unless the senators come back and with a two thirds majority overturn that veto so we're watching that very carefully the white house right now excellent will be back to you can believe it so much thanks so much turkey says interpol has issued arrest warrants the twenty people in connection with the murder of the saudi journalist jamal who showed the news comes off to saudi arabia said the people responsible for his mother have been brought to justice the head of its human rights commission made a statement in geneva but didn't give any more details and he has more from geneva . it was a brief statement by the head of the saudi human rights commission but it's raised many new questions about the murder of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi the saudi said that the perpetrators of the killing described as an accident have been brought to justice for three hearings attended by their lawyers and observe his we have brought them to justice they had a fair trial they are currently detained not their human rights been violated they have been subjected to no form of torture they are entitled to their legal rights

but the saudi delegations failure to provide any names all the details hasn't inspired much confidence of the human rights council the un's repeatedly called on saudi arabia to cooperate with the un led investigation into shorty's murder but the kingdom's refused calling it an internal matter saudi arabia operates pursuant of international law and does so in all transparency therefore what is being conveyed by certain media regarding the need for us to internationalize some of these matters is something we do not accept because such demands amount to interference in our domestic affairs and in our domestic judicial system this activist disagrees if you was the international independent investigation that's mean they are hiding something and what they are hiding very hiding very name for a pair of son or daughter all of this operation of the person who ordered this operation he is still safe and he is still leading the country the saudi crown

prince continues to face tough questions from the international community about his alleged role in ordering the killing and other alleged human rights abuses questions the leadership has repeatedly avoided answering what we've seen from the outset since this whole whole saga became became public has a series of obfuscations and denials by saudi arabia some cases where there are accounts simply do not fit the facts and so it's very difficult to have confidence in there and the narrative. the saudi report comes a week after thirty six countries including all twenty eight e.u. nations issued a joint statement condemning saudi arabia's treatment of detained activists ten women's rights activists have gone on trial in saudi including prominent figures in the campaign to win saudi women the right to drive activists say they've been subjected to torture and sexual assaults the saudi human rights commission left the un leaving a whirlwind of questions there was

a growing feeling among so many human rights council members the saudi has a very did scrutiny for far too long and now it should be the role of the international community to hold saudi to account new park al jazeera geneva or me while the republican senator lindsey graham says saudi arabia needs to change its behavior if it wants to remain a strategic u.s. ally i want to good relationship with saudi arabia but not at all cost we do business with bad people all over the world that's just what you have to do but if you're going to be a strategic ally you need to act differently and that this is a defining moment for the middle east if we give this pass who we say what do we do in the future so there will be sanctions that i will support against m.b.a.'s i'm not telling saudi arabia who to pick as their leader and telling saudi arabia if you're going to be a strategic ally of the united states this won't cut it let's get more now from wilson jordan she's in washington d.c.

for us and rose pretty strong words there from senator graham feeding into the current debate really within the u.s. about says we're nation ship with saudi arabia. that's right and he's pretty much made the same comment every month since she was murdered in at the u.s. at the saudi consulate excuse me in istanbul back on october second in fact just last month after the state department missed a deadline to tell congress what more it was going to do to try to hold saudi arabia accountable for episode she was murdered mr graham had this to say while saudi arabia is a strategic ally the behavior of the crown prince in multiple ways has shown disrespect for the relationship and made him in my view beyond toxic so lindsey graham has been very very critical of the saudi crown prince mohammed bin solomon he's also been very critical of the administration's failure to tell congress what

it's going to do under the terms of the global back netsky act the administration should have given a report to congress a month ago saying what more it's going to do to investigate and then hold accountable those saudis responsible for. murder and we should note felicity that this is not the senator russ speaking out alone there is still a great deal of bipartisan anger and disgust over what happened to mr last october well still live there in washington thank you. still ahead on the program rescue workers call off the search of a collapsed building in nigeria despite the pleas of local people to the operation to continue. that heavy fighting between afghan soldiers and the taliban on the border of afghanistan and to administer.

algeria as new prime minister says he'll form a temporary government of technocrats in the next few days speaking publicly for the first time since taking office and already in battery also promised to include young people and women at protests to say it's a desperate attempt to quell mass rallies planned for friday as the reports. prime minister nuri is under pressure to end weeks of anti-government protests at a news conference in the capital algiers he set out his plan to bring the nation together he promised to build an inclusive government whose mandate would last no more than a year mr the doors will be open to everyone we are listening to everybody we are talking to everyone and we will work with everyone without any preconditions was the prime minister said he wants to realize the hopes and dreams of all algerians but many are skeptical about how much change his administration can

