09/04/19 09/04/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy:y: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we're in the midst of one of the greatest national crisis in our countries history. amy: it is a scene of utter devastation in the bahamas after being ravaged by hurricane dorian. residents of florida, georgia, and the carolinas are now bracing for the storm. we will go to the bahamas for latest. and we look at threats to

journalists around the globe. in the philippines, american journalist brandon lee remains in critical condition more than four weeks after being shot multiple times outside his home in the northern philippines in early august. in nigeria, the independent journalist, former presidential .andidate omoyele sowore >> [inaudie] amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the bahamas have been left utterly devastated after the category 5 hurricane dorian ravaged the island nation. the death toll has gone up to at least seven people in the bahamas as the island continues its rescue efforts. dramatic images reveal the

extent of the damage, with entire neighborhoods decimated . on the islands of abaco and grand bahama, as many as 13,000 homes have been destroyed or heavily damaged. some reports say 70% to 80% of the affected areas remain underwater, including the grand bahama international airport. alexander acosta cortez tweeted about the disaster. she said this is what climate change looks like. it hits vulnerable community's residents of florida, georgia first. and the carolinas are now bracing for the storm as it heads towards the u.s. as a downgraded category 2. we'll have more on hurricanee dorianan after headlines. meanwhile, tropical storm fernand formed in the western gulf of mexico tuesday and is expected to make landfall in northeastern mexico today, bringing heavy rainfall and floods to the region. hong kong chief executive carrie lam has formally withdrawn the highly contested extradition bill today after months of mass protests.

>> the government will officially withdraw the bill and eradicate the worries of people. the security chief will propose a motion to withdraw the bill after legislative meeting is back. from this month onward, eyeing the other officials will visit the community and speak to the people of all walks of life who have different beliefs and politics and different backgrounds. and using that as a comedic asian platform for them to voice their discontent and find ways to address the problem. amy: demonstrators have engaged in over 13 weeks of organized protests, triggered by the extradition bill which critics warned threatened the semi-autonomous territory's sovereignty. protest demands have since expanded and include a number of pro-democracy reforms, lam's resignation, and accountability for police aggression against demonstrators. in britain, prime minister boris johnson faces an uphill battle as lawmakers prepare to vote on

whether he will have to go back to european union leaders to negotiate a new withdrawal date for brexit. this comes one day after a stinging defeat tuesday in which rebel conservatives joined with the opposition in an attempt to block a no-deal brexit and saw johnson lose his working majority in parliament. conservative member of parliament sir nicholas soames -- winston churchill's grandson -- was one of the 21 lawmakers who defied johnson. johnson says he will expel the rebel lawmakers from the party. soames said his expulsion was "the fortunes of war." prime minister johnson is expected to call for a general -- snap election i if he loses e upcoming vote. this is opposition labour leader jeremy corbyn. >> w we live in a parliamentaray democracy. we do not haveve a presidency,yt a prime minister.. prime e minister's governing wih the consent of the house of commons representing the people

in whom that sovereignty rests. there is no consent.. there is n no consent in this house to leave the european union without a deal. deal is no majority for no in the country. amy: protesters have been taking to the streets in london and around the u.k. this week for "stop the coup" and anti-brexit demonstrations. the united states, walmart announced it will stop selling ammunition for handguns and short barrel rifles, which can be used d in military-style, semi-automatic assault weapons. it also will stop selling handguns in alaska, the only remaining state where it sells handguns. in addition, the retail giant said it would discourage openly carrying firearms in its stores and back calls for stronger background check laws as well as a debate on an assault rifle ban.

