical diet has yet to be approved and that she wasnt allowed a visit with her sister because she was in too much pain to walk down stairs to the visiting room. Women at the berks jail have called for the mother to be immediately let go so that she can be taken care of by acactual trained and prprofessional staf officials have so far refused to release the mother and the two girls while their asylum claim is being appealed in federal court. To see all of our coverage o of the berks jail, 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. We begin todays show in north carolina, where charlottemecklenbnburg police have yielded to pressure and released two videos of last tuesdays fatal Police Shooting of 43yearold africanamerican, Keith Lamont Scott. One video is from a Police Dashboard camera and the other from an officers body camera. Police say they also have more video that they have not released. The scott family is asking the police to release all of the videos. The dashboboard camera v video s scott exitining his vehicle and taking steteps backwardsds withs arms at his sides. Police firire four shots a at st and he fallsls to the grouound. Ththe body camamera video showos scott t on the ground d after bg shot. Scott family Attorney Justin Bamberg responded to the f foote on sunday. What we see will we look at this dashcam video is mr. Scott steps out of the vehicle, he doesnt appear to be acting aggressive towards any of the Law Enforcement officers on the scene. He doesnt appear to be making gestures emotions as though he is arguing with anybody. He doesnsnt lunchch at the offs. It appearsrs he has his s handsy hihis side. Agagain, there is no definitive evidence i in this video as to whwhether or nott t there is an object in his hand. And if there is, what that object is. That question still remains. But what we do know is the moment mr. Scott is shot, it appears as though he is not aggressively moving toward Law Enforcement. He is actually doing the opposite. He is passably stepping back. Amy the Charlotte Police have also released pictures of a handgun as well as an ankle holster and a marijuana joint they say was in scotts possession. They did not say where they found the gun. North carolina is an open carry state. This came after nbc news obtainined gutwrenchining cell e video captpturing the shshootin, filmed a and narrated d by scos wife r rakeyia scotttt. Nbc c released thehe video on friday. In i it, scott telells officersr sbanand is s unarmed and suffers from a somatic brain injury, or. Dont shoot him. He has no weapon. Yes no weapon. Dodont shoot hihim. Dont shoot him. Dont shoot him. He did not do anything. Drorop the gun. He doesnnt have a a gun. He has a tbi. He just took his medicinine. Drop the gun. Keithth, on out ththe car. Drop the gugun. Keith, dont do it. Keith, get out of the car. Keep, dont you do it. Dont you do it. Keith. Keith. Dont you do it. [gun shohots] did you u shoot him . Did you u shoot him . He better r not be [bleep] dead. He better not be [bleep] dead. I know that [bleleep] much. H. Im going to record you. Im not coming near you. He better be alive. Hehe better be a alive. A a 9450 threere lexington court. These are theolice officers that shot my huhuand. He bter live. He didit do nothing to them. Make nobody touched anybody, s they all good. Know he better live. I knowe better le. E. Hoho about that . Im not coming to you guys but he bteter live he bettelive. Yalhear this . You see this, right . He better live. He betr live. Swswear he bettelive. Yeo. Heheetter live. He bettete[bleep] liviv he betetr where is he bettererbleep] l le. I eat gogog nowhere. I am in the sameamn spot. Didid you call the police . I me, did yoyou call the ambulance . Amy that was cell phone video fifilmed and narrated byby keith wife. Plus police claim they tased and then shot scott because he was armed, but scotts family says he was not armed except with a book in hand. They say scott, the father of seven children, had been sitting in his car, waiting to pick up his son after school. Meanwhile, on sunday, hundreds continued to protest for a sixth straight day in charlotte. Uniformed National Guard soldiers carrying rifles deployed outside a Carolina Panthers football game, while police in riot gear surrounded about 100 demonstrators chanting, black lives matter. Inside, Carolina Panthers quarterback cam newton signaled his support during his pregame workout by wearing a tshirt with a Martin Luther king, quote injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Also on sunday, charlotte mayor Jennifer Roberts lifted the curfew that had been in place since thursday. Well, for more, we are joined by Marc Lamont Hill, journalist and distinguished professor of African American studies at morehouse collllege. His book has just been published titled, nobody casualties of americas war on the vulnerable, from ferguson to flint and beyond. Welcome back to democracy now a lot has happened since our show on friday. These three videotapes released. The shocking, horrifying video of a wife watching as s her husband is sht by p police. Respond to that. Quite it is heartwrenching. We saw the same thing with Philando Castile a few months ago where a wife has to watch state violence take place in real time against