achieve for the past twenty years the good of clan has made so many promises of reform of change and it is completely non credible not credible to give this huge important task of change in democratic transition to the same people who have put us in a situation in the situation that we find ourselves in today on monday president abdelaziz bouteflika and now. he would not seek a fifth term in power he canceled next month's election but didn't set a new date the government says it's ready for dialogue with the opposition but analysts say protesters want much more the government trying to actually rate the pace of negotiation but they are doing so not by taking into account what is currently emerging from to fight and how are people writing them down there with

the thank you good thinking oh a trying to include opposition parties who have been critical life among the creation. i protest organizers are expecting record numbers to turn out on friday they say they won't stop until there's real political change in algeria the tory gate to be al jazeera rescuers in nigeria have ended their search for people buried in the ruins of a building which collapsed on wednesday so far at least sixteen people including school children have been confirmed off the apartment block fell down and. silent state governor says an illegal school had been set up on the top floor of the three story block as many as one hundred people were inside the school when the building collapsed local people say the rescue operation should continue. what's happening in this country is not good i know someone who has three children and now she can't account for any of them she can't even find their bodies. this terrorist

threat to. the fact that. saddam did hockey kids are going to got to do something lungs so i don't think the. sun is up top on this. from the government. because we've got a living here who does it by want to get high definition is that governments. you can see the structure itself is completely on the ground apart from those who were rescued while you guys were here yesterday. we continue our walk over night and i am we are because the body and i don't mean to. do now we have article but anybody. and al jazeera as a committee to us has more now from lagos. heavy duty machinery are quiet now because as rescue workers say they have reached the limits of this operation or rich in the ground floor they said the rescue operation has ended now questions are

being asked as to how many people are still unaccounted for emergency workers men and material out of the location because they believe the operations are over but the locals insist that operations must continue because there are many people still they believe are still trapped under the rubble so they want to continue our bomb from the looks of things it's over in terms of rescue operations however the residents and the crowd here refuse to walk away. another ebola health center has been attacks in the democratic republic of the congo threatening recent gains made to constrain the virus one person was killed another wounded when attackers targets is an abode a transit center in mambo a suspected cases are evaluated it was the fifth health center to be targeted in the country at least five hundred eighty four people have died in this recent outbreak of ebola president of the democratic republic of congo felix just a k.d.

has called in seven hundred political prisoners jailed by his predecessor joseph kabila she's katie who was sworn into power in february after a controversial election a promise that release within his first one hundred days in office says some clear when the prisoners will be freed international has welcomed the move calling it the first step towards restoring human rights in the congo. but they were some breaking news because we're hearing that rock and rocket firings have been sounding in the tell of the area of israel is ready television says explosions have also been heard in the area let's even get more info on this by speaking to algiers high for he joins us on the phone from western flamin harry what were you hearing about the sarin. this is what happened in the last few minutes initial reports coming through as you say of rockets sirens followed by explosions we understand the israeli anti

missile system the iron dome was activated it's not yet clear to us at least whether the explosions took place on the ground where they were the explosions of interceptions in the air the wine at news service belonging to one of the major newspapers here in israel is quoting palestinian sources as saying that the rockets came from gaza the the last time there was rocket fire from gaza the extent of this fire was toward the end of last year but that landed in the sea to the west of tel aviv and just this time it seems that the rocket fire was at least much closer to the city if not hitting the city itself so this marks an extremely dangerous situation especially given the political situation we're currently in in the run up to the israeli election and we wait to see whether those reports that this rocket fire came from gaza confirmed no injuries reported so far but it will be a major security situation for the israeli government to come up with some kind of

response to and of course that's always an extremely dangerous situation here which can lead to escalation and carry forth reporting live there and are you going to keep an eye on that story for us thanks kyra. there's been heavy fighting between afghan soldiers and the taliban in bugg province on the border of afghanistan and tech men to start local officials say thirty soldiers have been killed and up to forty taken hostage over the past week fighting escalates it on saturday and on monday the taliban overran it several army outposts meanwhile a political standoff between afghan president ghani and a political rival has resulted in violent clashes between police and special forces in afghanistan's northern city of mazar e sharif special forces were called in after the local police refused to honor the selection of police chief twenty five officers were hurt shot alice has more from kabul. there's been a violent standoff in missouri sharif one of afghanistan's biggest cities between

can lease and special forces. this goes back to a rivalry between president danny and the former governor of this province and then named mohammad nor know when he was in power appoint a provincial police chief gani on wednesday said that that man is not doing a good enough job at securing the province and decided to dismiss him the full of police chief say that his allegiance was to nor the had been put in that place and he refused to leave that gun into seemed in special forces and at ten o'clock they surround the city and one pm day into the city along with approximately a dozen tanks and heavy gunfire was heard for about four hours as they made a push to try to get this old police chief out and put gunnies appointment in place just after five pm local time the new police chief held a press conference from within the office and said he had gained control over the police and that. whatever happened between president gandhi and.

