10/28/14 10/28/14 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica this is democracy now. >> i have been saying our laws and police powers need to be strengthened in the area of surveillance and need to be much strengthened. i assure you, mr. speaker, that which -- work which is already underway, will be expedited. >> as canada mourns the death of a soldier gunned down while standing guard at the national war monument in ottawa, prime minister stephen harper pushes new anti-terrorism legislation. we will go to canada for the latest. then to indonesia.

>> the process of choosing ministers was done carefully and cautiously. carefully and cautiously. this is a priority because this will be working for five years and we want to choose clean people. >> indonesia's new president jokowi holds his first cabinet meeting as human rights activists decry him for picking a new defense minister who once defended the military's abuses in west papua and aceh. we will speak to allan nairn. then should genetically modified food be labeled? voters in colorado and oregon will decide next week. >> knowing if you're eating or buying genetically engineered food is not your right. >> may be moved to europe or japan if you want that right. >> or a lot of countries were people have the right to know. >> but not here, baby.

>> vote and you get to know what is in your food. >> monsanto is pouring millions of dollars to fight labeling. we will speak to tufts university professor sheldon krimsky, editor of the new book, "the gmo deception: what you need to know about the food, corporations, and government agencies putting our families and our environment at risk." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the obama administration has released new protocols for handling people who have been in contact with ebola patients amidst global condemnation of quarantines imposed by some states. the new policy from the centers for disease control and prevention requires a checkup and phone call with a local health authority but does automatically place workers under confinement. the update came after new jersey governor chris christie agreed to release a nurse who was placed in an isolated tent

outside a newark hospital after returning from sierra leone. kaci hickox had denounced her treatment publicly after she was confined despite having no ebola symptoms. in a statement read by a spokesperson, united nations secretary general ban ki-moon criticized the state measures. >> their exceptional people who are giving up themselves to humanity and should not be subjected to restrictions that are not based on science. those who develop infections should be supported, not stigmatized. the secretary-general reiterates the best way for any country to protect itself from ebola is to stop the outbreak at its source in west africa. this requires considerable international health care workers support and in return for this support, we have an obligation to look after them. >> a correction, the cdc policy does not automatically place workers under confinement. quarantining is

soldiers returning from liberia. the group placed under 21 day monitoring including major general williams. a group of aids activists gathered outside bellevue hospital in new york city, where a doctor diagnosed with ebola is now said to be in serious condition. the activists condemned the quarantining of other health workers who have been in contact with ebola patients, comparing it to the intense stigma associated with the early days of hiv/aids. >> this is an extreme exaggeration. this is a hysterical response, quarantined people who are not symptomatically ebola. where here in solidarity to make that connection. >> boko haram has reportedly captured at least 30 more young people. a local chief in the village said those taken include girls as young as 11. islamic state militants have released a new propaganda video that appears to show british hostage john cantlie in the contested syrian city of kobani. for weeks u.s.-led airstrikes

have sought to beat back an isis offensive on the city. in the video, cantlie says the militant group controls much of the city and that the battle is "coming to an end." in iraq, a suicide attacker killed at least 27 pro-government shiite militiamen just south of the capital baghdad. the bomber drove a humvee loaded with explosives into a checkpoint. further north in downtown baghdad a suicide bomber killed at least 14 people near a commercial strip. in ukraine, pro-western parties are set to dominate the country's new parliament. the outcome marks a victory for president petro poroshenko as he seeks to strengthen ties with europe. pro-russian rebels blocked the vote in some areas of eastern ukraine which they seized following the ouster of pro-russian president viktor yanukovych earlier this year. in tunisia, a secular opposition party has won a major victory in the country's first full parliamentary election since the 2011 arab spring revolution. early results show the secular nida tunis party winning the

most seats over the islamist ennahda party, which previously dominated the parliament. delegates from over 100 countries are meeting in copenhagen, denmark this week to approve a new report on the effects of climate change. known as the synthesis report, the draft warns an ongoing rise in greenhouse gas emissions is -- "increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts." denmark's minister of climate, energy and building, rasmus helveg petersen, opened the meeting. quick today we can measure the rising seas and temperatures and insurance bills. tomorrow we can measure our rising debt to the future generation. will you stop the fire or jump into the sea in the first solution does cost money. the second seems to be free, but it isn't. >> the meeting in copenhagen comes ahead of the 2014 u.n. climate summit in december in lima, peru.