their spouse. She was trying to explain to the police that he had traumatic brain injury. She was saying he did not have a weapon. She was trying to do what police somehow could not do, deescalate the situation, offer information that would get them to back off. Was trying time, she to encourage her husbandnd as ty were he was supposed to be in the car so he would not be it was remarkable clear headedness by his wife. Police and the be completely unresponsive to her instruction, to her insight. Amy they would not even let her near him as he lay dying and they are h handcuffing him. That was the other part. We watched this over and over again. Throughout history, black women in history watching her spouses killed at the state and then been thoroughly disrespected even in real time. She could not talk to him. Theyre more worried about telling her to stay away. The same thing happen with full end of castile. Itt kind of attitude makes difficult to believe the police were invested in deescalation at any point that day. Amy unlike in tulsa where they released, to say the least, actually damming footage, damning to the tulsa police, of the Police Shooting, here in charlotte, it took days of protests and then finally, it seemed that the release of definitelytts video force the hand of the police chief and releasing, i dont know why they have released all because you assume theyre going to release the videotape that vindicates them the most, but they released to videotapes. One a body cam and one dashcam. The lesson is, organizing works. Too often people say, why are they out there . If there wererent a spectacle,f therwewerent dramat proteststs, we wonont see the video c come. Ththe state was commmmitted to t releasing the videde they said it obobstructs and underminines the process of justice. Ththat is unimaginable to meowow that could be possible. That was the a argumen they also said once you see this tapepe i okoke to picee ofcers i in the police department. They said, when you see this tape, you llll complelyy understata t t protesters were wrong and we were complelyly in e riright. To your pot, amy, if they had anytytng e eulpatory, thewould ha offered it. They w wld have offered the m mt posititi representations of themselves on tape. At b bt, they could offer a tape th w was widy y inconcsiveve. Thisn just a aissue rticular case. The stateegislatutu iputting for legiation totop thes tapes fr being reased. They havno commient to dng th. Amy heardn the neorks repeatly wrong lt week saying law is righnow in ace th preventthe poce ief frfreleasinghe video fac it isoing into eect it s signgnednto laby the vernor on ocber 1 it inot in pce right now. What they could release this video right now. The fact they have one in the future suggegest they have no intention of releasing such a video but they do not leave that is the right thing to do. Amy it is frightening this law that is going into effect because the point of the body cam and the dashcam that the Police Departments have gotten millions of dollars to equip themselves with is to make them more publicly accountable. But now if that information is kept by the police, it only empowers the police further. They are the only ones that will have this information. That is exactly right. Again, that law would presume Police Always act in the public interest, that theres a level and lack ofncy corruption. We see repeatedly that is not the case. Often times when you follow report against bullies, whether there is a citizen Complaint Review board or go through a normal internal affairs process, the police take your report and look at it and then right there report in response to what youou wrote. If the video comes in and theyre able to rewatched the video, they can construct a narrative to respond to what they saw as opposed to what happened. Amy and the fact that along with the video cam and body cam tape, they released these three pictures. Thata gun that they say scottt had in his possession theyre not saying how and it is an open carry state. The other an ankle holster. Could it have been an ankle holster . And the other is a marijuana blunt. I mean, showing the marijuana cigarette seems to show how desperate the police are to implicate them in any way they could. What does that have to do with anything . Did is a bizarre thing. Theyre trying to shape public opinion. There is the idea theres a thatnal class out there deserves to be imprisonment deserves to be on the other end of state violence. If we can show this is a guy with a criminal recocord who is smoking weed in a car that he mustve done something wrong. The idea he was in his car rolling a blunt and still somehow holding a weapon is somewhat implausible to me anyway. Amy lets talk about the statement the police put out saying they had come to execute an arrest warrant, not for him, but for someone else. Here is this man in his car privately and they say they see him rolling a marijuana cigarette and they see that he has a gun. So they leave this aim, decide not to execute the arrest warrant at that moment was that they dress themselves up i dont know if it is putting on the bulletproof vest in identifying best. Amamy so now w they must be t g a supervisor, not doing what we plan to do, were going to do this other thing, not