05/31/13 05/31/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! ex- felon voting plans in states like florida, when you go back to the history of debate and look at what was said at the time there were first imposed more than 100 years ago in most cases, the quite -- the purpose is to suppress the black vote. >> restoring the right to vote. and a victory for civil rights groups, virginia republican governor has announced a plant automatically restore the voting

right of nonviolent ex balance. we will speak with naacp president benjamin jealous. four years ago today, abortion provider dr. george tiller was shot dead while attending church in wichita, kansas. women'sion is about hopes, dreams, potential. abortion is a matter of survival for women. >> george tiller's former colleague julie burkhart will join us from his former clinic, which shoot reopened last month, four years after his murder -- which she reopened last month, four years after his murder. nobel peace laureate some african archbishop desmond tutu and others are calling on president obama to release oscar lopez rivera. >> after more than 30 years, oscar lopez rivera is in prison tryingrime of conspiracy

to free his people from injustice. >> all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. of sectarian violence in iraq is continuing with at least 33 people killed on thursday. according to the united nations, more than 500 people were killed in iraq this month while more than 700 died may april, marking the bloodiest month there in nearly five years. starting today, a ban on cars bearing certain types of license plates is in effect in the capital baghdad as authorities attempt to stop a rash of fatal car bombings. several u.s. news outlets are boycotting an offer by attorney general eric holder to meet for closed-door talks about the obama administration's policies for secretly spying on journalists.

the meetings follow revelations the justice department seized phone records linked to roughly 100 associated press journalists as well as the private emails of a fox news reporter. the new york times reports holder has begun internal deliberations about tightening the rules for seizing such records. he invited the washington bureau heads of major news outlets to meet this week for off the record talks, meaning none could record -- the report on what was said. fox is a nuisance to the press both refused to attend as did cnn, nbc, cbs, the huffington post, the new york times, and mcclatchy newspapers. the washington post, a politico, abc and usa today did agree to a 10. as the bloody conflict in syria continues to deepen, syrian president bashar al-assad has agreed "in principle" to international talks in geneva but said any deal reached at the meeting would need to be approved by the syrian people.

>> in the agreement as a result of any meeting inside or outside syria, including the conference, should be subject to the opinion of the syrian people. the referendum for the syrian people. this is our only real condition. this is why we will go to this conference feeling comfortable. we have no worries. they can put anything up for discussion, but nothing will be implemented without the opinion of the syrian people. there is nothing we are afraid of. >> the opposition group syrian national council said thursday it will not attend the peace talks next month. a spokesperson said -- the pakistani taliban is vowing revenge against the government for its alleged complicity in u.s. drone strike that killed the group's deputy chief. a spokesperson said the group was canceling its offer of peace

talks and accused the pakistani government of providing information that helped the c.i.a. find a man who was killed by drone on wednesday in north resist and along with six other people. u.s. authorities are investigating more suspicious letters sent to president obama that may contain the poison ricin. the secret service confirmed one of the letters was similar to the ones addressed to nyc mayor michael bloomberg and the group mayors against illegal guns, which referenced the national push for gun control. a number of threatening letters have been sent to officials and government agencies recently. three of them, including one addressed to obama, were reportedly postmarked from spokane, washington where a man was charged last week with sending ricin-tainted mail to a federal judge. the father of a chechen man shot dead while being questioned by an fbi agent has spoken out about his son's killing. ibragim todashev was reportedly unarmed when he was killed last week during interrogation over

his alleged links to one of the boston marathon bombing suspects. on thursday, his father displayed photographs of his son's corpse and said he was shot seven times. he accused the appeal i of "tormenting" his son for eight hours and called for those responsible to be put on trial. i want justicet and i want there to be in investigations of these people are tried under american law. these are not fbi agents but bandits. i cannot call them anything else. >> on for some officials have provided differing accounts of the episode, -- law enforcement officials have provided differing accounts of the episode, with some initially claiming todashev had a knife. another said he flipped over a table and lunged at an age of the metal pole before being shot. the aclu is calling for what it calls careful screening of james comey, the former bush a ministration official reportedly tapped to be the head of the