democracy now! will be broadcasting through the human summit. eight people were arrested at a world monday protest in georgia over the alleged disappearance of 40,000 voter registration records, most of them from people of color. the new georgia project has filed a lawsuit against the office of georgia's republican secretary of state brian kemp, saying about half of the 80,000 voter registration forms it submitted as part of a recent drive do not appear on state rolls. a newly obtained audit shows the u.s. postal service approved nearly 50,000 requests last year from law-enforcement and its own inspection unit to sick really monitor americans males. the new york times reports the number is far higher than the postal service had previously disclosed. a new report says the fbi has identified the whistleblower who provided documents about the u.s. terrorist watch list to the intercept news site.

writing for yahoo news and citing unnamed sources, michael isikoff reports the fbi recently searched the home of the employee of a federal contractor in northern virginia, while federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation. isikoff said the case relates to an august story by investigative journalists jeremy scahill and ryan devereaux based on a classified document which showed nearly half of those on the u.s. terrorist watchlist are not connected to any known terrorist group. john cook said the stories had revealed crucial information about the excesses of the u.s. watchlist system and "any attempt to criminalize the public release of those stories and if it's only those who exercise virtually limitless power in secret with no accountability." last week, jeremy scahill spoke about the significance of the revelations on democracy now!

>> this document and others like it had long been sought after by the american civil liberties union and other legal organizations and lawyers who were present clients who had been unjustly placed on the no-fly list. we saw an immediate impact from what this extremely principled and brave whistleblower dead in that it has only been used in court cases. a federal judge has to cleared the aspects of the watch listing program that disallows people from knowing their status on the watchlist to be unconstitutional. >> the existence of a second whistleblower is also confirmed at the end of laura poitras' new documentary citizenfour, about nsa whistleblower edward snowden. jeremy scahill has not discussed his source, but told -- and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman

with aaron maté. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin in canada, as it grapples with the aftermath of last week's gun attack on the nation's parliament in ottawa. on wednesday, a gunman named michael zehaf-bibeau shot and killed corporal nathan cirillo, an unarmed soldier guarding the national war memorial. zehaf-bibeau then entered the nearby parliament, where he was shot dead in a gunfight. the attack occurred as parliament was filled with lawmakers, journalists, and staffers who were forced to hide for hours. the canadian prime minister, stephen harper, was just one door away when the shooting broke out. corporal cirillo was buried friday in a national ceremony. a canadian soldier read a statement from his family. >> on behalf of our family, we want to say thank you to the entire nation. on october 22, we lost a son, a brother, father, a friend, and a national hero. we are not only morning as a

family, but also a country. and we lost nathan, we all mourn ed as one. there are no words to express the sadness. we take comfort knowing nathan has done our country proud. the support of the nation in this devastating time provides a measure of comfort and helps make this almost bearable. >> in the days since the shooting, the gunman, michael zehaf-bibeau has been identified as a convert to islam with a history of drug abuse, criminal activity, and mental illness. the incident came two days after another violent attack on canadian troops in quebec. martin couture-rouleau, also identified as a "radicalized" muslim convert, drove a car into two soldiers, killing one of them. the attacks have sparked fears of blowback shortly after canada joined the u.s.-led war against islamic state militants in iraq. one witness said zehaf-bibeau yelled about iraq during the shooting. on monday, canadian police said

zehaf-bibeau had made a video referencing canadian foreign policy and the islamic faith. >> but the violence has also raised questions about canada's treatment of the mentally ill and others on the margins. zehaf-bibeau had been dealing with a serious crack-cocaine addiction and living in and out of homeless shelters in the weeks before. canadian prime minister stephen harper has attempted to link the violent incidents to foreign terrorism. in a speech the day after the ottawa attack, harper called on lawmakers to increase government powers on surveillance and detention. crooks proposed amendments under theh -- >> under which canadian intelligence service operates. as you know, in recent weeks, i have been saying our laws and police powers need to be strengthened in the area of surveillance, attention, and arrest. they need to be much strengthened and i assure you, mr. speaker, that work which is

already underway, will be expedited. >> on monday, harper introduced an anti-terrorism measure that was to have been unveiled the same day as the ottawa attack. the measure includes a bolstering of information-sharing with foreign intelligence agencies. in an appearance before lawmakers, the head of the royal canadian mounted police, bob paulson, also called for greater authority to detain and monitor suspects, saying the standards for evidence should be lowered. >> for more we are joined by two guests. in ottawa, ihsaan gardee is executive director of the national council of canadian muslims, which helped publish a guide book titled, "united against terrorism: a collaborative effort towards a secure, inclusive and just canada." and in victoria, british columbia we are joined by harsha walia, a social justice activist, founder of no one is illegal, and author of the book, "undoing border imperialism."

