tough questions and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5pm et / 2pm pt only on al jazeera america this is al jazeera america. i'm david shuster, in new york, with a look at the day's top stories. [ gunfire ] chaos and confusion as gunmen try to shut down a polling place in ukraine. in niger the pressure on the government is growing to find more than 200 kidnapped school girls, and there could be a setback. in mexico a crackdown on stow aways that ride the trains - is making the looufs of

migrants -- lives of migrants more dangerous. and torture around the world - there's the topic of "the week ahead". we begin in ukraine where residents in the east held a controversial vote on autonomy, taking a violent turn when gunmen tried to break up the vote. amateur video by two different people shows the moment chaos breaks out. we'll hshow it to you - take a look. gungun >> [ gunfire ]

>>. >> the man you saw was tended to by others in the crowd. at least one is believed to have died. what you are seeing is a pro-russian separatist killed in the shooting. kiev's interim government denies its forces were involved. we spoke to a journalist who witnessed the event. >> they started to shoot in the air, because more and more people came, and they were shouting. they started to shoot in the air, and then at the people. that happened a few times, you know, in a row, and then later on in the afternoon there were four fans coming, and they tried to get the guys inside out, and they were starting to shoot all around them. they were shooting at innocent people. no one had a gun. the only thing they did was

throw an axe, and the people - they were harmless and wanted to vote. they were shooting and were shooting at them at the back. >> organizers say 90% of voters in one reason chose more autonomy. the single question - do you support self-rule, prompting confusion, jonah hull reports from donetsk. >> reporter: hastily arranged, low budget. the referendum drew a large number of voters to small polling stations. at issue - the question whether the region should split from the are the of ukraine. the government in kiev denounced the vote. >> i would luke to underline one more time, it's not a referendum. it's an attempt by terrorists, bandits and killers to cover their activity by having citizens vote. >> kiev's words does not carry much weight among those keen to

indoors the people's republic of donetsk. how much autonomy the proposed people's republic should have is vague. >> big crowds turned out to vote. one question on the ballot paper, a simply yes or no. the problem is there are multiple interpretations of what it means. >> translation: we want to live with russia, in friendship. >> this woman is not sure what she's voting for. >> translation: i voted for our national republic. >> translation: i want peace in this country. i don't want the horrible mess from kiev that they created in the maydan, a war, the killing of people, and it conditions here. >> it is not easy to find a voice in opposition to all this. to do so we travelled to

horlifka, firmly in anti-government hands, where one man was prepared to talk to us, but didn't want to be identified. >> translation: a lot of people against federalization, and more for it. in general they did not understand the threat it poses and what can happen as a result. it appears that russia doesn't want us and we are parting from ukraine. left on its own, we'll head towards catastrophe. >> the referendum has gone ahead despite calls from vladimir putin for a delay. in parts of the east racked by violence like here in mariupol. the government says the vote will tip the region into the abyss some feel it's already happened. the u.s. state department says the referendum is illegal and creating further division and disunity. it was described as a disaster.

we have this report. >> reporter: the security service, and the prosecutor general, warned local councils, local representatives that they could be criminally liable for complicity around the referendums, despite saying some principals of schools in the region, they say, had been pressured into becoming polling stations; that they were threatened with the use of violence. that is coming from justice minister. out the authorities call this illegal, that it's nothing more than an attempt by terrorists to cover up their crimes, and they are using the people of donetsk and lugansk in the process. we are told by the foreign minister that ukranian forces seized 100,000 prefilled ballot papers. we have not been able to verify

that. that is what the justice minister is saying. >> we heard from the e.u. as well aring saying it will not -- saying it will not recognise the vote. because it's illegitimate, they said they will not recognise the outcome, it's been determined by the self-appointed leaders in these regions, and it's fair to say that when the people in the east come out with their results, that this will put pressure on authorities to de-escalate the crisis, considering in two weeks today presidential elections will be held. joining us from washington d.c. is truman project fellow joel henning. reports of pre-filled out ballots, violence, in one city, the government of kiev calling it a disaster. what do you make of it? >> in terms of post-soviet elections in this part of the world, they are often messy, the idea of multiple people casting votes is commonplace. by that standard, this is, of