fbi. in a statement, the aclu says comey approved of some of the bush a ministration stick that worst abuses" while he served under the justice to permit under then attorney general john ashcroft. comey had previously signed off on the spy program when it began allowing the national security agency to eavesdrop on the phone calls and emails of u.s. citizens without court warrants. his objection to reauthorization focused on an unspecified element of the spy program. he ultimately gave his backing dr. the bush a ministration agreed to make changes in a statement, the aclu also criticized comey for approving u.s. torture techniques including waterboarding as well as for helping oversees the prolonged -- helping oversee the prolonged indefinite detention of u.s. citizen jose padilla without charge or trial. the aclu concludes --

thousands of protesters with the havevist movement blockuppy blocked access to the european central bank in frankfurt, germany and a protest against european austerity. the demonstrators were confronted by scores of police in riot gear. the unemployment rate in eurozone tons to wrote -- new record of a 12.2%. more than 19 million people in europe were out of work in april. hundreds of garment workers protested thursday outside a factory that makes clothing for nike. most of the workers were women and have been striking to demand a $14 a month pay increase. at least 23 garment workers or injured monday by military police wielding stun batons. the workers outlined their demands with one describing how she miscarried following the clash with police.

>> i was pushed by the military policeman and fell on the ground in front of the factory that day, then i lost the baby. >> i protested to demand more pay because the current pay is not enough for my daily spending grid also, the factory owner and ministry of labour agreed to increase the pay 14 u.s. dollars per month. the factor promised increase our pay by nine u.s. dollars per month, but we want all of the u.s. $14. >> an acura worker in cambodia. fast food workers in seattle, washington have become the latest to walk off the job as part of a growing nationwide push for $15 an hour wage and the right to unionize without harassment. the strike by workers from taco bell, subway, burger king and other chains began wednesday night and shut down several stores. it was the seventh such action in eight weeks. a u.s. bankruptcy court has ruled the mining company patriot coal can break its agreements with unions and slash worker

pension and health-care benefits in a bid to cut costs after it filed for bankruptcy last year. the united mine workers of america union has vowed to appeal the union, which would see thousands of active and retired mine workers lose their benefits. in chicago sun-times newspaper has fired its entire photography staff. 28 employees including the pulitzer prize-winning photographer lost their jobs thursday in what management said was a push to prioritize online video. cnn is reportedly closing its bureau in iraq. according to the site, cnn was the last u.s. tv news organization to maintain a baghdad bureau. a new research center report says a record number of others in the united states are now the primary breadwinners for their families. among households with children under 18, 40% are now supported by women as the top earner. that is dear to quadruple the amount a half century ago.

a quarter of homes with children are headed by single moms. on thursday, right-wing pundit erick erickson drew outrage for his response to the report about the rising number of female breadwinners. speaking on fox news, he said the shift was undermining supposed biological roles for males and females. >> the liberals who defend this and say it is not a bad thing are very anti science. when you look at that biology, the natural roles of males and females in society, the male is typically the dominant role in the female is not into this is or competing, but a complementary role. we as people in this mars society of lost the ability to have complementary relationships the-in a smart society have lost the ability to have complementary relationships. el salvador self minister has reportedly given permission to an ailing woman to undergo a c section to end a pregnancy. the 22-year-old woman said she

will have surgery next week. she suffers from lupus and kidney problems and is gearing roughly six month-old fetus that lacks a brain and cannot survive. her case to international outrage as she begged for her life for several weeks under the el salvador strict abortion ban. the decision to allow surgery came one day after the country's supreme court rejected her plea for abortion and the same day that the inter-american court of human rights in costa rica ordered the el salvador to provide her with life-saving care. speaking from the hospital, beatriz said -- those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. in a major victory for voting rights, virginia's republican governor bob mcdonnell has announced he will automatically restore voting rights for people