let's go first to ottawa to ihsaan gardee. can you talk about the attack and the response to it? >> thank you for having me on the show. the attack came as a shock to everyone, including the rcmp are, national police service here in canada. as the events unfolded, we started getting calls of the office, text messages and so forth, like everybody else, watching with a great deal of concern and to their credit, for the most part, media, as well as most politicians, were very restrained and balanced in a commentary. as information came out, there's very little that was known in the early hours of the attacks, including the one at the war memorial and the attack on parliament hill. about who the shooter was, the background, and so forth. the hours went by, more

information slowly started to trickle out. a little bit more about the background of the perpetrator. it was something that was very scary. as i said, came as a shock to all canadians. there was a shared sense of grief, anger, just these mixed emotions as things developed. .> i want to go to harsha walia you live in vancouver. you work downtown in the community where the gunman michael zehaf-bibeau battled drug addiction was in an out of homeless shelters. what is your take on the response to the shooting and what to think has been missing from the discussion? >> i think there are few things that have been operating, one, of course, is the dominant -- the dominant one is the racialized islamic phobic, stephen harper as well as media

pundits cannot after the shooting and really emphasized this is canada's 9/11, which led to islamic phobic response including a number of hate crimes on mosques. now we see, as you have mentioned, in the passing of legislation, clearly, trying to connect the ottawa shooting to the war on terror as well as canada and other countries entry to northern iraq. at the same time, there is this paralleled reality and equaled reality of the fact that michael lived throughout homeless shelters, spin a brief time in vancouver, canada's neighborhood where people battle with drug addictions, mental health issues, and other barriers related to poverty. i mean, being on the street. that definitely connected to the fact is a decreasing amount of support around mental health and for people living in poverty, to be supported in their different struggles. it even in that, i do want to mention that that kind of lone wolf suffering and battling with

into health issues, is really racialized. because michael -- michael's adoptive father was from libya. some of the stories that are more explicitly racist tend to emphasize his debts connection to libya, the fact he was apparently radicalized into islam, those other narratives that try to become to "radical, political" islam. even the stories that emphasize his struggles with mental health and addiction, in those stories because his biological mother is white, they tend to frame him as the lone white man, though alone walk is suffering with mental health. i would even argue that story even though it presents them in a more holistic way in a more sympathetic light battling with his different mental health and addictions. even that tends to emphasize a .ind of racist discourse i think regardless of the kinds

of stories that have come out about michael, underpinning it is a racialized narrative of how the war on terror has played out, which is a really racist 1, 1 that immediately targets muslims. my new see the day of the shooting was actually filled with a whole of speculation about his appearance. we have reporters reporting on the fact that poorly witnesses said he looked arc he was wearing an arab scarf. it was always comical because some reporters that he looked indigenous aboriginal and other said he looked latino and other said he looked arab. right away, the kind of racial's station and racism that underpins this story, i think, is what is missing. which is, what are the ways in which we as a society and media and government immediately almost intuitively tend to link attacks such as this one as quickly as possible and as opportunistically as possible to

the war on terror and to islam? >> >> i want to turn to john horgan, opposition leader with the new democratic party in british columbia. in remarks warning about a rush to expand security laws, horgan called the ottawa shootings "a loss of innocence for our country." >> as we reflect on the loss of life to date and the loss of innocence for our country, i think we also have to recognize our democratic institutions must be open and accessible to the people. as important security measures will be over the next number of hours and days and weeks, not just here but in every legislature in this country, we have to always keep in the forefront of our mind in the forefront of the decisions we make around security that this institution belongs to the people. >> i want to get your response ihsaan gardee ihsaan gardee,, to the media coverage to whether there is a backlash against muslims, the daily beast said