a recent poll shows 60% of americans back in assault weapons ban. walmart will continue to sell long barrel hunting rifles and shotguns and ammunition for those weapons. walmart ceo doug mcmillan sent a letter to congress outlining the company's policy changes. the announcement follows a's eight of deadly mass shootings -- a spate of deadly mass shootings, including at an el paso, texas, walmart, which killed 22 people. the kroger grocery chain has also announced it will request shoppers stop openly carrying firearms. kroger stores previously adhered to local laws on the matter. last year, kroger ended sales of guns and ammunition in its stores in alaska, idaho, oregon, and washington. in another mass shooting, just days after the western texas rampage which killeded seven people 14-year-old teenager shot , a and killed five family members at their home in alabama monday. the boy then called the police to confess to killing his

father, stepmother and siblings, according to reports. the victims included a five and six year-o-old, and a six months old baby. authorities have not yet determined where the teenager obtained the handgun he used. the pentagon agreed tuesday to divert $3.6 billion from its budget to put towawards presidet trump's border wall. the funds will come out of 127 military construction projects in order to build 175 miles of the wall on the u.s.-mexico border. defense secretary mark esper's formal authorization means the re-appropriation of funds can go ahead without approval from congress. in february, trump declared a national emergency in order to justify using federal money to build his wall. democratic lawmakers blasted the move. house speaker nancy pelosi said it violated the separation of powers and "undermine our national security." the aclu vowed to challenge

"trump's latest effort to raid military funds for his xenophobic wall." in more immigration news, the trump administration appeared to reconsider a move to force immigrants receiving critical medical care to leave the u.s. last month, citizenship and immigration services started denying medical deferred action exemptions to immigrants with serious illnesses and their families. in letters sent to applicants of the program, the agency told them they must leave the country or face depoportation. ththe move came withouout any advance notice or public announcement and sparked severe backlash from immigrant rights groups, medical professionals, and democratic lawmakers. on monday, officials said that no depeportations had been initiated since the policy change and that it would "reopen previously pending cases for consideration." however, it's unclear what the longer term fate of the program will be.

in guatemala, the runner-up in last month's presidential election, sandra torres, was arrested at her home in guatemala city early monday morning. according to guatemala's attorney general, torres is suspected of breaking campaign finance rules and unlawful association in the 2015 elections, the year torres lost the presidential bid to outgoing president jimmy morales. more recently, she lost to right-wing leader alejandro giammattei, who will be inaugurated in january 2020. former first lady sandra torre'' political career has been plagued by allegations of corruption and ties to criminal organizations. her arrest c came on the e eve f guatemala's u.n.-backed-anti-corruption commissision, cicig's s formal expulsion from the c country. cicicig had led the ininvestigan against torres. cicig issued a final report describing guatemala as being captured by corruption at the hands of a mafia coalition

involving politicians, the wealthy community, and elites that is "willing to sacrifice guatemala's present and fufuture to guarantee impuny and preserve the status quo." italy has reached an agreement to form a new government, avoiding snap elections following the disintegration of its right-wing ruling coalition last month. members of the anti-establishment five star movement have approved a deal to share power with the center-left democratic party. the new government means far-right anti-immigrant leader matteo salvini will lose his powerful role within the government for now. giuseppe conte will stay on as prime minister after initially resigning following salvini's attempted power grab. he is expected to seek presidential approval of the deal today. as commemoration ceremonies took place over the weekend to mark the 80th anniversary of germany's invasion of poland, president trump sent a message of congratulations to poland.

trump said " "it's a great country with great people." meanwhile, german president asked poland for forgiveness and referred to the german invasion of poland in 1939 as a "war crime." trump had been scheduled to be of the official ceremony in warsaw this weekend, but canceled due to hurricane dorian. vice president mike pence was in attendance. president trump played golf through the weekend. senator elizabeth warren has unveiled her plan to tackle the climatee crisis ahead of tuesday tonight's 2020 town hall on climate change. the plan adopts ideas put forward by washington governor jay inslee, who put the climate crisis at the center of his campaign before dropping out of the presidential racace last month. the $3 trillion plan, which would be paid for by reversing trump's tax cuts for the wealthy, includes zeroing out carbonon emissions f for commerl and residential buildings, as well as most passenger vehicles in the next decade.

it would be switching to renewable electricity by 2035, and creating unionized clean energy jobs. senators cory booker and amy klobuchar, and former housing secretary julian castro, have also released climate plans in recent days. add of the cnn town hall that will go from 5:00 tonight until midnight. in a victory for voting rights advocates, a north carolina court unanimously rejected a gerrymandered legislative map tuesday, giving state officials two weeks to redraw north carolina's district map. the three-judge panel accused state republicans of violating north carolina's constitution and engagaging in "extreme partisan gerrymandering." the group common cause, which brought the case before the court, celebrated the ruling, saying "politicians in raleigh will no longer be able to rig our elections" and that they would continue to make sure the legislature's new districting efforts are fair and transparent.