clear what was wrong, even if he had a gun. They come back and then they go after mr. Scott. You have, interestingly, though the dashcam and the body cam tape does not show the moment he , his you do here rakeyia wife, so that means they can hear her because it is on their bodies. You hear her shouting not to shoot her husband. Of course an officer with that, just because she tells us not to shoot, we cannot shoot if there is a threat. But when you look at the video, it is hard to root to imagine there is a legal threat. It opening the door with his right hand, and he is righthanded. He is backing away and theres so indication he is making an aggressive move. We watched white citizens with guns be subdued and d arrested without any gunfire, yet somehow a black person with or without a gun always seems to end up amy you have the charlotte protester who said, you have a man who set off a bomb in new york who you call a terrorist. He then is caught by police in new jersey and he shoots two of them. And even him they do not kill. They bring in for questioning. And she says, were not worth even asking a question of . This is where we have to get into a deeper level of analysis. A sisimple response from some people is, these cops did not put on their vest this morning, get dressed and say were going to go execute some guy. I agree. That is that the issue. The issue is, theres something about black audience, particularly in public phase, that make thehem viewed as more violence, that make them more prone to violelence, a heightend threat than other people. The Police Officer intuitively thinks this person needs a greater level of aggressiveness. Even as you said in an open carry state, they see a guy with the gun they did not see a guy with a gun, they saw black person with a gun. With a holster, you have it legally, simply caring of. Maybe this is a citizen that has a gun. They say, this must be a criminal. That have a presumption goes to a psychological level of racism. It may not be at the level of intent, were going to go arrest or suit of black guy, but it is a level of racism that says would we see this person, we presume their violent and criminal and we cannot see any other way out of this than lethal force. The dangerous thing is, they will then go into courtroom at some point and a jury of cures will invoke a reasonable mans dan or even a statute now, reasonable officer statute standard and say, what would i do under the same circumstance . Because so many of us have a kind of narrative of your black bodies and our psyche, we will say, you know what gecko i would have done the same thing. Not because it is ethical or moral or because it is the only way out, but we have codified dn a rational and unacceptable fear of black bodies. That is what is so terrifying. That is why they keep eating off. Amy i want to bring in what republican president ial candidate donald trump responded to a question about violence in the black community during a townwnhall m mting in a black church in cleveland hosted by fox news. I want to know what would you do to help stop thahat violence, black on black crime . And trump i would d do stop frisk. Ii think you have toto. We did it in new york. It worked incredibly well. You have to be proactive. Amy there you have Donald Trumps response. Before we wrap up tonight, 100 Million People are expected to watch the first president ial debate. Can you talk about, first his response and what you want to hear him and hillary have to say on these issues . I think donald trump has made his position clear. At the convention in july and also last week, he repeatedly has said more Police Officers were, stop and frisk works. Brokenen windows policing works. That is his approach. ImHillary Clinton hoping Hillary Clinton c can sa, look, thisis is not trtrue. Stop and frisk did not work unless your goal is to stop like people from smokining weed. Momost people who stopped were black. Most did not have drones or go guns or joints. We just keep adding more people to find nothing. Still managed to have crime reductions. A messy mixture of things from the rise of const that in new expandedh is a more investe all of these things, environment of factors, there are a range of things that cause crime to go down, not stop and frisk and not broken windows policing. I think Donald Trumps s narrate is wrong and his approach is wrong. We cannot arrest our way out of the problem of state v violence. Amy north carolinas an open carry state. Who does it apply to . Not to the vulnerable, black people, latinos. Maybe on paper. Wereon as black people freed, theres been an attempt to disarm them. As soon as black people were freed from the sort of legal restrictions and places like illinois and in the south as well, there are thenen attemptso say, hey, we need to keep a grip on these people in terms of gugn access. We have always try to disarm black people. As a practical matter going through the world, because black people are read as criminal, the assumption is if a black person as a gun, they probably dont have a legal weapon. They are a felon. They are about to demand a crime. People will say, this guy did lose his right to access a weapon because in 2005 yet a felony conviction. That is true. However, the police did not know