terrorist ins canada's innocence. the telegraph newspaper published a story following the attack, how an oasis of tranquility he came a breeding ground for terrorists. so how has this affected the muslim committed he? haven your handbook, you tips for muslims on how to identify so-called radicalized muslims. >> this obviously has affected canadian muslim community like fellowaffected our canadians, something we take extreme seriously. there is a natural concern regarding a backlash. as your other guest mentioned, there have been some incidences that have been reported, including vandalizing of mosques. there is been a mosque that had bricks thrown through his window and the words spray-painted on it "canada" and "go home." the feedback we're getting is this is the most in canadian responses to these kinds of events will stop our handbook, which is the united against terrorism handbook which is

available on our website for download, so any of your viewers and listeners can read that for themselves, really it is split into five sections and talks about signs and symptoms of individuals who could be becoming radicalized toward extremist violence and talked about the rcmp and what their ,ole is in national security helping communities understand what their role is in national security and the role of other security agencies. there's a section as well from our organization talking about what are the rights of canadian citizenship but equally, what are the responsibilities. there is a balance there. this is just one response to this phenomenon. it was something that took place over 14 months and started with conversation cafés health in winnipeg on discussing this issue of radicalization toward extremist violence. it really put together it in the handbook all of the discussions

that came out and the questions that came out to act as a guide for communities across this country. other initiatives they continue to take place include, for example, a conference was held last month in calgary called "own it" directly looking at this topic. we have to remember, the discourse in the dialogue, it is important, the terminology and how we phrase things is important as well. itselfization in and of is not necessarily the issue, it is radicalization toward extreme is to violence when the individual makes that distinction that their only choice in terms of expressing the grievance or frustration or venting that is through violent action. ofer actions in the past been perceived as radical, for example, martin 13 was called a radical. the protesters in the vietnam war were called radical. it is important we distinguish between the two and ensure the conversation is clear.

other guest mentioned, there are a number of facets to this issue of radicalization toward extremist violence. search for identity, belonging, and so forth seems to play a role. also, the individuals seem to come from troubled backgrounds. social services has to be part of the conversation. there been indications of dental health issues. so mental-health issues need to be brought in. you want to be careful there as well. we don't want to stigmatize and already stigmatized community filing the blame at the feet of any particular -- by laying the blame at the feet of any particular cause. until we have more research into the study of this phenomenon. the internet and the role of the internet, not as a causal factor, but it absolutely plays a facilitating role in allowing those who would push out extremist messages and propaganda that targets are most vulnerable and those were most

impressionable. we have to remember that while there are has been a focus, for example, on converts and the young, what we've seen from individuals who have been radicalized toward extremist violence, those who have left canada, they don't seem to come from any single profile. they have come from different socioeconomic backgrounds, different ages. as tempting as it is -- and we understand that desire to have sort of a silver bullet, magic potion solution to be able to say, this is the issue. this is a multifaceted problem. it will require a multipronged short medium and long-term approach. as was mentioned, our government has introduced new legislation to expand the powers of our security agencies. obviously, we're watching that with a great deal of concern. there is a conference being held to discussomorrow

how issues of national security and human rights have been dealt with in the wake of 9/11, in the wake of the aurora inquiry and how we're seeing -- >> and just to say -- >> human liberties -- say --an gardee, just to >> that discussion is alive and well. quite aurora, the canadian citizen who the u.s. ultimately, through extraordinary rendition, got u.s. airport, chicken when he was coming back from vacation, just transiting to the u.s. to canada, and sent him to syria where he was tortured for almost a year. ultimately, he was sent back to canada and they awarded him millions of dollars in the u.s. has never apologized for what they did to him. that is correct.

and that is just one case, but there are other cases of canadians who were detained overseas and tortured. canadians were still being detained abroad, being held in china and ethiopia. these are all cases that we're continuing to follow and there's continued concern about. at this conference tomorrow, justices o'connor and others will be speaking together on a panel. the first time justice o'connor will be speaking publicly after this inquiry. one of the key recommendations that he made, just as a o'connor, in his book does report that was produced as result, comprehensive oversight body. we've seen a lot of assurances from government that the

recommendations have been looked at and implemented but there has been no transparency, no reporting to ensure that takes place. it is important to remember that we are -- national security affects all of us and violent extremism affects all of us. we need all be a part of this discussion. it can't be viewed as something that is simply or solely the issue or problem of the muslim community or the muslim communities alone to resolve. we need security agencies, mental-health services, social services and other levels of society am a for example, this conference in calgary where we had the university of calgary participating and saying they were there, they were wanting to this wanting to research phenomenon better so we have a better understanding and so the solutions and strategies that are proposed are not simply band-aid solutions that will make us look our make us feel better, but may not be effective