we don't care about their problems now all shops are closed and we are suffering from this fighting and i'm not going to hold it and i thought not and there is no unity between our elders people like adama hamad noor and some other commanders we have violence every day closing roads closing streets they're creating problems for the people but it just goes to show you the precarious security situation in afghanistan when the government is not only fighting the taliban and i so but also sometimes elements within their own ranks. well the political chief of the taliban has hailed the outcome of talks between the group and the united states it is the first time carney baradar has commented since the talks in doha and it on cheese day he says the taliban will uphold the draft agreement reached here in the negotiations the two sides but progress on foreign troop withdrawal and not allowing taliban fighters to operate inside afghanistan second round of talks is due to resume later this month there are new the talks were good and there were

many developments we are hoping they will pave the way to future engagements we pray to god to bring peace and islamic government to our country that with the blessings of god the taliban is standing by its demands and did not change anything in what we had in our hearts and minds or i still ahead on the program we're going to get an update on the lead a fatality he's a saudi american doctor he's been imprisoned in saudi arabia for more than a year though charges trial that's going to coming up at a news conference be held shortly in washington d.c. we'll see it's. hello again to welcome back to international weather forecasts where the winds have been a big problem here across parts of the u.k. over the last several days and unfortunate as we go into the weekend we're expecting to see those winds continue now we may see a little bit of

a break between systems but unfortunately the trend through the weekend is going to be stormy and windy for much of the northwest let's put this into motion i want to show you as we go from friday to saturday those winds continue across much of that area as well as into northern europe but what we're going to be seeing is a nice change down here towards the south anywhere across parts of southern europe and into central europe we are going to be seeing some very nice conditions sunny skies in temperatures are coming up so by the time we go from saturday to sunday a lot of this high pressure that's dominating is going to be making its way over here towards. east well we're going to be seeing some stormy conditions here across the eastern part of the med that's all dealing with the storm has been bringing a lot of rain across parts of turkey over here towards the west part of odd as well would be seeing some winds along the coast here across parts of libya as well as into egypt we could even see a rain shower or two in those storms but we do think it things are going to get better as we go towards saturday and speaking of better weather it's going to be quite nice across much of the northwest algiers is going to be

a very sunny day if you are twenty two and tunas at about twenty three degrees for you. to do in your. eyes are on their initial shock chose to have boyfriends now. charging a dive bassline except the children of south africa. insist. bannock up the seams in contention that could see. through a complex history of dramatic social and political change except on up south africa amount to zero. when the news breaks and the story below six million children in and outside syria have been affected by war when people need to be high. and the story needs to be told people are telling us that there's no medicine they're not enough ferengi al-jazeera has teens on the ground u.s.

air power alone is not enough to bring in more pain documentaries and light news on air and online. again undermined by the top stories of the al-jazeera british m.p.'s a voted for prime minister to resign made to ask the european union for a delay to press it because the u.k. nourse now leave on the twenty ninth of march as previously planned. turkey says interpol has issued arrest warrants for twenty people in connection with the murder of the saudi journalist. comes after saudi arabia said the people responsible for

his murder have been brought to justice. the u.s. senate has voted to revoke president donald trump's declaration of a national emergency on the southern border with mexico in the last ten years trump has tweeted one word in response the. mexico's government is trying to find nineteen asylum seekers thought to have been abducted from a bus in the northern border states of us separately thirty four missing migrants were rescued on wednesday but they are not thought to be from the same group from mexico city david mercer reports. it was along this stretch of highway in northern mexico that dozens of migrants went missing last week on tuesday mexican officials said a group of hooded gunmen stopped the bus in the middle of the day a few hours drive from the u.s. border. witnesses said the armed men then brought out a list of names and took away a group of men from central america is that he. said because we left our countries

to look for basic things both personally and for our families and to see that other human beings look to hurt others as unfortunate. the incident comes less than two weeks after the kidnapping of at least fifteen men in the same area and a movie and then. we came here fleeing our countries and we found ourselves in almost the same situation because we came here fleeing from the criminality that's in. tama leap us is a battleground between competing drug cartels and as one of mexico's most dangerous states in two thousand and ten is that is drug gang kidnapped and killed seventy two migrants was the following year dozens more migrants were abducted and murdered . on tuesday mexico's president and this man well lopez obrador said this latest group of migrants were not necessarily abducted.