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here is a curriculum, here is how u dodo it and, you know,ou haven'thangedet, keept it, it will ppen. amy: andhose areome of t headlis. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viviewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show in the bahamas. it is a scene of utter devastation after the category 5 hurricane dorian ravaged the island nation. residents of florida, geororgia, and the carolilinas arare now bracing for the ststorm which hs been downgraraded to categorory. the e official death toll in the bahamas is at seven but t is expepected to risese. on the islands of abaco and grand bahama, as many as 13,000 homes have been destroyed or heavily damaged. rescue efforts have been hampered by widespread flooding. some reports say 70% to 80% of the affected areas remains

underwater, including grand bahama international airport. this is bahamian prime minister hubert alexander minnis. >> we are in the midst of one of the greatest crisis i in our countries history. the government will bring to bear every resource possible to and the people of abaco grand bahama or any other island nanation that is necessary. no effort or resources will be held back. the bahamas red cross and other relief groups are scribbling to help survivors. >> they need every piece of help they can get. it is devastating. it is heartbreaking when y you lolook and see t the initial vis coming out of f there. so we e know from what we're

seeing and hearing that this one will be -- will require the help of all persons. amy: we go now to the bahamas where we are joined by two guests. crystal degregory is a professor who was born in the bahamas and now serves as the director of the atwood institute for race, education, and the democratic ideal at kentucky state university. she is joining us from freeport in grand bahama. also in freeport, sam teicher, the founder and chief reef officer for coral vita, which is based in freeport, grand bahama. we welcome you both to democracy now! under these severe conditions. i want to start with crystal. you are bahamian. you're just visiting your family when the hurricane made landfall. can you describe the scene and what has happened to your family their? >> it is devastating. the toll of the hurricane is truly indescribable and unprecedented.

much of the island is under floodwaters. citizens are still out in the rescueattempting to those in distress. mind-boggling because this is not supposed to happen to these areas. suburbs, if you will, not see facing properties. we really otherwise thought them to be safe. amy: what happened to your sister and her family? >> it is crazy. a call came in that the water was rising. their soon to be at steps.

then the next call came in that their neighbors house had taken in substantial water. they had sought refuge with my sister, but the waters in her house were also rising several feet. really quickly. it was like flash flooding. thens virtually dry, and they would just be flooded. avail to use every resources, social media, the in the unitedple states to try and get them some recourse. they needed a boat. no truck was big enough, tall enough to wade through waters which were anywhere from waist deep to chest high. so they had to wait into those into those waters

and sought refuge with the neighbor where they bunker down, some 20 of them. sunday or monday night -- i don't even know what day it is. i don't even know what day that was, unfortunately. juan: we're also joined by sam teicher, the founder and chief reef officer for coral vita, beenou talk about what has the government recovery or rescue operation? >> thank you for having as. many people are going to need a lot of help. i was very fortunate to be located on the south side of the island. i was on a canal system, so we were definitely worried about strong surge. we were able to weather the storm. couldn't really venture outside

for most of the storm. it was relentless, nonstop wind, rain. videos singetting flooding across the island and hearing people going into attics roofs.en on roots -- rescue.s is once we are able to get a truck and had some supplies, power friends, we went out yesterday. thatlivered fuel to teams were using jet ski for rescue operations. there is definitely a shortage of fuel, water, food, medical supplies, hygienic products, diapers. as soon as i get off the phone here, i will go back out with my aiends were trying to get family that we could not get to