at all and actually addressing the issues. you seen walia, have this attack on the canadian parliament being used to justify canada joining in the u.s. attacks in canada, iraq, and yes, absolutely. right after the shootings, there was a statement by prime minister stephen harper as well as statements by the rcmp that essentially linked this attack to isis and attentive to link it to fighting for the islamic state, suggesting michael wanted to travel to syria and some reports said libya and some said -- it turns out he wanted to travel to another country. despite the fact there is been an attempt to link the ottawa , of course,isis and this is right at the same time as canada as well as the u.s. is entering and reentering into northern iraq. canada has sent, troops at least a six month mission to fight in iraq. there is no doubt the ottawa

shooting has provided a really necessary pretest and ongoing pretext to justify war and ,ccupation in the middle east canada's foreign policy in the middle east as it follows the united states to go to war, as well as the ongoing toward home, if you will, the continue to curtail civil liberties and surveillance and spy on people. i think we really do have to question the logic and the justification given for the security measures. -- itcomes really easy comes really easy to play into fear mongering and racism. and to really believe this right-wing opportunistic moment, that this is canada's 9/11. this is not canada's 9/11. the shooting is not canada's loss of incidents -- innocent, if you will. canada has not been innocent for a long time. i think we have to be really vigilant to the ways even we a

social justice activist reproduce and justify the surveillance state. there's absolutely no need for increased surveillance measures, no need to be working with security agencies. i think we need to reject that logic because violence and all of its forms exists within a social political context. >> harsha walia, thank you for being with us, founder of no one is illegal, and author of the book, "undoing border imperialism." she has joined us from victory, canada. ihsaan gardee is executive director of the national council of canadian muslims. ton we come back, we will go jakarta, indonesia, the new president of indonesia has been inaugurated and is holding his first. who did he choose as his members? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron maté. . >> return now to indonesia. on monday the country's new president joko widodo held his first cabinet meeting a week after being inaugurated. in july the former jakarta governor known as "jokowi" defeated the u.s.-trained former army general prabowo subianto who had been accused of mass killings when he headed the indonesian special forces in the 1990s. over the weekend president jokowi said he wanted to form a "clean cabinet." >> the prospect of choosing ministers was done carefully and cautiously. carefully and cautiously. this is a priority because this cabinet will be working for five years, and we want to choose clean people. capablee not only those in their fields, the candidates

are also strong in operational leadership and have great managerial ability. >> while human rights groups hailed the victory of jokowi over prabowo in july's election, the new president is facing criticism for picking former army chief of staff ryamizard ryacudu to be indonesia's new defense minister. over the past decade ryamizard has defended the military's actions in papua and aceh and publicly claimed that civilians become legitimate army targets if they "dislike" army policy or have "the same voice" as anti-government rebels. joining us from indonesia is investigative reporter allan nairn who has reported on indonesia for over two decades. his reporting shook up the presidential race when he reported on human rights abuses committed by prabowo, the u.s.-trained general. nairn also revealed that in 2001 prabowo told him that indonesia needs "a benign authoritarian regime" because the country was "n ready for democracy."

just this week nairn broke another major story. he revealed that general a.m. hendropriyono, a top advisor to aceh a top advisor to indonesia's new president, had admitted "command responsibility" in the 2004 assassination of the country's leading rights activist munir. allan nairn welcome back to democracy now can you start off by talking about the new president indonesia, the significance, and the significance of who he is chosen to be in his cabinet? >> the biggest significance was who jokowi defeated, general prabowo would work with u.s. intelligence was openly calling for the abolition of direct presidential elections. acewhen he spoke to me, he was musing about dictatorship. closest toeneral

washington. if you taken power, he could've brought indonesia back to this euro. comes from a poor neighborhood. he speaks a language by poor people do. there was hope it could of itent the beginning apart to her from the tradition of military dictatorship. in the campaign, he was surrounded by killers. prabowo was a killer, but jokowi was around by killers. and some of them are contending now to be in his cabinet. one of them, general ryamizard ryacudu, is are ready in. there are a few others in contention now. one significant thing happened the past few days. was penciled in to be the court and minister for 's cabinet. jokowi