course, an incredible farce, and it's one that certainly is not going to be recognised by anyone outside the region. i think it's been conducted under rare chaotic conditions. i think the important message is to think about where things go from here, particularly with respect to the national ukranian schedule for the end of this month. >> what do you think it means for the ukranian national elections coming up? >> to the extent that the kiev government is not able to exercise control or influence over this part of the country does not seem to play a lot of the important functions of a sovereign state. an election across the country is risky at this point. it's hard to cop sieve of it being -- conceive of it being conducted in a capable way that everyone would feel is free and fair, placing everyone in an awkward position. this is what vladimir putin said and called for. the reality is if kiev

government is not able to prevent the separatists holding a referendum. they are in no condition to issuing strait an election in two weeks time. >> vladimir putin suggested that the votes be postponed. what does russia do if they declare independence and say "okay, we need help from the russian troops to battle the independence." >> vladimir putin is in the driving street. his mote is for -- driving seat. his motives for asking for a postponement is not clear. he doesn't have to do much, he'll acknowledge the results of that referendum, but there's nothing forcing him to act upon it. furthermore, there'll be another referendum on what happiness if self-proclaimed republic decides

to seek annexation by russia. i don't think he has a lot he has to do, and he'll play it out over the next couple of weeks. >> does he play it out pending what the government in ukraine and the ukranian army does. if they say "okay, we are not accepting it", does that put pressure on vladimir putin to respond and say "hey, we had a referendum." >> i don't think there has been pressure on vladimir putin, nothing has exerted pressure on vladimir putin to do anything. in an instant where the kiev government decides to do something, which will be odd after the referendum was held, but to the extent that they do something in eastern ukraine, it's up to vladimir putin. they'll use the results to say, "look, this part of the country voted to be apart from ukraine, you are violating the

self-proclaimed will of the region", what he does is unclear. he excerpts a lot of heavy influence on this part of the community. it's not clear he'd have to invade. it's mysterious when we look at the sanctions from the west. the circumstances are such that elections as mentioned earlier are not possible and vladimir putin continues to do everything to make them extremely unlikely or impossible. >> as far as the united states position on all of this, secretary of state john kerry, other than describing the referendum as not legal, is there anything in particular you'll be looking for from the obama administration over the next two weeks? >> i think there's not much more they can do other than ignore them and hold out the evidence that indicates how they were held and have nothing to do with

the broader country of ukraine, there's nothing legitimate about them. thinking about the wisdom of holding elections in a few weeks time, given what we are seeing here, given the fact that the kiev government did not do anything really visible to try to prohibit or prevent the referendum from taking place. that's problematic, and i think it's something that the u.s. government will look at closely as they think about next steps and what they do with kiev, and moving towards the elections or the process that they arrive at. >> jobe with the truman programme in washington d.c. thank you for being on the programme. >> thank you, david. [ chanting ] nigeria's government is under growing pressure tonight to find 276 missing school girls. the country's president says he's optimistic that international help will make a

difference. the girls were kidnapped nearly a month ago by boko haram. across nigeria churches and mosques have been paying tribute. we have more from abuja. >> reporter: almost a month after the abduction of the girls, nigerians are praying for their release. congregations are called on to say special prayers, many responding in abuja. >> it's important to pray for the girls. after exploring all options in terms of a government and trying to make attempts to rescue the girls, we need a ritual. >> the nigerian catholic church urged nig eerians to pray, instd of trading blame and accusations. >> at the mosque clerics say worshippers have been praying for the girls. the governor of the borno state,

where the girls were kidnapped called for three days of fasting. >> this brought a sense of unity, solidarity, together innocence, regardless of people's faith tribe and geographical location. it's a concern to all of us. >> many nigerians welcomed u.s. and u.k. assistance. protesters say they need to keep the pressure going, and want to make sure the government does not relent until the search and rescue efforts yield results. fighting broke out in south sudan just hours after a new ceasefire fook effect. the government -- took effect. the government and rebels blame each other. a u.n. official says there were clashes in bentiu. forces loyal to the former deputy have been fighting the government since december. both agreed to a ceasefire on