we're investigating to be sure because there's a theory that it's a method that it's used to get yourself into u.s. territory it's not that they disappear but rather that they cross the border that way we've already had two cases like that. in response to the incident mexico's top security official admitted that security is deficient in practically the entire country and that thousands more police are needed mexico's new president has promised to protect migrants passage of the country on their way the united states but these latest incidents are stark reminder of how vulnerable migrants are and the magnitude of challenges that the country faces david mercer al jazeera in mexico city for airstrikes have hit the syrian city of killing at least thirteen civilians and injuring dozens more attacks on the city have escalated in recent days as syrian regime forces intensify pressure one of the country's last rebel strongholds what else will have me reports from. the. anger

is growing among the opposition protesters went down to districts demanding turkey urged russia and syria to respect the terms of the deescalation agreement. tensions have been on the rise but the latest airstrikes targeted several buildings in the center of it including a residential one according to witnesses on the ground. a scene all too common in syria the white helmet rescue workers pulling out people from under the rubble. an old man who could barely breathe. and then conscious child with his head. and a mother with her two children it's not clear who carried out the airstrikes syrian all russian warplanes but this is the first time to city of it libya's targeted since a deescalation agreement was reached between turkey and russia in summer last year . the agreement includes it lipped province and other opposition held areas in the

north of the country one of the targets was a detention facility this man was held there he says the main building was hit and collapse on top of prisoners and guards those who escaped the attack fled the prison here some called on a mobile phone as they run to freedom only to get captured again shortly after it live is home to nearly three million civilians nearly half are internally displaced people who live in dire conditions the province is under the control of hay it to her leadership with turkey acting as guarantor the deal also called for all armed factions to pull back heavy weapons ten kilometers away from the demarcation line these latest airstrikes threaten the two thousand eight hundred sochi agreement which established the deescalation zone an area that the syrian government vows to regain control over both turkey and russia continue to maneuver to head off

a confrontation over the province but the recent pattern of violations threaten the future of the settlement. france's air accident investigation agency has received the black box flight recorders from the ethiopian airlines jet that crashed on sunday killing one hundred fifty seven people on board released this image of the flight data recording showing the crash proof according chip in tights it'll be analyzed along with the cockpit voice recorder the u.s. federal aviation administration says all boeing seven three seven eighth's and minds will remain grounded until its software is upgraded tested and installed. prosecutors in northern ireland also charge a former british soldier with murder over the so-called bloody sunday massacre in one thousand nine hundred seventy two fourteen civilians died when british soldiers fired into

a crowd of demonstrators in one of the most the tourist incidents in the northern island conflicts eighteen of the suspects including sixteen former soldiers and two alleged official ira members were not charged as the evidence available was deemed insufficient so it out prosecutors have charged a man with ordering the murder of the investigative investigative journalist yan could shaq and his fiance in february last year local media identified the man as businessmen. who would be subjected to chats reporting he's previously denied having anything to do with the killings jets killing triggered mass protests and led to the resignation of the country's then prime minister robert feature more than one hundred schools have been forced to close in malaysia because of toxic fumes around forty tons of chemical waste was dumped in a river in the southern region of passive good dung last week since then when five hundred people have reported dizziness nausea and shortness of breath several are

in a critical condition the prime minister says he believes the crisis is now under control or it slowly has more from kuala lumpur. the order to close more than one hundred schools in the southern state of to horn in malaysia affects some thirty thousand school children now more than five hundred people have been taken ill since toxic chemicals were dumped into the kim kim river last week they had a range of symptoms that include dizziness shortness of breath and norcia we also understand that more than one hundred people had to be edited to hospital investigators from the department of environment say they've concluded their investigations and the substance dumped into the river some twenty to forty tons of it is a type of marine oil now the heat and the strong winds have combined to make the matters worse helping to disperse the toxic fumes three people have been arrested including two factory owners and one is expected to be charged in court now in

malaysia has unfaired very well in the environmental arena lately in the last couple of months more than one hundred illegal plastic recycling factories had to be shut down they were accused of importing plastic waste without permits and also of burning to ways that could no longer be recycled and a couple of years ago on regulated box like mining created huge environmental problems that let the country to impose a temporary ban on box like mining now authorities are taking this matter very seriously they've already started a cleanup operation the military as well as the state oil company is involved and the prime minister himself is visiting the area today. but we'll take you right now live to washington d.c. that's where human rights watch is holding a news conference on walid fatai he's a saudi american doctor who's been imprisoned in saudi arabia all the new year with no charges or

a trial this press conference will also be about all the activists who have been jailed in saudi arabia let's listen regis assassination of jamal khashoggi is not an isolated incident. but it is one event in a deeply disturbing wave of violent repression against a wide range of saudis peaceful activists business people intellectuals saudis of all backgrounds and stripes under crown prince mohammed bin so man saudi authorities are locking up saudis on trumped up charges abusing them in detention including through the use of torture and including the use of torture on women detainees denying these prisoners due process harassing their family members trying to ruin their reputations through public smear campaigns and even in jamal khashoggi case having them killed these efforts are part of mohamed been so man's