and that job, he could've taken de facto control of the army, police and intelligence. word of that came out on friday at noon. i was able to confirm that and put that out. people, activists mobilized. by saturday night, jokowi had yanked him from the cabinet. jokowi told his staff that it was because of the pressure he received from activists on the outside. so that kind of thing could not have happened in any increase in administration. there still contenders now to be intelligence chief, which hasn't been decided yet. one of them is a man named assad who worked with the cia along with general a.m. hendropriyono. another is a general who was implicated in the assassination of journalists following the

timor invasion. another is a general who is been ,mplicated in massacres in aceh the repression in jakarta in 1998, and in timor in 1999. joffrey got five u.s. special forces in the u.s. and said after one of them that he is been trained by u.s. special forces just back from peru and they had trained him and how to create terror. these are candidates in the intelligence chiefs. activists are trying to oppose this. there's a huge struggle for power going on. r. you mentioned munit last month was his 10th anniversary of his death. he was poisoned on a flight. what new revelations have you learned at go -- learned? >> he was poisoned with the massive amount of arsenic given to him by an agent within the

intelligence agency, which at that time was being run by the man i just interviewed a week ago. general general a.m. hendropriyono admitted to me responsibility of the assassination. this is a breakthrough development. he also agreed -- i had about two hours was able to repeatedly questioned him, pressed him on three major atrocities. and ina massacre in 1999 timor. in a was able to get him to say in the end that one he accepted mumand responsibility in the nir assassination and two, he was willing to stand trial for three atrocities, and would call for all of the secret indonesian government documents and u.s. documents from the cia and the nsa and the pentagon -- the white house as

well -- relating to those cases. so this sets a very important precedent. indonesian generals and u.s. generals, u.s. presidents have made an art form of evading accountability for murders that they commit. the reason u.s. did not continue his large troop presence in iraq was they were unable to negotiate an agreement under which u.s. forces would be prosecution for atrocities. it was the same issue in afghanistan. a few years ago, the obama administration sent herald pau to an icc conference in africa to try to rewrite the definition of oppression so u.s. could not be touched. israel has been threatening the palestinian authority's not to go to the international criminal court. nobody wants account ability. and of these powers want to be held at the same status in -- standard that the ordinary person would be held. and now general a.m. hendropriyono, one of the biggest figures, is a dominant

figure in intelligence in the army, the cia's man in indonesia, he has made these emissions -- emissions and concessions. so now the question becomes, if general a.m. hendropriyono is willing to be put on trial, why not the other generals? munirat the time of the assassination he was also working with the cia and his command responsibility means this would've been intelligence operation, therefore, the cia could also be legally viable for this. if jokowi allows general a.m. hendropriyono to be on trial, as general a.m. hendropriyono says he's going to accept, cia personnel can then be subpoenaed by the indonesian courts as witnesses to see what information they have and what role they had in these and other atrocities and it sets a precedent. if an indonesian general is willing to accept accountability, willing to stand

trial, why not the american generals? why not the american presidents? once and for a, be willing to sit down in court like everyone house has to, -- everyone else has to, when you cause the death of a civilian? >> allan nairn, can you talk about the significance, for those are not familiar with indonesian politics, of who munir was, and then why it was priyonoe general, hednro is willing to answer your questions? your instrumental in bringing another general, prabowo, down. it was possibly was going to win the presidency of indonesia before you exposed what he had said. >> well, that was the reason, a purely, that general a.m. hendropriyono would see me. -- apparently, that general a.m. hendropriyono was willing to see me. general a.m. hendropriyono was on the other side of the campaign of prabowo and on the

other side of jokowi. before i could say anything, he you, i'm honored to receive because of the way you hurt prabowo. in the campaign, prabowo ended up filing criminal charges against me. his people said it was in part for inciting hatred of the army and for causing prabowo to lose. i think that is why hendropriyono let me in the room. i'd also called for hendropriyono to be put on trial for crimes against humanity. it was the damage i did to prabowo that caused him to receive me. munir was a giant in indonesian politics and society. he was the geithner and human rights activist. he exposed atrocities by hendropriyono, by all generals. he did it partially and evenhandedly. who's also extremely brilliant.