friday after meeting face to face in ethiopia. the conflict killed thousands, displacing more than a million others. >> there has been an al qaeda revenge attack killing a dozen soldiers in yemen. a car bomb rocking a military building. al qaeda fighters are believed to be retaliating against a campaign to crush them. we report from sanaa. >> reporter: what we know is a suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives into the building of the military police, killing 11 soldiers, injuring 18 people. part of that building was destroyed, and search is under way for people buried upped the rub -- under the rubble. there's no claim for responsibility. many think the only group with the capability to launch an attack is al qaeda in the

peninsul peninsula. many attacks have been launched by this group in 2002, and spectacular attack against is a french oil tanker in 2009, killing western tourists in the area and launched many, many attacks against security forces in that same area. that attack came hours after an attack in the capital sanaa on a military checkpoint near the presidential palace - an area that is supposed to be secure. not far from there is the headquarters of the intelligence. people here are pretty much concerned about al qaeda taking the fight to the heart of the capital. two days before iran rejoins the west for nuclear talks the supreme leader is striking a defying tone. ayatollah khomeini says the miss

ill capability should not be on the table. >> it is an idea otic inspection, if you want to raise the missile programme, you should not publicly threaten us. >> western countries would like to talk about the ballistic missiles which could be used to deliver nuclear war head. >> khomeini says it should not be the topic. rival presidential candidates in afghanistan are teaming up to head off a run off. results show abdullah abdullah with almost 40% of the vote. we have a report on an alliance that could help him cinch the election. >> reporter: former rivals, now on the same side. the deal sealed with a prayer

after zalmai rassoul announced he'd endorse abdullah abdullah. zalmay rassoul, who fashed third said he -- finished third in the first round said he made it the decision for the sake of unity. >> we are supporting abdullah abdullah - he shares the same hopes and aspirations i have for afghanistan. >> the former foreign minister who stepped down to take part in the poll could gain considerably from his endorsement. political analysts say his decision secured him a place in abdullah abdullah's upper circle. we asked the man widely expected to be the next president if he will offer zalmai rassoul a role in his go. . -- government. >> absolutely, we form different teams, and we are part of one team, not his team, my team. from this point onwards we are running and form government together. it's not just zalmai rassoul

who benefits. outgoing president hamid karzai could do. he is barred from a third term in office and stayed publicly neutral in the election. diplomats in kabul said he received distrot backing from the president in the early staples of the campaign, meaning hamid karzai is all but assured an inside are in the government. zalmai rassoul, popular said his support for abdullah abdullah from the north could be a balance maker in the run-off election due next month. a second-round vote is said to be between the front runner and former world bank economist. >> a sure thing is rare. anything can happen before the final results are in. zalmai rassoul's support is as close as one can get. there's more ahead, including details on the train thousands of immigrants use to

get to the u.s. border. why it is getting tougher for them to ride "the beast", in a live report from mexico city. a new report highlighting a growing problem. despite laws against if many countries use torture. that's the topic of "the week ahead" - coming

is a train featured in our groundbreaking documentary board "border land", nicknamed the beast - many have been banned riding it. the train ride offers a chance for migrants to reach the states. because of harsh conditions faced by migrants, volunteers living near the train ride offer stow aways food. adam raney is in mexico with

more. >> reporter: according to this report and what we have seen first hand there's a ban for migrants getting on the train. as many things in mexico, the rules made are not always followed. we have seen migrants riding the rails, "the beast", since the ban was put in place. we met women along the tracks, every day they go out to meet the trade, bringing food for those that want to get off the train, and those showing up on not. they allow them to stay at their shelter. despite the ban, people are getting on in smaller numbers, as you see in this report. >> reporter: meet this group of women - they feed the migrants riding the train that carries them north to the u.s. border. their leader norma has been doing this for almost 20 years. waiting for the train. it's known as "the beast", and