attempt to impose a harsh authoritarianism to consolidate power and to punish and inflict harm on saudis who are working peacefully to improve and better their society now this matters to us in the united states not only because our own citizens and residents have gotten caught up in this wave of repression but also because it is another reminder of how the united states needs to really evaluate its relationship with saudi arabia and how important it is that the united states speak out and push back against these unacceptable actions these severe human rights abuses are bad for saudi arabia and they're bad for the united states they go against our values and they go against our interests they are still symptomatic of the rise of a particularly brutal form of authoritarianism that not only violates international norms but also increases the risk of instability inside the kingdom the saudi

rulers are counting on us to be silent and they are counting on impunity from us and we as the united states must not let them have that. we are so fortunate to have with us today close family members of two political prisoners who i mentioned no hassle and will leave fatah he to speak about their family members cases and i want to thank them and their families for their courage and recognize their bravery in speaking out so thank you so much for being here we also have andrea proud of human rights watch she's a leading advocate for national security policies that respect international human rights and last but not least we have distinguished members of congress and we want to thank you members of congress for your advocacy on these issues and saudi arabia the voice of congress is so important especially with the silence of this u.s. administration so first without further ado i'd like to introduce senator leahy

democrat of vermont senator leahy is the vice chair of the senate appropriations committee and the senior most member of the senate judiciary committee and the senate agriculture committee and as we all know he is a leader on human rights advocacy and thank you so much senator leahy for being here today thank you very much thank you for having me die soon this microphone is working ok. you know the freeman issue hillary rights watch you have a lot of organizing this event we are both democrats republicans value the kind of research and advocacy. you do is talk of a temperature on the way over here we both talk about are all great things you've done in your research and then you have my friend jim mcgovern that's

chooses here generous to congress but is one of the leading advocates he would write either party of either body it's good to have me here. i think i remember when i heard about the murder of jim elka chuck shoji and then i gave him briefings on it and it gets worse and worse i have to realize what it's like and i think the world realize what it's like to be somebody who has had the blindness of the courage to criticize the government of saudi arabia this crime and for those of us are seeing all the information about this crime are so barbaric so depraved and so brutal in my view expected of a saddam hussein or more recently of isis we now know there's

a saudi royal family is capable of normally committing such atrocities lying over and over again to the world the shameless attempt to cover it up i was a prosecutor i went to many murder scenes and time guys a prosecutor i never saw i as horrific as robert roaring happen in this case so we have to call and demand justice for mr khashoggi who we also have to call attention to other innocent victims were wrongly imprisoned in saudi arabia the state department's own country ports and human rights released earlier just this week described the appalling systematic denial of human rights in saudi arabia the saudi government behaves i mean just tell you and to have my days as a prosecutor there behaving like

a criminal enterprise squad in the country is all well apply the most repressive policies and crew practices openness out there critics. well is best known to actors as dr paul did protégé covered i covered that have. i don't want to report back to the family that got the name i know i'm talking about but but he's an american citizen is an internationally respected physician not seen as a political figure but internationally respected physician subduct one is here today why he the doctor were seized by saudi authorities novembers twenty seventeen it's a mystery no charges have been filed no trial has been hell is simply disappeared or saudi present has reportedly been severely tortured this is

a man whose life was to save the lives of people as a physician look what's happening. like jamal khashoggi no shred of evidence the doctors guilty of anything he should be released immediately should been released gone before now or should certainly be released by now. it's worth repeating the question comes in the title of the washington post march fourth one nineteen headline was saudi arabia is torchy a u.s. citizen when will trump act the white house is far more interested in making excuses for the saudi royal family is uncovering the truth attains doctors really. and other prisoners account is not the only one

among those other prisoners of the world rights act activists a bit persecuted and who know jane how clever or how many out as they come cause they did while her brother is here. the fact that this courageous young woman is in prison for advocating for something what was a crime she advocated for driver's license. my grandkid children count the days of the sixteen so they can get a driver's license and this was after the crown prince told the whole world that he's claim credit for allowing women to drive big deal that's saying we take for granted in this country but then he said that he gets a world to say boy stepping forward is i want to drive and then he locks around for

have occasion for a driver's license is no your opposition to the crown prince fears it's a parents of capitulation or nurses and he determined to avoid he just simply crack down on anybody even those claiming reforms that he says he supports now these cases are only a tiny fraction of the examples of the crown prince repression this he is the so-called reformer or told to put our trust and happily saudi arabia into the future as others in congress has said in both parties he's no reformer he's an impulsive who is less gangster and so we're here gemini to everybody out who want the release of those who are wrongly imprisoned side of rabia and we're calling on her own government make it