last night that have a small kid that had been trapped on the north side of the island near the airport. now, ast i've seen crystal was saying, it is utter devastation. bahamian people are really resilient and a credible, but there really need help from the outside world now. juan: sam teicher, when hurricane maria h hit puerto rio couple of years ago, virtually all of the electricity and cell phone service went out. what is the situation with basic utilities right now? is there any electricity across the island? you're always having cell phone conversations because you are able to get through. sam? >> hello. are you there? juan: we can hear you now. i asked about the situation with utilities, with the internet, with electricity, with cell phone service. >> a good example of

connectivity there. i still do not have power my house. i have backup storage units that i've been able to charge our phones and my neighbor has -- are you there? amy: sam, we're going to go to break and reconnect with you to try to get improved service. we also want to ask you about your work there and to draw the map of the bahamas for us. this archipelago of 700 caves and islands might surprise people, might ththink of it as e or two islands. it also what is happening to the coral reefs. sam teicheher is founder and chf reef officer for coral vita, which is based in freeport, grand bahama. and we're also on the phone with crystal degregory, the director -- kentucky state university.

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amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the bahamas have been devastated by the hurricane dorian category five. crystal degregory is still on with us from grand bahama, pestering at kentucky state university, caught in grarand bahama in freeport when she was visiting her family and sam teicher, founder and chief reef officer for coral vita, which is also based in freeport, grand bahama. stem, described the geography and also your work there, the coral reefs. there are 24 hours of the day coverage of this devastation of the hurricane, but almost never do they mention the issue of climate change.

you are spot on, amy. this is a climate emergency right now. there are hundreds of islands throughout the bahamas, often in low-lying boast of the whole reason i'm done with my team because we're in a state where we have to grow coral to restore dying reefs. we have to stop killing them. not only for the ecological wonder, but in cases like hurricanes, they shelter coastlines from storms. -- we cameal reef down here to build our first coral farm. it was totaled. we will have to rebuild it. the priority right now is obviously helping people. is a living planet. the ecosystems support all are dying right now. ultimately, that really affects us because coral reefs, mangroves, forests, you name it, they provide people with food, clothing, and shelter.

[indiscecernible] we plan toto do this work k all aroundnd the worldld. government industry, the media to help solve color -- climate change but in the jumpstartwe need to restoration economy thatat can help repair the ecosystems to take care of all of us. so farrystal degregory, we have been hearing the death toll is at seven. even the devastation, the photos we have seen, it seems very likely that that number will grow. how do you assess how the government prepared for the storm and then how they been acting in the first 24 hours or so after the storm finally left the island's? you know, we always think that people can do a better job and there is perhaps room for

improvement. i personally believe it is likely the death toll is higher than initially reported. but we have to remember we are amid a storm bearing down on a neighboring island in the panic would not have ensued have helped those who face dorian's wrath to endure any better. we will see in the days to come. i will just say -- i could say the government's response perhaps could be better. there could not have been a better response from scores of young bahamians who are using social media in ways never before seen in previous disasters to rally help, both immediate for those seeking rescue as well as long-term in

terms of letting the world know that we do in fact need their help. amy: on tuesday, a spokesman for the u.n. office for disaster risk reduction dennis mcclain warned the intense hurricanes in the atlantic in recent years are linked to, change. >> this is the fourth consecutive year we have witnessed a devastating atlantic hurricane season, including dorian. the sequence cannot be divorced from the fact these last five hardest everen the recorded because of the continuing rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. hurricane dorian crystallizes the existential threat posed to small island developing states for the ongoing climate emergency. this is an enormous humanitarian and development challenge for the bahamas. amy: so that is a spokesperson for the u.n. office for disaster risk reduction. sam teicher, you are from the

united states. you live on grand bahama as you try to restore the coral reef. what does it mean to have the president of the united states right nextxt door denying climae change? what kind of effect is that have on the islands of the bahamas, if it does? whatrst, i want to echo crystal set and a bahamian people have rallied to help people out here. tremendous credit to them. the priority is on rescue right now. you know, if i had a country club along the florida coast, i would want april reef that is healthy because if nothing else, it is going to lower my insurance rates because it will reduce storm damage. you can think about it from an economic perspective, public health perspective, human attain, ecological, national security. arctic, the the amazon -- all of these ecosystems and ultimately the

impact of climate change affect people everywhere. i would really encourage the president to take better advice from better people. i think he has the ability to change his mind and to really use the resources and influence and power of a country like the united states to do the right thing because climate change is a clear and present danger to all of us. amy: we want to thank you both for being with us sam teicher is , the founder and chief reef officer for coral l vita, whichs based in freeport, grand bahama. one of the most devastated islands of the bahamas right now, along with abaco. degregory, went home to the bahamas to see her family when hurricane dorian struck. this is democracy now! we will continue to cover this story. we will be covering climate week here in new york as well as u.n.