carries migrants from central america to mexico. back at the shelter she asks new arrivals why they left home. >> i left honduras because there is in no work. we can't live there because of crime. my children couldn't go to school. one of my sons has been killed. >> that's why he brought his youngest son on this journey. like countless mothers before her. she left her children. six of them, in guatemala. >> my children were asking me for things i couldn't buy. all i could do was give them my heart. >> norma sees their pain is soothes it the only way she knows how - offering them a home-cooked meal. >> it doesn't matter where they are fro. they are hungry and they need to leave. leaving their family is not

easy. >> norma finally has support for those in power. mexico's president awarded the pretonus the human rights award for helping migrants. >> translation: they are easy prey for those ta abuse them. when they can't pay they are thrown off the train, or mutilated. >> now they have a few moments to pack the food and toss to hungry migrants. when a full train comes, the work is fast and dangerous. migrants on board feel a rush of excitement. >> reporter: this day, like every other day, they come to the tracks to give food to hundreds of migrants. increasingly many are not getting on the trains because it's to dangerous. some are walking along the

highway. >> some are walking in the train's wake. this father and son left hondure as three months ago and saw migrants tossed off the beast and have been walking the rails since. they hope to reach the u.s. one day. >> it's poignant to see them walking along the rail, through mexico - is that a good way to reach the border? >> from what i have seen, it's statistically possible. it's nearly impossible. there's miles and miles to go, well more than 1,000. it's hundreds of thousands of kilometres. they are penniless. the father and son have no money, and rely on charity, like from the women. while they rely on charity, they are easy prey. the train some ride on it because it's faster, but walking through mexico has dangers. you go through the towns,

there's criminal gangs who prey on migrants, kidnap them, extort them and make them disappear sometimes. some people maybe will walk the distance, but it's very, very ub likely -- unlikely. adam raney with an amazing report. a special programming note: the cast members are coming together to talk about their experiences. that's tonight. here on al jazeera america. next, torture around the world. "the week ahead" looks at how prevalent the practice is, and what can be done to help the survivors.

welcome back to al jazeera america, here is a look at the top stories. [ gunfire ] in eastern ukraine gunfire

erupted during the vote on cessation. one man died. organizers of a referendum in one region say 90% of voters opted for self rule. the state department says the referendum is il nearly a month after 76 school girls were kidnapped, impatience with the government and the search effort wearing thin. the nigerian president is confident and encouraged i international help. u.s. chuck hagel says it will be diff. officials believe retaliation on al qaeda fighters were behind the attack on a yemeni military base. it's sunday night, time for a look at "the week ahead". it's focus is a report on torture scheduled to be released

by amnesty international on tuesday. many people are subjected to it and survivors have to struggle to obvious come the trauma. we begin with this report from courtney kealy. >> reporter: 14 men from democratic republic of congo, rwanda sing to celebrate their bond after counselling and therapy. a survivor wrote the refrain they sing "don't lose hope, stand firm and stop torture." they meet as a tomeni support group, meaning hope. the center for victims of torture provides treatment and medical centres. >> this is a place of hope. >> curt oversees the process in u.s., africa and the middle east. >> survivors and victims of torture are able to rebuild and

recover. >> experts say torture is being carried out in more than 100 countries. >> there's no category that is spared. men, women and unfortunately and especially in the case of syria, i think, increasingly children. almost half the torture survivors that our staff see are children now. so not even kids are spared. we were granted an interview with a survivor who has political asylum and is studying to be a scientists, he was afraid to be on camera, fearing that the smallest identifying detail could tip off informers, who would sell security back home, who would go after his family. we disgaved his voice: -- disguised his voice:

>> the purpose of torture is to dismantle the person, physically, emotionally, psychologically, and to lose trust in themselves and any other people in humanity in general. >> it's estimated there are 50,000 survivors of torture living in the u.s. only about 5,000-6,000 people receive treatment annually in these centres. as we mentioned amnesty international is releasing a report detailing the use of torture around the world.