a priority to thank you for being here thank you for speaking out and thank you for pointing out those who have simply given lip service and i am going back to the middle of the appropriations he will talk about this. i had a ball of somebody who's use. your mcgovern. thank you thank you thank you so much senator leahy now we have representative jim mcgovern from massachusetts who is the democratic co-chair of the tom lantos human rights commission and thank you representative mcgovern for your leadership also on these issues well thank you very much and me think that freed the freeman initiative and human rights watch and me thank all the human rights defenders that are in this audience here today many of whom i have worked with and who i know and and i appreciate you never ever

giving up and i'm proud to join with senator leahy and others today to call for the immediate and unconditional release of dr will lead but to be a dual citizen of the united states of saudi arabia was to massachusetts as was mentioned i am the co-chair in the house of representatives of the bipartisan tom lantos human rights commission we are given the awesome responsibility of promoting defending and advocating for international human rights on behalf of the united states congress we are here today to speak clearly unambiguously and directly to the government of saudi arabia released dr if i take he now it is unconscionable that he has been held for almost a year and a half without any public charges or trial it is unconscionable that he has been slapped blindfolded stripped to his under way a bound to a chair and shop with electricity that is torture. what is most upsetting about

this is that his case is not unique yesterday ten saudi arabian women activists were finally taken to court after spending nearly a year in detention without charges they have also been tortured and they have also been mistreated and we are also here today to call the saudi government and to speak clearly and on and on unambiguously to release. it is that it is it is the international community should be raising their collective voices in outrage over the detention of these individuals and others you know on the human rights commission we have a program called prisoners of conscience where we each adopt a prisoner who is being held for what they believe are who they are one of. dawi who has been tortured in prison in saudi arabia since two thousand and twelve and as senator leahy mentioned who among us has been able to stop thinking about

the brutal murder and dismemberment of washington post columnist your mom. so we are here we are here to to put the saudi government on notice to let them know that we are watching and that we will not remain silent their behavior is an affront not just to international norms but to basic human decency over and over and over and over again the saudi regime has demonstrated medieval brutality and disregard for even basic human rights that's why in january i reintroduced a bipartisan bill to stop all u.s. arms sales and military aid to saudi arabia this congress must clearly and unambiguously declare that business as usual is over that there are consequences for the saudi government you know again i join my colleagues here today and saying

directly to the saudi government release dr protégé release losing release and release each and every one of their prisoners of conscience let them all go the women and the bloggers and the human rights lawyers and anyone else who's in prison for thinking differently that is the only way saudi arabia will ever be able to fully join the modern world and finally let me just say this about our own government i have always believed that if the united states stands for anything we need to stand out loud and foursquare for human rights there is no excuse in the world to rationalize or explain away or to turn a blind eye to what is happening in saudi arabia i don't care how many weapons they want to buy from the united states i don't care what you know how friendly people are with the saudi royal family what they are doing is. unconscionable nobody nobody democrat or republican nobody in this country who cares about human rights

nobody in this world who cares about human rights should remain silent we cannot have business as usual and so i am proud to join with the families and with other activists here in asking the saudi arabian government to actually do the right thing by these two individuals but by many many more as well thank you very much thank you i am. thank you so much representative mcgovern thanks so much for your leadership for those powerful remarks next i'm going to turn to andrea prowse al from human rights watch to give some political context and background on the human rights situation in saudi arabia today andrea is the deputy washington director of human rights watch and previously as the national security council an advocate for human rights watch she investigated and analyzed u.s. national security policies and practices and led advocacy efforts urging the executive and legislative branch to implement national security policies that

respect internationally recognized rights so andrea over to you thank you thank you so much for having me here and i'm really honored to be at this table today with people who are speaking today about human rights abuses at great personal cost and i and i know many of us in the room don't face that and i thought today when i was walking outside in this beautiful sunny day and i didn't have a jacket i was thinking how lovely it is you know spring is finally here and how discordant it was to know that i was coming here to talk about really some of the the worst things that humans can do to one another but unfortunately that is why we're here today we're here to talk about torture inside saudi arabia and i'd also like to talk a little bit about. in part why the saudi arabian government engages in torture because i think that that's a question many of us often ask people like myself who unfortunately have to read about and speak to survivors of torture in

a variety of contexts often find ourselves asking but why some of us can imagine the entirely false but theoretical ticking time bomb scenario so that's one reason someone could imagine someone might engage in torture but as we've heard today some of the people who have very credible allegations of torture are in prison for doing what mohamed been some on the saudi crown prince did himself for advocating for women to drive for example. so i i think it's really important we're having this conversation here in washington in congress because what you heard from this morning from senator leahy and representative mcgovern this afternoon rather unfortunate doesn't represent the views of everyone in congress i think that the view of many members of congress has shifted and is shifting about saudi arabia but not sufficiently and certainly the administration has not shifted its view which has been one of business as usual so when representative mcgovern called to change its view i think that's what all of us are here to talk about how can this