that. They had no idea who this man was. They assumed who and what he was because that plays into the mix with alton sterling, Philando Castile. After the fact they say, this person had a permit, this person was a cririminal. And the moment, police do nothing except this was a man in his own car mining his own business, not bothering anyone armed, that we know for sure, with some weed. Weed forg i know about my empirical investigation and from reading about it is weed doesnt charge people up and make them want to go shoe police. If anything, it makes them want to ease some nachos. We have to have a different tactical approach. If this guys really sitting in a car with a gun, why do want to bash the window in . The same thing with tamir rise in cleveland. If the kid is allegedly holding a gun, why do you jump out and start shooting within seconds . And they thought it was 20, even though he was 12. There is this narrative that the police did all they could to protect themselves but tactically, it doesnt make sense. Recently, doesnt make sense. Yet we keep believing it because it is black bodies. We have to have a different approach. Amy Marc Lamont Hill, thank you for being with us journalist and , distinguished professor of African American studies at morehouse college. This book nobody casualties of , americas war on the vulnerable, from ferguson to flint and beyond. When we come back, a democracy now exclusive. Stay with us. [music break] amy cryin in the street by buckwheat zydeco. Louisiana music legend passed away on saturday at the age of 68. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Tonight 100 billion people are expected to watch the first president ial debate will stop among the topics, foreignpolicy and terrorism. Was not expected to still be an issue with these debates, but eight years after president obama vowed to close the prison during his first term in office, a remains open. Meanwhile, republican president ial candidate donald trump has called for expansion of guantanamo. Today was big withth a former guantanamo prisoner who was cleared under president bush and obama but remained at guantanamo for over 12 years. His name is jihad Abu Wael Dhiab. He has never been charged with a crime. At guantanamo, he launched a series of Hunger Strikes to demand his freedom. He was among a group of prisoners subjected to forcefeeding. The Obama Administration is refusing to release video of the forcefeeding to the public. But after a judge ordered it, the Obama Administration did give the redacted videotape to the court, which reportedly shows graphic images of guards restraining dhiab and feeding him against his will. The case is currently on appeal. Human Rights Groups have long said the forcefeeding of guantanamo prisoners amounts to torture. Dhiab is currently on a Hunger Strike to push for his demand to be allowed to leave uruguay in order to reunite with his family in turkey or in an arabicspeaking country. Dhiabs supporters say he has temporarily resumed drinking liquids and is gaining strength, but he plans to return to a thirst and Hunger Strike as soon as tuesday if there is no solution to his longstanding request to rejoin he family. Earlier this month, dhiab slipped into a coma for nine hours while he was on a hunger and thirst fast, revived only by a hydrating iv while he was in that coma. A few hours after he came out of the coma, i was able to speak to him in an exclusive democracy now interview. He was exhausted. He was lying on his bed in montevideo, uruguay. I asked him to begin by talking about how he felt. Really worse. Ly, all of my y body hurts m me. My kidney, my headadache, mymy stomach,h, my right side really bad. Many things. But i feel all my body hurt me. Amy theres aattle in court in the United States to release the videotape of your forcefeeding in guantanamo. Can you describe what that forcefeeding was like for you . Like the United States always say in the media, human rights, human rights, human rights. Theres never in guantanamo, dont have any human rights. Never, never, never. He took the video from f first time go to m me in my cell to me me to chair and gigive me the te for r give mforced feediding. But ifif you see this vivideo ad see the guguard, how treatment wiwith me, how beat me, how make with me, thats not human. Amy dhiab, in guantanamo, one nurse refusesed to forcefeed te prisoners. Can you talk about thahat nurse . T this nurse, from first tite come into guantanamo, me and my brotother spoke with him many time. Why you comome in here . This your job, this human right job, a good job. Why come in here for torture the person, the detainee . He think, think, think too much. After that, he said, give me couple days. I take decision for that. He, after two days o or three dadays, come and tell me, jji, there i dont leave anyone tell me my number, because i am not number, i have name. He tell me, jihad, i take decision. I tellll him, what . He s said, nonow i stop g givey forcefeed for anyone. I refufuse to gigive any. And i spoke with the government in the guantananamo about this. I tell him, me and all my brothers said for you, thank you very m much for that, because i respect this person very he helped m me, and he a gentle ma. He treatment with us there only him, treatment