western nations are among those underscrutiny. president obama is under fire for not closing the detention center at guantanamo bay. he promised to do so after his first campaign. after he took office, restrictions that made closing the prison more difficult were put in place by congress. >> a report was released outlining the agencies secret programs under the bush administration. we have two guests joining us now - how pervasive is torture around the world? >> as they said, there's over it 100 countries. the difficulty from the point of view of the american position on torture, the united states has been a strong advocate. the state department publishes a

human rights report that details torture in many countries. because of the u.s., the rep digs, detention and interrogation, we are under scrutiny for detention and torture practices, and lost a lot of ability and influence. >> you mentioned the united nations convention against torture. more than 150 countries signed it, but many use torture to punish and intimidate prisoners. how many use torture despite signing to this accord. >> when i was special envoy between 2004 and 2010 i visited 18 countries on official in addition, in 17 of the 18 countries i found torture, and this was not necessarily from

the worst countries, but democratic countries, dictatorships, big and small countries. i think it is a fairly represent ty sample. so that means in about 90% of the countries there's torture. in isolated cases, but more than half of the countries of the world torture is a serious problem, widely practices. sometimes systematically practised. >> in your visit to the capitals, did you sense a trend. there we are, showing the 115 countries around the world assigning u.n. torture. did you get a trend as to whether it's getting bet or or worse? >> it's difficult to answer. in some areas it got better. in the last 10-15 years, and those that have to do with the war on terror. it got worse. when we did a study on detention in the fight against terrorism,

we found 66 countries in europe, middle east and africa, many cooperating with the c.i.a., that you seek detention in a fight against terrorism. >> what has changed other are than president obama saying we are going to stop the practice. what has changed? >> i think that the worst piered of torture post 9/11 is 2001 until 2005. a lot of the worst abuses were grought under control because - almost entirely because there was enormous dissent inside the military and intel gebs agencies. they were secret practices. inside there was an enormous most in all of the services to bring these practices back into compliance with international standards. we have an enormous documentary record, which really, you know,

establishes clearly what techniques were used, and how they violated the principles and norms. it was brought under control largely in 2005. the problem is that we had no bilityibility process to re -- accountability process to reflect on what is done and do what the law requires, which is hold those responsible that carried out the programs and provide restitution to the victims, we have not down that. >> when the obama administration administration decided we would not go after anyone in the bush's department, in your view it was a mistake. >> it is a mistake. we need to - first of all, we need to come to terms with what we did, and settle the debate about whether or not this was torture, effective. the whole back and forth between the senate committee and the c.i.a., the senate intelligence report. it is about - will establish clearly for the american people

not only what was done, but the fact that it was not effective in a way the government continued to say tart tur was effective in eliciting threat presenting information. this information continues to be soup revved. without -- suppressed. without that information we are unable to come to a consensus allowing us to move forward and restore protections that should be in place. >> since you mentioned the report, and the c.i.a. - i want to put up a graphic explaining what it is. >> the senate intelligence committee voted to classify the report. the 480 page documents includes findings from five years of investigation into the treatment of detainees. it sparked a few between senate and c.i.a. senate staffers obtained documents not supposed to be

released. and it's under review. i would assume you'd just release it. >> i would think so. a lot of the information on which the report draws on is available in redacted form. it's no longer possible to say the united states didn't violate the convention against torture. the information is there, and many people inside have spoken publicly about how this happened. we are a democratic country proceeding on democratic accountability. it's a matter of preserving and maintaining national standard to move the conversation forward and release the report. >> manfred how many countries have the same tension between political leaders and intelligence agencies in terms of whether torture should be used, and how many disputes will

get resolved. >> it's the same in other countries. in particular, since the bush administration used torture, others are close to collaborating with the united states, if the united states of america was a vanguard in a fight for human rights and torture, if they are torturing, why shouldn't we do the same. it's something we heard in georgia. it's putting into question the absolute prohibition of torture. so you have very, very similar discussions in many other countries. if i may say, of course, the war, the so-called war on terror did a lot to make torture kind of socially acceptable, and put the absolute prohibition into question. if you look at the phenomenal of torture, it's a small perm where