the climate summit that is taking place. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we're spending the rest of the hour on press freedom and threats to journalists around the globe. in the philippines, american journalist and indigenous and environmental rights activist brandon lee remains in critical condition more than four weeks afteter being shot multiple tims outside his home in the northern philippines in early august. lee was shot at least four times in the back and face on august 6 in what his family and advocates say was an attempt by the philippine government to kill him. now they are calling for the u.s. embassy in the philippines to protect lee as he recovers in the hospital, fearing another attack. this is brandon lee's mother, louise lee, speaking in late august. heard he arrived, we had eight cardiac arrest.

it that he ise survived. he is still alert and he smiles. happy for him to return home.e. my family anand i are very thankful for the care he is receiving here at the hospital, but we are very concerned for his safety. the assailant is still out there and could come back to finish the job. i am hoping the u.s. embassy and other u.s. representatives will be able to help us with medically evacuating brandon and bringing him back k home to san franciscsco and awayay from his perpetrators, people out there wanting to kill him. amy: brandon lee is a chinese american born and raised in san francisco, but he has spent the last decade in the philippines, where he has a wife and young daughter.

he is a correspondent for the weekly newspaper northern dispatch, where he reports on community issues and land use, including corporate and government control of ancestral lands for mining and dams. he is also a paralegal for the cordillera human rights alliance and activist with the ifugao peasant movement, a community group that is currently protesting a hydropower project and increased militarization in cordillera. lee's editor at northern dispatch told the committee to protect journalists that he has been targeted for this work since 2015, facing relentless surveillance from president rodrigo duterte's government. the guardian reports that he had been labeled an enemy of the state on social media before the shooting. for more, we go to san n francio where we're joined by two guests. matt haney is a san francisco supervisor who led a fact-finding delegation to the philippines last week to investigate the attack on the american journalist and activist brandon lee.

and raquel redondiez is a member of the san francisco committee for human rights in the philippines and a friend of brandon lee. she visited brandon in the hospital with supervisor m matt haneney last w week. haney, you lead this delegation. why did you go from san francisco to the philippines and what did you find? >> well, we went first and foremost to visit brandon. brandon is a san francisco resident. he grew up here. he went to public schools here. deeply concerned about his well-being. a couple of weeks before we went to mile for the resolution, like condemning some of the things that are happening in the human rights abuses in the philippines. shortly thereafter, one of our own, brandon, was shot in his attempted assassination. we wanted to visit him and bring

him gifts. we wanted to bring him our love and solidarity from san francisco. we wanted to see what we could do to support him. we also wanted to learn about the broader human rights situation in the philippines. i represent a district that has a very large filipino community. many of my residents that i represent are impacted. we are concerned. there's a long history of people around the world really standing up for human rights and democracy in the philippines. and so i wanted to make sure that we did whatever we could to not just support brandon, but the filipino people. juan: matt haney, when you had a chance t to talk with him, talk about what you learned about the actual assassination attempt. this was in his home that he was attacked? could you talk about that somewhat? >> this was at his home. he is a young daughter who was there at the time. he was going out in his backyard

to feed his dogs. he was shot multiple times. he has three bullets that are still inside his b body. one near his spine and one in his face. he has no doubt that this was the philippine army that targeted him. we got to meet with his colleagues and his family and friends while we were there. they told us a number of them were also visited by the army on the same day, but they were not home. he had experienced escalating threats to his life from the military in the lead up to the assassination attempt. so this is a context in which brandon has been deeply involved in fighting for the rights of indigenous people in the philippines, human rights, defending their natural resources -- particularly against the proposed dam in the area where he works. he and his colleagues and friends feel very confidently that this was from elements connected to the philippine government.