with us frfm first t day coming thehere. I see him always, he not all right. And he treatment with us very, very w well. And after that, i tell himim tthank you very mumuch about this. He saiaid, whats h happened ar ththat, i dont care, but i i dt i refuse e give any forcefeeding. And after r that, he move frfrom there. And i hehear afterer that in the news they want to take him t to court abouout he refused bebecause he refused the army order. But i respect t this pererson. I need all the person make like him and trtreatment like him, because this all right idea. Amy president obama says he wants to close guantanamo. Do you believe that will happen . If hehe wants to close guantananamo, he can. He can now. Now. He can give order, c close guantanamo. He can close guantanamamo. But he coward. He cant take this d decision,n, because he scared. D. But t guantanamo supposed to closose, should be closed, guantanamo, because guantanamo, thats not good d r the uneded states. Never. Amy thats jihad Abu Wael Dhiab syrian prisoner att guantanamo for more than 12 years. He was released to uruguay speaking to us in english from. Is bed, on a Hunger Strike at the time of o our interview,e just come out of a ninehour coma after refusing water as well. Throughout our interview, which we did just after he revived, he was very tired and weak. He would sometimes switch to arabic from the english, the language of course he felt were comforortable in. Thisis is dhiab speakiking abouy the u. S. Wouldnt want to release the video of his forcefeedininat guantananamo ad more. Cocourts the u. S. Does not w wat the world toto see the truth abt what happens in n guantanamo. They want to keep the black bobx closed and to show instead that the black box is f full. But it is indedeed actually empy and a lie. Ththey cantt let the world see video and know the truth, because the truth will contradict the reasons the u. S. Is holding the prisoners. For example, i have papers shshowing to be innocent since 2006, since the time of george bush, yet they kept me in guantanamo. And again, i had papers proving my innocence in 2009 with obama now president , but they still kept me in guantanamo. I ended up staying until december 2014. And even the media started t to report on me, saying thahat i ws a victim and that i was an innocent man that didnt do anything wrong. In guantanamo, they said i will not get out until i admit a crime. This is the fact of f america. You have to admit to any crime. Why . I said i will not admit to anything. I didnt do anything. That is number one. But they will not say up front to their people, we caught innocent people e who didnt commit any crime. They h had to create anything. They must force usus to admit anything. Theyey offered multiple choices for us to admit something. Is thahat justice . The issue is, ththe uniteded sts knows its wrong and implicated in guantanamo, but the u. S. Does not want to apologize and go back and stop p this injustice d solve this problem. With this,s, want to s send a memessage to the American People about ththe american governments policy, with muslims and nononmuslims, becausese their policicies wh h muslims wiwill g a lot of p problems. America a is who createses enems for themselves. America is whoho createses terrm and hostility toward themselelv. Amy dhiab, are you willing to die on this Hunger Strike . I can o only see two solutio either i a am reunited with my family or i will have to pay with my life. I want to reach my family, that i have not seen for 15 years. I didnt seeee any of them my mother, father or brothers and sisters. I lost my son in war in syria, and 28 others of my family died, as well. My entire family is spread out in different countries, leaving no one with my parents. This is a very complicatated issue. I want my right to live a good life and to be free. Amy thatts jihad abAbu Wael Dhiab. He was held at guantanamo for more than 12 years, has not seen his family for between 15 and 20 years, speaking to us exhausted from his bed and ururuguay. He a just come out of a coma after refusing water and had been hydrated through an iv. Less than a week ago, he lifted his dry fast at the behest of his support g group. He says he will go back to a thirst and Hunger Strike if he cannot reunite with his family. All we come back, we will speak with one of the lawyers who helped negotiate his release tou. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Just right you are exclusive interview with former guantanamo prisoner who was cleared to leave under both president s bush and obama, but remained at guantanamo for over 12 years. His name, jihad Abu Wael Dhiab he has never been charged with a crime. Last week, democracy now spoke to ramzi kassem, professor of law at City University of New York School of law thats the Cuny Law School where he directs the immigrant noncitizen rights clinic, has represented many guantanamo prisoners. He has been to guantanamo about 50 times and was one of the lawyers who represented the six guantanamo prisoners who the u. S. Government released to uruguay. I began by asking ramzi kassem to tell us about dhiabs case, why he hasnt been able to see his family, what he is asking for, what he was promised, and what the situation is overall at guantanamo. Im