-- he was also extremely brilliant. he was a friend of mine. he died vomiting to death on a slipped ause he was massive dose of arsenic. today munir is a legend, especially among young people. it is one of those rare cases where historical credit goes to the person who actually deserves it. there are munir t-shirts, songs about munir, because he was one who stood up for the people and they killed him for it. >> allan nairn, his responsibility, hendropriyono's responsibility in the 1999 terror campaign in east timor when the territories were voting for their independence -- timore se were voting for their independence and honest everything burned to the ground. responsibility, but then going back, as you say, to the united states? ofhendropriyono, minister

transportation at the time, according to the u.n. commission into more, he was one of the architects of the militia terror campaign that burned down 80% of the structures in timor, including massacres, rape, machetes, attacks on churches, etc. he was also the one they say masterminded the mass deportation, forced deportation of almost 400,000 timorese. an astonishing operation. while that was going on, the u.s. was still backing the indonesian army, the white house was still backing the indonesian army. it was only the press coverage of the arson, rape, and tear happening and pressure from congress, which finally at the last minute cause them to relate and say, ok, he gave concession, we will cut off aid to the indonesian army, finally, all of it, and within about a day after

that, the indonesian army announced they were giving up and pulling out of timor and would allow the u.s. sponsored referendum in which the timorese voted for independence, allow that to go into effect. during the campaign at the end, as i was there, was arrested on the streets and held as a prisoner in the military quarters, i could see from inside that military , theuarters of the militia men in red headbands, civilian dress, who would go out and commit the atrocities. they were running right out of the army bases. but now general hendropriyono says he's going to be put on trial for that as well as other massacres and assassinations. so now it is up to president jokowi to see whether he will allow such trials to go forward. and it sets a precedence. imagine, trials for generals like hendropriyono in the

american cia directors like george tenet who met with hendropriyono who are sponsoring people like the trials for the american generals who are committing similar atrocities directly in places like iraq and afghanistan come indirectly in places like water mullah and a salvador in gaza and kilis other places? trials for the american presidents responsible. hendropriyono set a very important presidents. just the release of all of those secret documents from the cia, the white house, the nsa, the indonesian police intelligence agency -- it would be opening pandora's box. and it is long overdue. we have to know the truth about state mass murder and we have to put those who commit it on trial. be they indonesians, americans, anyone. >> allan nairn, thank you for being with us. previously exposing government killings of civilians as well as in latin america and

award-winning journalist. we have been speaking damage or kartik, indonesia. we will link to his reports at democracynow.org. when we come back, voters in colorado and oregon are going to the polls. they want labeling for genetically modified foods. monsanto is pouring in a fortune to prevent that from happening. we will talk to the editor of the new book, "the gmo deception." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron maté. >> food fights are raging in colorado and oregon -- that is, fights over ballot initiatives that would require the labeling of genetically engineered food. on election day, voters will

cast a "yay" or "nay" for proposition 105 in colorado and measure 92 in oregon. the states could become the first to mandate labeling laws for genetically modified organisms, or gmos, possibly affecting industry labeling practices across the country. numerous items are already sold in grocery stores containing genetically modified corn and soy, but companies are currently not required to inform consumers. advocates of prop 105 in colorado say gmo foods can be harmful to human health due to pesticide residues and the altered crop genetics. several celebrities have banned together to support the "right to know" campaign with this playfully ironic psa that begins with actor danny devito. clicks what makes you think you have the right to know? >> who do you think you are? dumb. might do something like you would be looking at labels and making decisions, knowing if you're eating or bind genetically engineered food, is not your right.

>> may be moved to europe or japan if you want that right. >> or a lot of countries were people have the right to know. >> but not here, baby. >> and that she demand that gmos get labeled. >> vote yes for the right to know. >> an ad by the "right to know" colorado campaign. opponents of prop 105 say the effort to label genetically modified food is overly cumbersome and will spread misinformation. this ad was released by the no on 105 campaign. crooks agriculture is crucial to colorado's economy. opposition 105 what her colorado food producers by forcing them to use misleading labels a conflict with national standards. it would require many food products that we export to be labeled as genetically engineered, even when they are not. >> an ad by the "no on 105" campaign. leading corporations opposing the labeling measures include monsanto, kraft foods, pepsico inc., kellogg co., and coca-cola. by some accounts, opponents of labeling have contributed roughly $20 million for

campaigning against the proposed laws, nearly triple the money raised by supporters of the initiatives. in oregon, the fight for gmo-labeling has turned into the most expensive ballot measure campaign in the state's history. >> well, for more, we're joined now by sheldon krimsky. he is the editor and author of several contributions in the new book, "the gmo deception: what you need to know about the food, corporations, and government agencies putting our families and our environment at risk." he is a professor of urban & environmental policy & planning at tufts university as well as an adjunct professor in the department of public health and family medicine at the tufts school of medicine. professor krimsky is also a board member of the council for responsible genetics. sheldon krimsky, welcome to democracy now! >> thank you. >> i just flew back from austria, which is gmo-free. they're puzzled when they look at the united states. they don't allow genetically modified foods to grow there. they are puzzled when they look at the united states that we are not talking about gmo-free