the police have told the family that they believe it was brandon's friends that did this, which is an absurd thing from what we saw and everyone we talked to. brandonant to turn to and his own words. this is over a year ago. in a video message released in july 2018, before the assassination attempt, he talked about t the threats s and harast he and his colleagues were confronting. >> my name is brandon lee. we have e been hararassed and intimidated d and threatatened h death thrhreatsunder survrveillance constantly, since 2010. with us this has to do defending the land.

amy: that is brandon lee over a year ago before he was shot. raquel redondiez, you went on this fact-finding mission with supervisor matt haney and others. you were a close friend of brandon lee. heyou can talk about what put out right before the assassination attempt? he was already saying he was targeted and who he was targeted by, and for what? >> even in the weeks leading up to the attempted assassination, he had emailed some of his friends in san francisco and told us he was being visited at his home, at his workplace, by the military, paramilitary forces. he was very concerned about this. they were even asking about his daughter. so this is something that he, as matt said, he has been facing

harassment, intimidation, even death threats percent or years now for his work organizing amongst indigenous community's. i am wondering, this case has not received a very much attention at the national level. i'm thinking for instance of the in northtto warmbier korea who was jailed in the was a whole campaign to get him released. and finally when north korea did release him, he ended up dying as a result of a coma. even president trump got involved. here, what is been the reaction of the national level to the fact this is an american who was killed in the philippines? shot, i'm sorry. definitely, family and friends have been reaching out to our congressional representatives. his mom reached out immediately to the u.s. embassy to seek support for protection for brain

while he is still at the hospital recovering. the family has been requesting medical evacuation for brandon at the soonest time. sadly, we have not really gotten a proactive response. i think there is definitely private concerns expressed to at congressional offices, but what the u.s. embassy response was asked to contact the philippine national police to provide protection of the hospital -- which was not welcomed by brandon's family and colleagues who do believe that police have been part of the harassment and the intimidation that brandon and his colleagues have been experiencing the last of a years. amy: if you can talk more about that. shawn crystal at the committee to protect journalists said "authorities should leave no stone unturned in identifying a never-ending the perpetrators behind the shooting of journalist brandon lee and to

present a rodrigo duterte shows he asserts about protecting journalists from all the talk of investigations will come to nothing and violent attacks on the press will continue, he said. who you knowscribe is behind this attack and also what happened to others that shot? hat he was >> we have learned in our trip throughout the philippines is this was not an isolated incidents. in the case of brennan, seven -- several of his colleagues were visited that evening. or join for them, none of them were home and it was only brandon that was home at the time. the other colleagues did not sever his fate. a throughout the philippines, what we have heard is where there are communities organizing and resisting the presidents

build, build, build, and kill, kill, kill to of element policy, the military is deployed against them to harass them, intimidate them, even to forcibly evacuate them. amy: matt haney, if you can talk about what is happening in the philippines overall, the broader context of the extrajudicial killings? rodrigo duterte, close ally of the united states, president trump has applauded him over and over, even as he himself, duterte, has boasted about ersonally killing people? >> it is an awful situation throughout the country. president duterte has been pretty clear about what he intended to do, and he is doing it. he said if you are a do nothing, if you are somebody who is a rebel or communist, someone who is invololved with drugs, that e

will k kill you. shockingly, there have been tens of thousands of people who have been killed by the philippine government, some under this banner of the war on drugs -- which we found was simply a war on the poor. in many cases, people were killed simply because they were living in a certain place, at the wrong place at the wrong time. we met with some of the folks from the nightcrawlers, which are photo journalist who go and take photos of these extrajudicial killings. they told us these are so common that now their editors are telling them that they cannot even cover them anymore because a need a new angle because these are happening so often that it is not even news anymore. and this particular journalist told us the only thing that has changed is where they are dumping the bodies and how they are lying about it. so this s is a policy of thee philippine government to target and assassinate people they view as their enemies.