government make it no longer be about business as usual when it comes to the saudi regime so some things are changing yesterday bipartisan majority of senators voted to and u.s. involvement in the saudi and u.a.e. led conflict in yemen for a variety of procedural reasons we could talk about the war powers resolution another time but what matters is that members senators were willing to stand up again on a bipartisan basis not overwhelmingly but a number of republicans joined with the democratic caucus to say that it will not be business as usual with saudi arabia the united states should not be continuing to support the conflict in yemen again for a variety of reasons but what's important is that people are actually talking about the saudi regime both with respect to what's happening in yemen where human rights watch and other organizations have documented extensive violations of the laws of war civilian casualties we've all seen the horrible pictures on t.v. of many children starving because of a manmade famine. and that's been an improvement and the second thing that we've

seen is because of the her. whose pictures appear now again we saw members of congress stand up on a bipartisan basis and say there's something wrong with this there's something so deeply problematic with this kind of conduct that it is making us rethink our approach towards saudi arabia and i think that's really important i think the personal stories we're about to hear hopefully will will continue to help shape that narrative but to have this conversation now in the context of the vote yesterday on yemen in the context of the ongoing hopefully investigation into who is truly responsible for the killing of jamal khashoggi i think it's really important on that point a number of human rights organizations including human rights watch sent a letter today to house foreign affairs chairs urging them to continue to press the administration on account ability for jamal's killing including an explanation under the global magnitsky act as to who was responsible we heard senator leahy

talk about the saudi royal family being responsible and he's saying that from a position of someone who has access to more information than a lot of us do not surprising the un special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions who has been looking into this also made a preliminary finding that the saudi government was clearly responsible for the killing of jamal khashoggi that it was not a rogue action by rogue actors that was not incidental it was planned it was premeditated not surprising to any normal person who knows they don't carry bone saws in their carry on bag when they travel to another country but the international community perhaps need to be reminded of that so one question that i hear a lot when i talk about saudi arabia here in congress is why now everyone knows the saudi regime has been brutal everyone knows their human rights abuses in saudi arabia the image that most americans think of when they think about saudi arabia is fully veiled women and many americans may be familiar with the male guardianship system which requires women from cradle to grave to have

a male relative authorize all of their travel and significant activities in their personal life we've seen women attempt to flee sometimes successfully from saudi arabia and specifically from this system. and it was standing up against that system and standing up for their rights that a number of women rights activists not not just women and women's rights activists because some men have been detained as well were detained unjustly and we'll hear here shortly more in particular so in the context of standing up against that system that many people were detained so why now is not just because of what's happening in the us political environment but also because over the last two years we've seen a significant increase in human rights violations inside saudi arabia human rights watch has been documenting human rights violations in saudi arabia and in ninety countries here around the world for many years but over the last two years we've seen an increase in allegations of torture we've seen an increase in the severity

of the allegations of torture and we've also seen an increase or really for the first time these allegations of irregular detention so the people who were rounded up and held in the ritz carlton will hear about dr for taking shortly that's one example of the women's rights activist again it seems have been held in an unofficial facility for some time before being moved to a regular detention facility and that's unusual and that is of course deeply problematic because unjust detention and torture in a regular facility are of course problematic but what we've seen is mohamed been foam on the people closest to him however the sort of personal reign of detention of torture of control and the goal is to control the populace to control opposition and if there is opposition to slam it down and that's what we've seen with the victims we're talking about today so the types of allegations of torture

that we've documented are electric shocks whipping and sexual harassment and we've also seen in the last few years that saudi courts when confronted with evidence of torture leading to coerced confessions. simply disregard it we need to be reviewed ends up seven separate trial judgments from the specialized criminal court which is the court where all of the so-called terrorism and special cases and up and we review cases that were handed down against men and children in two thousand and thirteen and twenty fourteen for their alleged involvement in protests related to. the shia uprising the shia minority protests in twenty eleven and twenty twelve in the eastern provinces and saudi arabia in each of these cases we saw the defendants raise allegations of torture claim that the confessions that they provided had been coerced the judges immediately dismissed those allegations accepted the confessions convicted them and in some cases handed down death sentences solely based on these confessions that were obtained through torture. and we have been listening to

a news conference organized by human rights watch in the u.s. congress specifically about human rights abuses in saudi arabia also looking at particular cases one for example of a saudi american doctor who's been imprisoned in saudi arabia for more than a year with no charges or trial his name will lead he his son is due to speak any moment now at that news conference and the conference will also focus of course on the plight of the many people victims of human rights abuses in saudi arabia also crucially the women who have been in prison the rights protesters that were fighting for the right for women to drive now let's bring in mike hanna years live at that event in washington d.c. mike hanna how common or uncommon is it the see an event like this about human rights abuses in saudi arabia saudi arabia of course a country that has many links with the united states have so much prominence