country, we're talking about labeling the foods that are genetically modified. you can be for gmos and still support labeling for them. ofk about the significance these ballot initiatives, what is going on in colorado is a true battle. monsanto in these other countries -- companies pouring in millions. a lot of environmental groups are joined together saying they want to labeling. why do you think the labeling is such a problem? gmo's? the problem with >> we have to go back to the history of regulation in the united states. the day" commission produced -- the commission produced a paper on how to regulate biotechnology. they said you don't have to regulate genetically modified foods. if you put a chemical into processed, you have to go through fda regulations. but if you put a foreign gene into a plant, according to the

fda, you don't have to go to regulations. they give the corporations the opportunity to decide whether they want to market the food or not. so you start with that assumption, where they think and believe that putting foreign genes into food is no different than just creating hybrid crops. once you follow that logic and they say there is no need for -- europeans have never followed that. they say you to test each of these products. >> your book makes the case the signs on gmos has been corporatized, that companies like monsanto that such a huge influence over the research and billions of scientists. how's that come to be, like on the issue of also feels, with the consensus of climate scientists that it is caused global warming news to be stopped, even though that would be harmful to major companies. how is it agribusiness come to control the science, as you

claim in your book? there are some independent scientists and they have produced some animal studies on the effects of gmos. some of those studies have shown the effects are not good. and every time a scientist produces such a study, they are vilified by other scientists and other people who are tied to the industry. so we have seen from our own research that the science has been politicized and there are many cases where we can show scientists have been treated unfairly and unethically, just because they have found negative outcomes with respect to the animal studies. >> while on the campaign trail and who thousand seven, presidential candidate obama gmo foods ifabel elected. >> as president, i will immediately implement country of origin labeling because

americans should know where their food comes from. theirlks know whether food has been genetically modified because americans should know what they are buying. >> that was candidate obama. what has president obama done? >> nothing. any initiatives at all. they pretty much held to the original position that labeling is irrelevant for gmos and it would add no useful information to consumers. hold, in a, when hole, they feel they should have a choice. everyone has a right to be a first user relate user of a new product or technology. ?emember olestra some said, i will go for it. other said, not me, i'm going to wait till several million people have tried it.

and we don't have that choice with gmos unless we buy organic. the government standard does say that organic foods are not supposed to have more than 1% gmos in them. so that is the only choice people have. inorganic is usually more expensive. >> on top of labeling, what other measures would you want to see implemented around the issue of gmos? >> the europeans have taken a position that these products have to be tested. that you cannot assume that they're going to be safe. the united states has taken exactly the opposite position. that they don't have to be tested. we have evidence -- at least i found 22 studies have shown the animals that are fed gmos have had some negative effects. we don't know whether these 22 studies will stand up when they ,re reach ride, but -- retried but nobody can tell us the studies are not important or

relevant. and sometimes, if you negative studies that you have are more important than the dozens of positive studies, which show nothing. so we have to take a very serious look at the studies that have been done, which have shown there are some negative effects. >> can you talk about the major players and the ballot initiatives in oregon and colorado who are against labeling? for example, like monsanto? >> large corporations don't want labels for obvious reasons. they don't want to have a segmented patchwork communities where they have to present products to different states and different conditions. it doesn't work well for the efficiency of a corporation. so they would prefer to have one rule for every state and every city. when california, they require labeling on products because of environmental effects, those labels go to every other city and state in the country.

so we all benefit from some of the california initiatives on toxic chemicals. and that also be true with gmos. if they label in oregon and colorado, they can just label .verywhere the company is not going to lose out on that. they are trying to instill fear in the people that the food prices will skyrocket if they do that. well, that is just fear tactics. we have some labeling, volunteering -- volunteer labeling on products that make milk. bovine growth hormone's. you can buy milk that says no bovine growth hormone's. it hasn't skyrocketed a product, the cost of milk. >> we have a chapter of your book online at democracynow.org. sheldon krimsky, author of the new book, "the gmo deception: what you need to know about the food, corporations, and government agencies putting our families and our environment at risk." he is a pr