with non-violent felony convictions. his decision will eliminate the two-year waiting period and petition process that currently disenfranchises thousands of nonviolent felons who have completed their sentences and satisfied all the conditions of their punishments. according to the sentencing project, 350,000 virginians who have completed their sentences remained disenfranchised in 2010. under the new plan, the governor's office will notify nonviolent felons in a letter that their rights have been restored once the office has verified that he or she has served all time and paid all debts owed. on thursday, mcdonnell explained his decision on msnbc's "morning joe." >> we are a nation of second chances. we believe in redemption and restoration. our recidivism rate is down 23% read part of what we have been able to do is have the ability to give people fully reintegrated into society.

what i announced yesterday, once someone has done a probation or incarceration and parole and paid all their fines and costs and don't have any pending charges, we will automatically restore their voting rights and their civil and constitutional rights, give them fully reintegrated into society, the law-abiding citizen. that will decrease this in -- chance they will repeat. >> virginia is one of only four states that do not automatically restore voting rights to felons once they've served their time rid the governor says he can only legally restore rights on an individual basis under the new process. this means the governor's office will send a letter to each former nonviolent felon it can find, telling them the rights are restored. a chance to amend the constitution to make the process automatic approved unsuccessful for more than 30 years. x offenders reacted to the governor's announcement on cbs affiliate wdbj in roanoke, virginia. >> i have forgiven myself.

the other people involved in my situation have forgiven me, but it was like a dark cloud over my head. this finally feels like society for giving me as well. >> for more we're joined by benjamin johns, president and ceo of naacp. his organization has been on the forefront of the campaign to restore voting rights to former felons. welcome back. you have a conservative republican governor, bob mcdonnell, explain exactly what he has to do. >> what he did was simply sign an order saying that for each person who has fulfilled these requirements, which has been on violent crime, serve your time, pay your fines and serve your probation, then your rights will be restored that day. they had over 100,000 people in the database but it only goes back to 1995. so for people whose crimes were

before then, those folks will have to come in and ask. but for the 100,000 plus that go back to 1995, they will get a note saying their voting rights have been restored. >> but he has to do it one by one? >> the bottom line, however you do it, people have to get an actual note to them so they have something on file if they are challenged. it is a legal term. >> innocence since it is an executive order, it potentially is it possible a future governor could reverse it? >> it is possible but very unlikely. we have been assured it is unlikely to be overturned. similarly, terry mcauliffe [indiscernible] this has been in place for more than 110 years. it is a shame it has taken this long. it was put in place by

constitutional convention in 1901. the whole purpose was discrimination. because of this plan, [indiscernible] it is amazing is best taken until now to put such a big dent. the governor is committed to push for the actual repeal of that language in the constitution, even after his out of office. >> i was asking about the individual nature because it isn't the governor mcdonnell is doing this because he wants this to happen in the legislature will not approve it? >> that is right. we got killed in committee in the house. in virginia, you can only serve one term. this is what he could do. this language about it being particular people as opposed to a class of people, really has to do with the requirement of the

law there. the way it would be experienced is just the same, that all the people of this class would have their voting rights automatically restored. talking about maybe 350,000 formerly incarcerated people, 100,000-200,000 will have their voting rights restored. >> what does it say about this trend of the formerly incarcerated losing their voting rights, what has been happening state-by-state around the country? >> state-by-state, we've seen a massive convergence of the left and right. andchristian conservatives the most activist groups on the left coming together in setting, we have got to figure out a way for these millions of people who have been to prison to finally be reintegrated into society. you heard the governor talked about redemption. that is a value he and i found three years ago when we first talked about this. it is something we both treasury that was a principle we could come together on.