because i'm thinking that a few congressmen as well did address the news conference a little earlier. yes indeed the fact that this event is taking place on capitol hill the scene of the sights of the u.s. congress very clearly a strong indication of the depth of concern that does lie within congress about saudi arabia's human rights record and yes we've heard from senator patrick leahy as well as the representative jim mcgovern calling for the immediate release of these two specific detainees but making very clear as well is that they are using these two cases to remind the world to remind the u.s. as a whole that there are many others in saudi arabia who are being held without trial because of their political dissent and we hear as well from the senator and congressman that basically the issue here lies with the ultimate respond. ability

the man responsible for this so the senator and the representative insist is the crown prince of saudi arabia muhammad. now one must remember as well what has led up to this soon recent months there has been increasing pressure in congress to take action against saudi arabia this erupted further with the killing of jamal khashoggi and also the incredible anger that there has been among many sectors of congress at the fact that the trumpet ministration has basically brushed the matter aside president trump is now on the record as saying whether or not the crown prince was responsible it must go on the trade with saudi arabia must go on the political dealings of saudi arabia it must go on but we're hearing from congress members that that should not be the case that what they are saying now is that it can no longer be business as usual and they are using the cases of the thai he and the whole to actually highlight the repression of human rights within saudi arabia

itself i suppose there have been a few members of the american congress and senate as well that have highlighted the issues but the administration does seem to want to maintain its ties to to saudi arabia any indication that events like this make any difference that actually put pressure if not just on the administration also highlight issues with the american public at large. indeed yes well that is what members of congress saw attempting to do there has been a complete divide between congress and the trump administration on this entire issue and importantly it is a bipartisan issue within congress that is not just democrats are calling for action to be taken against saudi arabia it is republicans and democrats very clearly making this a bipartisan issue early on in the course of the day we heard senator lindsey

graham now he's a very close confidant of president trump but on this particular issue he's at a leave divided from the president insisting that that same phrase again it cannot be business as usual with saudi arabia that action must be taken economic sanction political sanction something must be done to show saudi arabia that it cannot carry out such an abrogation of human rights without consequence the issue of jamal khashoggi highlighted this particular point in the months since there's been increasing pressure from congress on the trump administration to take some form of action whether that still does not happen whether this type of event can add to that pressure on the administration well that's another matter entirely very clearly president trump and some of his members of close family have indicated that they will not give in to these demands from congress jerrod cushion of the son in law of president trump recently visited saudi arabia had meetings with the saudi

crown prince no mention it is believed of the murder of jamal khashoggi or indeed of the ongoing detention of dissidents within saudi arabia so at this point the trumpet ministration has shown no sign whatsoever of borrowing to pressure from congress but congress has made very clear it is not going to stop applying that pressure. i can i know you'll be monitoring all developments from that news conference for and we will check in with you a little later for the moment i can in washington d.c. thank you. let's bring you some breaking news now rocket sirens have sounded in the tele vive area israeli t.v. says explosions were also heard well let's check in with gary for cities live in west jerusalem this news coming into us what about twenty minutes ago what more can you tell us about the salary. that's right it was certainly within the last hour within the last hour there were these initial reports of rocket sirens over television in tel aviv and explosions heard around the city as well the israeli

army has since confirmed that it detected two rocket launchers coming from gaza the israeli media reporting that one of those rockets was intercepted by the anti missile system the iron dome and reports that another of those rockets fell in the area of ramat gan which is essentially part of the wider tel of eve sprawl it's the first time the rocket has for an inside the television area since the gaza war of twenty fourteen now what we're hearing from gaza is that the leadership of hamas excuse me of hamas has gone underground according to our sources they're expecting an israeli retaliation any time soon hamas has made no comment regarding this the israeli media quoting israeli sources suggest that this was a fudge or five rocket one which is associated with palestinian islamic jihad

islamic jihad hims themselves have denied any responsibility presumably well aware that any israeli retaliation could potentially target their leadership as well there is one particularly well sourced journalist in the israeli media who's quoting an official saying that their initial assessment is that it could be another actor not hamas another palestinian actor in gaza trying to upset efforts towards calm however there is no confirmation of that the u.s. envoy to the region jason green blatt has come out with a tweet entirely blaming this on hamas and you have to say that you have to remember that the israelis consider officially as israeli policy anything that comes out of gaza is hamas has responsibility because they are the body that's in charge of the gaza strip i mean obviously as you say this is the first rocket to reach anywhere.