among the people who negotiated obviously, there were. U. S. Government officials involved, uruguayan government officials involved. And then on the defense lawyer side, i was one of those who partook in that negotiation, primarily on behalf of my client, abdelhadi faraj, whos another syrian who was resettled in uruguay, just like dhiab. Ultimately, what happened was that four syrians, one palestinian, one tunisian all guantanamo refugees were resettled in uruguay. And, you know, i have to stress that the uruguayan governments attitude towards these men was commendable. They viewed them and treated them as refugees under international law. They resisted, you know, the United States insistence that their movement be restricted, that they be treated as something else, that they be placed under surveillance, for example. All of these things, according to public media reports, are standard when it comes to how the United States negotiates these repatriations or resettlements from guantanamo. And to their credit, the uruguayan government said, in large part because the rulers of uruguay at the time, the president and his cabinet, were themselves former Political Prisoners amy president mujica. President mujica had spent over a decade in prison under that very label, as a terrorist, in solitary confinement, so he understood and the men in his cabinet understood what that meant. And so to their credit, they treated these men like refugees. And they said they said that they would allow them to reunite with their families in uruguay, that they would facilitate family reunification. So all of the right things were said. Unfortunately, the problem was in the implementation. When the men arrived in uruguay, you know, less preparation had been done than what we had expected and what we had hoped. And one of the main shortcomings is on this front family reunification. In other words, you know, the government of uruguay, with the help of the red cross, is offering families of men like dhiab and men like my client to come from places like syria or refugee camps in turkey. But theyre only offering temporary visits, and theyre not giving the men the means to actually support those families in uruguay. So the net result, and ill tell you the case that i ill tell you about the case that i know best, my client, mr. Abdelhadi faraj. His family is in wartorn syria. He would love to see his parents. He hasnt seen them in 15 years. If he were to agree to have the red cross somehow try to bring them, make that very dangerous journey out of syria and to uruguay, he can only k keep them there for a couple of weeks. His parents are elderly. They live in a very dangerous place. The trip itself would be lifethreatening. So he doesnt want to subject them to that risk, unless he has the ability to actually have them live with him in uruguay. So thats where the shortcoming has been. No one, not the uruguayan government and certainly not the United States, has stepped up to make that happen. And i mention the United States because i think the uruguayans have gone above and beyond the call, in many ways, despite the shortcomings of in preparation for the arrival of these men as refugees from guantanamo. They have gone above and beyond the call. The bulk, the lions share of responsibility still rests with our country. It still rests with the United States. Our country is responsible for what happened to men like dhiab. Theyre the ones the United States took dhiab and put him at guantanamo and subjected him to torture there of different forms. And the United States is the one that amy and he was put at bagram first. And he was at bagram first. And thats common. The majority of guantanamo prisoners, or r a large nunumbef them, at least, went through bagram or other sites before arriving at t guantanamo. So the primary share of responsibility still rests with the United States. I believe that our country has a moral and historical duty to try to make these men whole. Other countries have. Canada has paid compensation. The United Kingdom has paid compensation. The United States has not accepted responsibility or compensated these men for what they have been through. And they continue to suffer from it for it, and their families continue to suffer. And dhiab is just one example among many. Amy dhiab was wanted to be at his daughters wedding. I mean, he hasnt seen his children and his parents in between 15 and 20 years. Could he leave uruguay . I mean, he actually attempted to. He went to venezuela. He was taken by the secret police of venezuela and he was deported back to uruguay. I mean, its not a crime for him to leave uruguay, but he was deported back. What can he do . . I mean, he is just using the only thing he has, which is his body, to try to demand, by going on a Hunger Strike, which he did for so long at guantanamo, to demand some kind of action. He says, if i am free, why cannot i see my family . And its especially tragic that hes had to revert to that mode of communication, the mode of communication that he had when he was at guantanamo. In other words, the only form of expression and protest available to many of the prisoners is to go on Hunger Strike, is to refuse food and sustenance from their captors. And thatat isnt a crime, right . Its a form of peaceful