people have a right to redemption rid we as society have to do everything we can -- quite frankly, if someone is coming out of prison, we want to encourage positive behavior. if voting is on their mind rea. explain the landscape in the united states of what happens to people who have spent time in prison and come out for it everywhere from vermont or you can vote from prison. >> in maine, we have a system one voter registration drive. maine has a black people look -- population a 0.7%. barring felons from voting is a legacy of jim crow. it is an artifact of racialized oppression in our country. in virginia when they put it into law, they said the darky

will be eliminated. in new york state, right after the 15th amendment was granted, they went into albany. article whereat it says, we are anticipating the imposition of the 15th amendment against our objection and we are seeking to similarly suppress the black vote by taking away voting rights from formerly incarcerated people because in this country, we have always had racial profiling. we've always enforced the laws and unfair ways. what this means is if you are a drug addict and are poor, you tend to go to prison. if you are rich, you go to betty ford or the equivalent. when you go in, if you are a woman -- and that is in the huge increase in demographic in the last 20 years -- your kids go to foster care. you give your kids when you find

a job and can keep it when you get out of prison grid for formerly incarcerated people, they have people,"f" on their foreheads where it is almost impossible to get a job, cannot vote. a woman spoke passionately yesterday about what it was like to be speaking to republicans women's club and asked to sign a petition to run for office. and the interrogated about why he could not sign it. she had to re-out herself that on her worst day she had done something wrong and become a felon. this is how we push people out of society while having lived amongst us. this principle of redemption that many on the right and then on the left have been able to unify around is really about saying at the end of the day, these are our neighbors, church members, and have a right -- in fact, we have a need for them to get right back into society and become part of society. if you're not allowing people to do the right thing, you are

encouraging them to do the wrong thing. >> a want ask you about kemba smith's right for voting rights. in 1994 she is sentenced to 24.5 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a cocaine ring read she admitted to lying and breaking the law for her abusive boyfriend, but never used or sold drugs herself. after president clinton granted her clemency, kemba smith became a leading advocate for voter restoration in virginia. >> after serving 6.5 years and better prison, president bill clinton commuted by 24.5-year prison sentence. had it not been for this act of president, itates presen was still be serving a prison sentence today into the year 2016. despite receiving executive clemency, one of the collateral consequences of having been incarcerated is losing my right to vote.

in 2008 during the most historical presidential election in the united states, i was not able to cast my vote due to state disenfranchisement walls. in virginia, a convicted person would need to pay an outstanding fine and court costs, complete their supervised release -- which i had 60 months of -- and after doing that, they ought is a mandatory three or five-year waiting period before convicted person can apply for restoration of voting rights. based upon whether you have a nonviolent or a violent offense. if you have a nonviolent drug charge, you automatically fall within the five-year period simply because of a drug case. >> that was kemba smith, a resident of virginia. your comments? >> she is a friend. i love it bill clinton personally to help get her out

and lobby governor mcdonnell to have her voting rights restored. one thing that is so startling about her case -- two things. one, classic drug dealer girlfriend case. he was involved in a drug conspiracy for six years and she dated him for one year but he got killed while the fbi was%. she was hit with the full weight of its. she did what she did because she was afraid of being beat up. she was coerced. kemba smith could vote when she lived in the midwest. she voted in 2008. she moved home to virginia and are voting rights were stripped again. we got a case of individual clemency for her. she and i were there together two days ago and we were both very clear. it is unfair that people like kemba smith still have to go to the old process, and we're going to push to make sure everybody -- kemba was a victim of abuse. because it was a drug crime, it

was considered violent. that is one of the issues. we will keep pushing, but 100,000-200,000 is big enough to call a victory. >> explain how this works. in virginia, it is a conservative republican governor. before that was governor cain, a democrat. >> democrats' civil rights lawyer and refuse to do this. i loved him and a lot of people love him very directly, and the just published by lobbied him and a lot of people lobbied him directly and he just would not do it. when you look more generally, the issue with democrats is they fear being perceived as being soft on crime. with republicans, even though they don't share the same fear, they fear the impact. they say, there are 100,000 poor people and there will tend to vote democrat, so why would we do this at that governor mcdonnell said, it may not be in

the person of interest of my career -- although you could argue may help the republicans -- but it is the right thing to do so i'm going to go ahead and do it. >> i want to turn to a report in florida published in april by the south florida times. the article points out that florida governor rick scott has -- the article goes on to say -- >> rick scott is a classic boats oppressor. he is on his said, look, it is not in the interest of my party for these folks to vote.