people are tortured because there were suspected terrorists, to get information from them. more than 90% of all cases that i found have nothing to do with steroids and intelligence, they are torture in the ordinary criminal procedure. the police is torturing suspects for any kind of crime, because they have no other or better ways of interrogating and finding evidence. so, of course, we are right to focus on the u.s., on intelligence, but i think the big pard of torture around the world, in all reasons is more average, ordinary crime interrogation. we spoke to the u.n. special rapp tur on torture, and he

explained the obligations that governments have when it came to the practice of torture. >> a third obligation is to offer rapportation and rehabilitation services to victims of torture. this is not very well observed in practice. governments don't identify the victims, and then they pretend there's no one to offer repatriation too. >> do you get a sense, torture we know it doesn't work or provide accurate information that agencies are looking for, sometimes it's used to punish and unflict harm. what is the divide that you see around the world? >> it's both. a lot of times it's a matter of core police work. an expedient way to get a result, a convction, a confession. it's frequently used to get a

confession. to coerce a confession. it's cheap, doesn't require fancy police work and extremely expedient. as manfred said, that's the majority purpose. in the c.i.a. and guantanamo, there's evidence that suggests that the purpose was not to prevent terrorist attacks, but to kind of build cases and pretext for prolonged detention when there were none, and that's the most common purpose of torture. >> during detention whether it's for detainees or prisoners, a lot use solitary cop fine. . is that -- confinement. is that considered a form of torture. when does it become torture? >> it's a difficult question. there are cases where people

have been kept for three years. in pre-trial detention, if you need to keep people apart because it's a whole gang that's arrested, for a short period of time, solidarity confinement might be necessary. prolonged forms, in particular if people are told - sorry, prolonged form of solidary confinement, if i keep you there until you confess or provide mow with the information i'd like to hear from you, then, of course, this becomes a torture, because it is for the pourp of exacting information. we have to distinguish but what you know from ordinary u.s. prisons, maximum security prisons, people are kept in solitary confinement. that can, at least, amount to

inhumane and degrading treatment which is prohibited under law. >> looking ahead. the report comes out tuesday. what do you expect the impact to be? >> it's important. it should be a gut check for the united states. we need to restore, reclaim the leadership position, because we are influential. to do that we need to look and do accounting in our own country for what we have done. >> there has been a solitary confinement. in the united states there has been a degradation with a sense of common humanity and belief and dignity, and it's that belief that underpins the convention and constitutional factors. all human being has a rite to a minimum standard of treatment. we need to look at the treatment we inflicted on others,

acknowledge that in some cases it exceeded the boundaries, do what the law requires, provide restitution and begin to address one another more human lay in the latest. >> thank you both, a fascinating conversation. appreciate you being was. let's take a look at other event that are coming up this week. monday is the last day of voting in india's parliamentary elections which took place in nine phases. on thursday there'll be a dedication service for the 9/11 memorial museum. saturday is the 117th running of the second leg of horse racing's tripple crown still to come - the cost of the state of the art drone can run to $16 million. a bolivian inventor is putting drones in the air, without the expense.

some nasty weather heading to nebraska. carve joins us with the latest. >> from omaha we have dropped tornado warnings in effect for the last few minutes. what we are looking at in the area of travelling on the major highways, it's getting darker. it's hard to see if active weather is making its way towards you. we are looking at warnings and tornado watches in effect. for the last two hours, we have gone from seven tornados up to 15 or 16 tornado. you can see on the damage map where the areas of red are. that's where they have been reported. we are talking about kansas, nebraska and iowa. a lot of hail damage with the

storms pushing through. these are the warnings we are dealing with. here is where omaha and nebraska have located. we are looking at severe thunderstorm warnings. around the region it is tornado watches. conditions are significant and conditions are rife for that type. down here towards the border state, between kansas and nebraska, we are looking at tornado warnings in effect now. we are going to watch this carefully. to the west things are the opposite. we are looking at cold conditions. we see a foot of snow dumped in higher elevations. we expect to see more snow, the gradient and the temperature - how much colder it gets, a lot of places below freezing. if you go further down, across the border states to the west. we'll see the temperatures rising, and that means over the next couple of days fire is a major potential.