protest. And it is tragicic that now that hehes in uruguay, supposedly a free man, he feels that he has no choice but to do that in order to be heard, because, you know, hes been clamoring for a while. Theyve been in uruguay for almost two years. And for that entire time, mr. Dhiab and the other prisoners have been asking this question. You know, when are we going to see our families . Is that going to happen . How is that going to happen . The uruguayans, when these men arrived, because they were considering them refugees, the uruguayan government issued them whats called a cedula, which is basically a national id card, which alallows thehem to traveln certain countries in south america and some countries in central america, perhaps. So thats how dhiab, earlier in his tenure in uruguay, went to argentina, for example, and gave a press conference there. And thats probably part of the explanation of how he eventually got to venezuela and was then sent back to uruguay. The rub is in that for him to go to turkey, the turkish government would have to acquiesce. Someone would have to facilitate that travel. Hed have to be issued travel papers, which obviously hes not going to get from the syrian government, given whats going on in syria right now. And ultimately, the United States government, whether or not theyre going to publicly recognize it, my view, my opinion, is that the United States government probably has a say as well. Now, still, the right thing to do here is to find some way to reunite mr. Dhiab with his family. And its either by bringing his family over from that refugee camp in turkey to uruguay in a sustainable fashion, where they can live with him in uruguay and make a life for themselves there, or the other solution would be for him to go to turkey and join his family there. It is its compounding the injury that these men have suffered to keep them apart from their families after everything that theyve been through. And again, this doesnt just hold for mr. Dhiab. He is being vocal, vocal and brave, in expressing his protest in that way. But i can tell you that my client, mr. Faraj, who does not want to be in the media limelight, feels the same way. And the other prisoners that hes still in touch with in uruguay, former guantanamo prisoners, they feel the same way as well. And its really it shouldnt be shocking to anyone that these men, after all of these years, wish to see their families. Guantanamo is not a prison where families can visit. Its not like a facility here in the United States where there are visitation privileges and people can come e over the weekend. These men have literally not seen their families for over a decade and a half. Amy have some of the men seen their families brought to uruguay and then they have to leave . You know, im not familiar with the cases of all six of the guantanamo refugees in uruguay. I can say if i can tell you that for mr. Dhiab that hasnt happened, and i can tell you that for my client, mr. Faraj, that has not happened, for the reason that i explained earlier. Amy so you have been to guantanamo for, what like 50 , times now, representing your clients. How many do you represent . At this point, i have three clients remaining at guantanamo. Over time, since 2005, ive represented over a dozen guantanamo prisoners. Amy that, what, y you added itp to being how much time at guantanamo that youve spent . Sadly, i did that math last time i was at guantanamo a couple of months ago. It adds up to, i think, over a year at this point. Amamy youvve spent over a yet guantanamo. Yeah, which obviously pales in comparison to what my clients have spent, what they have gone through. But it was still shocking to me. I mean, if you told me 10 years ago in when i made my first trip 2006 to guantanamo, that a decade later id still be traveling there, i would have called you crazy. Amy president obama just said, once again, he wants it closed by the end of his term. Do you think this will happen . What is happening at guantanamo right now . You know, president obama, unfortunately, has been saying that since he was candidate obama in 2007. You know, i agree with mr. Dhiab on this. I believe e that, unfortunately, our president has had that authority. He was elected, actually, on that basis. He had a mandate coming into office in 2009 to close that prprison. For political reasons, not policy reasons, but for political reasons, he chose not to make it a priority. He gave the opposition time to mobilize and make it more difficult for him. Still, despite those obstacles, ultimately, he has the authority to close that prison. When president bush opened guantanamo o on january 11, 200, he didnt seek conongressional approval, he just did it unilaterally as a president of the United States. President obama could do the same. He is choosing not to do it. Hes choosing not to take what he believes is a political risk. Amy to see the full interview with ramzi kassem, go to democracynow. Org. A special thanks. Tune in tonight, democracy now will be broadcasting the first president ial debate at democracynow. Org. To 11 30 Eastern Standard Time with scholars, activists, and analysts you wont hear anywhere els just listen. Natures greatest symphony. We talk about music as a gateway to the sole, but where