every single way he can think he has attacked -- even made it hard to register people to vote. he had shares running my folks -- sheriffs threadgill my folks. rick scott we succeeded in registering as many people we could in florida in 2012 and the whole country in 2008. these people can be beaten back. it was not charlie crist, it was charlie crist and jeb bush. there are republicans, brother mainstream republicans, who believe in redemption and will take risks for it. there are others to become the new mainstream who are willing to do whatever they can to suppress the vote, and i think that is why it is important those of us on the left early to say, i may not agree with you on

most things, but if this is one thing that we agree on, let's get it done. >> i want to raise the question, the supreme court will be deciding very soon on the issue of voting rights. your sense of what it looks like in terms of the court's decision, the importance of this decision? >> we have chosen to remain optimistic because the supreme court upheld the voting rights act in the past four decades. it would be an outrageous violence of multiple presidents for them to strike down section 5 now, especially because it was passed unanimously -- well, 98 with two abstaining, after 15 -- >> >> and section 5? >> the part that gives the certain counties the power to preempt changes in how elections are administered re-election lot

of self that seem to have a racially disparate impact. they seem to be designed keep black and brown folks out of the ballot box. that is what they're going after right now. they're going after it from shelby county, quite frankly. the only argument they can make is, it is in ohio. has notounty in abama changed. they're saying, there are counties in ohio that should be -- well, yes they should. the bottom line is, there's nothing about this formula that is unfair to shelby county. shelby county has been resisting the very idea of democracy. we are saying, look, they have upheld it four times in four decades and up held a fifth time but if they don't, it will be one of the most retrograde turn back the clock activist moments in recent court history. just don't think justice

kennedy once that to be his legacy. >> very quickly, has the naacp taken a position on assata has been theba, president -- the fbi has just put her on the most-wanted list, the first woman to be placed on it, and increase the bounty for her to $2 billion. >> this is -- frankly, all of the political prisoner cases from the 1960's are a concern. the unsolved lynchings are something we're still working on. it makes you wonder if the country isn't coming to a place where we need some sort of truth and reconciliation commission to help us deal with what are very painful moments. when you think about the police officers here in the new york, new jersey area, the families still grieve about what happened with the brinks case, what happened on the turnpike in this

shooting. when you go down to georgia, as i was a couple weeks ago, many have unsolved lynchings from 60 years ago and you see the pain and black community, the suspicion of sheriff's for years. we have not taken a position on the assata shakur case, but i do think if we're going to heal as a nation, we have to look at the violence as politically motivated violence on both sides, and figure out how we heal both of them. i used to be the manager of a paper in jackson, mississippi. our paper was burned down three times. by publisher used to have lunch with the leader of the ku klux klan every month. he comes in one day and i'm like, why? one, and nobody in this town wants to talk about the

civil war with us and we both like talking about. two, it is time to start listing to each other and figuring out how we heal this. the civil war is not ending. these were two old men, both within a decade of dying, who sat down across great difference. my publisher had many friends killed by the klan. he said, it is time we bury the hatchet and figure out how to move forward. my hope is that as a country we can talk about a truth and reconciliation commission because the winds around assata shakur and the progressive committed the and so many other shakurs, they wounds down south with the unsolved lynchings, it is just time for us to find a new way. i don't see it ending grid and don't see politicians backing down and saying, we're going to

approach this with our whole mind and heart. the battle line drawn may be drawn for a long time. ceo andealous, president of the naacp. coming up, the story of oscar lopez rivera. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. segment we will be going to the clinic of george tiller in wichita, kansas, four years after he was murdered. the right now we turn to another issue and another anniversary. >> hundreds of puerto rican is rally this week to call for the united states to release puerto rican independence activist oscar lopez rivera. wednesday marked his 32nd year