unfortunately for southern california. temperatures rising to probably 100 degrees. >> it's unbelievable. this is the season for it. kevin corriveau, meteorologist, thank you. a small town in missouri is cleaning up after a saturday evening twister. the national weather service says oric was hit by app f2. the tornado was part of a super cells storm. no injuries were reported. schools will be closed. heavy rains were wreaking havoc on china. officials say traffic, power and telecommunication systems have been disrupted. the use of drones for civilian purposes is more common in the united states. the unmanned aircraft can map,

monitor, help and search. it is not available elsewhere. we are introduced to pa bolivian inventor who created a new and cheaper drone machine. >> reporter: this man is a master recycler. deodderant lids, pen caps, perfume bottles, are not normally used. >> translation: you can find printers, fridges, photocopies, motors and controllers pulled apart. loads much things you can use nor a robot. with all of these things it's considered a paradise and all of these things are cheap. >> while the motor, on board camera and gps is imported. the body is designed by this man and held together. it doesn't just look the part,

it can fly for 20 minutes at speeds of 22 cups and an altitude of one mile high. developing countries like bolivia. it steels being creative may take a little more creativity. it finds the challenge worthwhile. >> translation: there's an underground movement aappropriate reeting technology, generating new technology. they same across a lot of interesting experiences. military drones in the mill jobs, they hope the unorthodox creations will help create high-flying technology for his country. coming up on al jazeera america - stash of nazi-held arts stored in the united states. why the pieces have not been returned to germany. it's

almost 70 years after the

end of world war ii a u.s. collection of nazi art is kauing a stir. a post-war agreement makes it illegal to be returned to germany. historians say making it public will help many understand how propaganda was spread. >> those are the paintings you expect the u.s. army to have. artwork commissioned by the military itself to regard the u.s. war experience abroad. a few steps away, the subject matter transforms. >> one of the main issues with this piece is that you look at the skull and cross bones and look at the individual's collar badge and it signifies the ss. it's a direct message glorifying the ss. >> this piece is one of 456 german works held at an army base outside washington d.c. under the terms of the agreement on german de-nazification.

paintings were not returned if they were swastikas, other insignia or leaders. >> the art is that this work lost the privileges because of its subject matter and message. it contrasts art by the nazis, with that of the u.s. for mass consumption. >> that is not what you are seeing in the painting of the gis, below the scene of the american b17 coming in. the engine is on fire, firing flares, and they indicate that there is wounded on board. >> the championing of artistic freedom was the propaganda message, not the work, the strategy that continues. for the allies, it was important to show the difference between these regimes, what they stood for. >> the new york holocaust organised exhibitions and some

formed part of its collection. seen within the context of naziism the curator says uch work retains value. >> it's important for objects to be preserved and available for display in the proper circumstances. >> you have to look at the consequences. it caused the deaths of $55 million. when you look at the artwork you examine what role does it play. >> german authorities are not too concerned about getting it back. when contacted, the german embassy declined to comment. the consensus that the cash or artefacts should remain locked up in a virginia warehouse. the tallest structure in the nation's capital reopens tomorrow. the washington monument closed for nearly three years, and needed repairs for 150 cracks in

the marble caused by other quakes. new exhibits will be able to ge seen -- to be seen at the top of the monument. >> that's it for us, but stay tuned for a special episode of "borderland". you don't want to miss this. >> announcer: coming up on "beyond "borderland"", these are people coming to work with us, not against us, but with us. >> if you are an ilimmigrant, you are -- illegal immigrant, you are essentially committing a crime. >> we need a system that works. >> this is a business. these migrants through this

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