in prison. in 1981 lopez was convicted on federal charges including seditious conspiracy -- conspiring to oppose u.s. authority over puerto rico by force. he was accused of being a member of the faln, the armed forces of national liberation, which claimed responsibility for more than 100 bombings to call attention to the colonial case of puerto rico. in 1999, president bill clinton commuted the sentences of 16 members of the faln but lopez refused to accept the deal because it did not include two fellow activists who have since been released. in a rare video recording from prison, oscar lopez rivera said the charges against him were struck with political. >> the fact i was charge with suspicious -- seditious conspiracy speaks for itself. the charge in reference to puerto rican has always been used for political purposes. it goes back to the first time in a group of puerto rican as

was put in prison was by using this charge. this has always been a strictly political charge used against puerto rican as >> calls are increasing for oscar lopez rivera to be released. president of the puerto rican senate recently sent a letter to president barack obama asking that lópez's sentence be commuted. in 2011, nobel peace laureate máiread corrigan maguire of northern ireland, adolfo pérez as cabello of argentina, and archbishop desmond tutu of south africa wrote to obama after lopez was denied parole. this is desmond tutu. >> after more than 30 years, oscar lopez rivera is in prison for the crime of seditious conspiracy, conspiring to free his people from the shackles of injustice. now is the time to mediate an unconventional -- unconditional

release. we feel compelled to repeat the setical call of isaiah to free those who are bound. >> that the south african archbishop desmond tutu. at wednesday's protest importer rico, activists set up fake prison cells in several cities across the island to raise awareness about lopez's case. former major league baseball all star carlos delgado took part in a protest. in an interview he was asked what crime lopez had committed. >> loving and supporting his homeland. i send solidarity to oscar lopez. obviously, when into that room and know they have taken your freedom away, it is sad, it is hard. i can only imagine what is have

an oscar for the last 32 years. i imagine he has had an incredible amount of mental strength. we're here to support him and send him a good energy. >> to talk more about the case of oscar lopez rivera, we were recently joined by two guests here in our studio. luis nieves falcón is a renowned puerto rican lawyer, sociologists, and educator. he is professor emeritus of the university puerto rico. he is editor of the just released book of oscar's letters and reflections called, "oscar lopez rivera: between torture and resistance." we're also joined by the man who wrote the introduction to the book, matt meyer, a longtime leader of the war resisters league. we began by asking luis nieves lopez to talk about oscar rivera's background. .> he was a vietnam veteran he was given the bronze medal because of his effort to save some of his colleagues in action. in coming to,

chicago, he was amazed by the inequality that existed in the city. not only was a hard for the puerto rican, but other nationalities there. he did active work in trying to [indiscernible] he found it was not really to have the structure changes that are necessary to raise the levels of all the ethnic people in chicago. -- he joined an organization

the social economic conditions of the puerto ricans in the united states could only really improve the political status of the homeland, the island. there must be a change in the colonial status. that activism brought conflict with the established authority. which and away, they sought as a threat not to the power or the ruling,ites that are and he was targeted.

finally, he was arrested. he was accused of seditious conspiracy. he was not accused of killing anybody. he was not accused of placing any bombs. he was not accused of maiming anybody. he was accused of being associated with an organization that favored [indiscernible] to the southerners who wanted to secede from the union. all thosecivil war, persons that were convicted

seditious conspiracy, were freed. the law was not applied anymore in the history of the united states until 1937. in 1937, seditious conspiracy emerges as against a leader for the independence of puerto rico. and since then, the u.s. has systematically applied the law of seditious conspiracy to puerto ricans struggling for independence. he was arrested when he was 38 years old. he has spent 32 years in jail. he is 70 at the moment. the authorities want to keep them in jail for 30 more years. it is done on the punitive, but

when you compare, for example, the sentence imposed on him with those imposed to other rapes,ions like sex murders -- all of those conditions were much more salacious than the one imposed that oscar lopez rivera. honestly, this preposterous treatment hed the gets in incarceration are related to this political beliefs -- his political beliefs. >> luis nieves falcón, when you say he was charged in part of an organization that was the faln, many of their members were also jailed and subsequently were pardoned by president clinton.

how was it that oscar lopez rivera ended up not being part of that original partner of president clinton, which is actually one of several of u.s. presidents have done. jimmy carter pardoned the nationalists as did truman in the 1950's pardon some nationalists. >> in 1999, president clinton several political prisoners the puerto rico. oscar was among those pardoned. but he refused because to that of his comrades the were accused of the same crime or excluded -- two of his comrades that were accused of the same crime or excluded. he felt he should not be free while some of his comrades were left behind. leftwo people that were areide the clinton pardon

free. >> oscar spent 12 years in isolation? oscar, i went to visit oscar was submitted to this treatment that i say that has three prongs. three legs. , andtion, deprivation strips search. isolation, he was in a six by nine cell all white, eliminated 24 hours a day -- illuminated hours a day. every hour on the hour they entered the cell to see if he was there, that he had not escaped. was that only sleep deprived,

movement deprivation. the space where he was, he was only provided for a bed, which was a concrete plank, a basin and tore it rid of the could do was sit on the bed. -- a basin and toilet. all he could do was sit on the bed. there was also communication deprivation. all of the cards were forbidden -- no one could speak to him, not a single word. the want to ask matt about ford to the book is by archbishop desmond tutu and he -- for a record as one of the leading territories under the direct colonial control and as such denied these basic human rights of self expression. it goes on to talk about some of

the battles of puerto rican of winning around some political prisoners but says, but one prisoner remains, now a vivid reminder of the ongoing inequality on ellis and an empire building inevitably brings forth. after more than 30 years, oscar lopez rivera is in prison for the crime of seditious conspiracy, conspiring to for his people from the shackles of in real justice. can you talk about the campaign you have been trying to lead in terms of trying to reverse the latest decision of the parole board? >> one of the wonders of the campaign is that in puerto rico, it has been discussed across the political spat -- as dr. luis nieves falcón discussed, it goes .cross lines prett people across the board are saying, oscar is our hero, our native son, needs to come home. that was done through basic,

simple knocking on doors, neighborhood to neighborhood, grass roots spread his own home town, the mayor of that town is a pro statehooder, more aligned with the republican party. because of the grass-roots work of an importer rico, has come out as one of the leading critics of oscar's continuing incarceration. on the international level, we try to do the same thing. while it is door-to-door in person to person, it also has attracted to say some fairly significantly to the international human-rights movement. when archbishop tutu learned of the case, he immediately took up as a cause of concern. that is why he graciously granted the foreward to the book to just read from rid archbishop desmond tutu, speaking about the fact in his days under apartheid looking at the colonial and and yoko ono, the racist condition that his people suffered under

-- nieto colonial, the races conditions that his people suffered under, it was the same thing. you mention the start there were recently three new video who were video participants in a conference in december. just last week, jody williams, another nobel peace laureate, signed on to the campaign. it is a growing outcry in the international human rights community to say this policy must be reversed, this pardon must take place. >> where is also lópez rivera right now? >> he is in terre haute. he is not any kind of egregious conditions that dr. luis nieves falcón spoke about, but still, any time in prison when all of his co-defendants are out, all of them leading productive,

nonviolent, community-based lives back and home, it is a continuing and justice. >> matt meyer wrote the introduction to the new book, "oscar lopez rivera: between torture and resistance." our other guest, puerto rican attorney luis nieves falcón edited the book. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back, we go to the clinic that george tiller ran until four years ago today when he was murdered. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> four years ago today dr. george tiller was murdered. the 67-year-old abortion provider was shot point-blank in the forehead as he attended services in his wichita, kansas church. his clinic was one of a handful in the nation that performed abortions after the 24th week of pregnancy. he faced constant threats and incidents of violence and vandalism in the decades leading up to his death. his clinic was bombed in 1985.

in 1993, he survived an assassination attempt with gunshot wounds to both arms. this is a clip from a 2001 interview with dr. tiller. it is an outtake from a film made by physicians for reproductive health called, "voices of choice." tiller talks about how he took over his father's family medical practice and discovered that his father had provided abortions for women in the years before became legal. a woman came to him pregnant right away after she had just delivered two babies. she said something to the effect, i cannot take it, can you help me? those were the two common denominators. that is a. the way you ask for an abortion from your regular doctor before abortion was legal. of was my impression rid the common denominator. i cannot take it, can you help me. my dad said, no. by the time the

baby gets here, everything will be all right. she went out and had a not healthcare provider and came back two weeks later and died. the unique experience of delivering two and three for tiller family practice patience. second and third generation of babies. i know what that relationship is between a physician and a woman for whom he delivers two or three babies. i have had a relationship. it is a neat relationship. having had a relationship, i could understand how upset my father was. i don't know whether he did 100 abortions or 200 abortions or 300 abortions. i think it may have been something like 200 over about 20 years. but i don't know for sure. woman-educated physician. the women and my father's

practice for whom he did abortions educated me and taught me. it is not about babies, not about families, abortion is about women's hopes, dreams, potential, the rest of their lives. abortion is a matter of survival for women. >> that was dr. george tiller speaking in 2001. he was murdered four years ago today. the man who assassinated him eight years after he spoke in that clip, antitrust extremist scott roeder, is serving a life sentence. the four years and still was murdered have seen a wave of new abortion restrictions. eight states now ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. arizona congressmember trent franks recently announced his intention to seek such a ban nationwide. clinics across the country have been threatened by laws and shutting them down rid for more we go to director and founder of the trust women foundation julie burkhart julie. she worked for eight years with dr. tiller before he was assassinated.

last month she reopened tiller's clinic which have been closed since his death. she joins us from the newly opened south wins women's center in wichita. welcome back to democracy now! talkulie burkhart, can you about the opening of your clinic and what this means to you, four years after he was murdered? >> thank you. it is wonderful to be with you today. .e are just delighted i think we're still in a bit of awe we have been able to finally reopen the clinic here in wichita for women in this community and beyond. approximately 200 patient visits in just the two short months we have been opened. backe just so happy to be in this community. >> an want ask about some of the

threats that have been made against you. an extremist anti-choice group recently posted an audio from a jailhouse conversation with dr. tiller's murderer scott roeder when he referred to as julie darkheart and says york painting -- you are painting a target on the. >> to walk in there and reopen a clinic, a murder mill where a man was stopped -- it is almost like putting a target on your back saying, well, shoot me. you know? >> that was scott roeder who

murdered dr. tiller for years ago today. your response and what has been the problems you have been confronting and attempts to prevent your clinic from reopening? this rhetoric is definitely to be taken seriously as it incites people to violence, as we have seen across this country. we've had anti-choice groups here in the community who have tried to rezone our property. they tried to slow us down and renovation by complaining we did not have proper permits during renovations. then of course trying at the state level to pass legislation to shut us down as well. definitelyhreats are to be taken seriously and they

are chilling. however, women still need abortion care. there have to be people in the country that are willing to provide that to women. >> julie burkhart, the kansas department corrections has filed a restriction against roeder banning threats and intimidation because of his comments about you. people stood outside your house fsa "where is your church?" dr. tiller was murdered inside church. what gives you the courage to continue? theell, i don't think rights of women in this country should be curtailed just herese we have extremists in this part of the country and elsewhere, but more of a hotbed here, and we have a more conservative mindset here, but that does not mean women should be denied their constitutional rights.

i am from this part of the country, said that is what gives me the courage -- >> julie burkhart, a ticket for being with us, director of the clinic that george tiller ran unti