and often those are people who stand in the way, like brandon, who was standing up for people in their land and their rights, but sometimes it is just people who are poor who they can then say, this person was involved with drugs or whatever it is, and are being targeted for assassination. it seems the u.s. government, not only is not speaking out on this, but continuing to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to the philippine military. and there has not been attention to this by the congress -- we've been calling for a hearing. we have an calling for our representatives here to speak out, not just on brandon's case, but on the broader human rights situation in the philippines. juan: raquel redondiez, there's been a lot of emphasis on covering what has happened to duterte and the drug war, but not so much the government's war against environmental activists. haveeport says 30 people

been killed since duterte became president, and bar mental activists. about 20% of environmental activists killed across the world. >> the reality is the philippines are very rich in natural resources. these are stories we have heard in the north but also from indigenous communities in the south and now still under martial law. what we have is where a lot of amenities have already been devastated by logging corporations and agribusiness who are utilizing the fertile ,and, now many multinationals mining corporations, are really looking to push them out of their ancestral domain so they can take the natural resources from the ground. as a result, like supervisor said, anyone who

stands in their said, anyone who stands in their way is harassed and intimidated or massacred. we have heard representatives ,rom indigenous communities school communities, students and teachers who are being forcibly evacuated from their schools because the government does not want them to learn how to read, write, how to stand up for their rights. it is not just environmentalists, but other human rights defenders and anyone who is organizing for their rights in the philippines. amy: we will continue to follow this story of brandon lee, how he is and what is happening to him. raquel redondiez, thank you for being with us, member of the san francisco committee for human rights in the philippines and a friend of brandon lee. she visited brandon lee in the hospital supervisor matt haney. goinge come back, we're

to talk about another american journalist and activist, a nigerian american who also ran for president of nigeria. he has been arrested and jailed in nigeria for a month. we will speak with his wife and a clot be a law professor about his situation. law professor about his situation. stay with us. nani jansen reventlow ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to nigeria, where journalist and pro-democracy activist omoyele

sowore is entering his second month in jail for calling for peaceful nationwide protests against the government. sowore called his movement "revolution now" and mobilized activists to take to the streets august 5. but just two days before the protest were said toto begin, ,e was arrerested by the statate ad acaccused ofof attemptpting to e over the government. he's been imprisoned d for more than a monthth now as human rigs groups continue e to call l fors immediate rerelease. he is a a human rights activisit anand the publisisher of the one news site sahara repeporters. he has lived i in the unitited states foror many yearars. he ranan against preresident muhahammadu buhari earlier this year in anan election said lackeded a level pying field.. his party, africa actition congress, declareded august 5 te starart of the "days of rage," inspired by the recent popular uprising in sudan that toppled the authoritarian ruler omar al-bashir. the protests went ahead despite his arrest days earlier.

amy: shortly before he was arrested, sowore tweeted -- "all that is needed for a #revolution is for the oppressed to choose a date they desire for liberty, not subjected to the approval of the oppressor. #revolutionnow #daysofrage #august5" this is omomoyele soworere speag about "revolution now" at a rally in nigeria in julyly tired ounger? amy: a c clition of press freedom organizatis s and hun rights groupups recently pepetitioned thehe united natits anand the africacan union,hihila group called the afranan renaissance organizaonon sent petition to the u. d departmt of state asksking the u.s.s. government t to apply presessurn president mummadu buri for wore's release. for more, we're joined by

omoyele sowore's wife, opeyemi sowore, and one of hisis attorneys, nani jansen reventlow. reventlow, the founding director of the digital freedom fund. opeyemi sowore and nani jansen reventlow, welcome to democracy now! waswere here when sowore arrested in nigeria and personally know sowore very well. we went to cover the u.s. oil companies in nigeria -- u.s. oil 'involvement in nigeria. he is been deeply involved in covering nigeria. though a green card holder here. when did you learn what is happening and what are you demanding now? >> it was friday night here, saturday in nigeria. i got a text from him saying "i love you." love you,, great, too. at his cousin started calling me over and over about an hour after that and told me that he

had been detained. and for four days -- three days, we did not have any contact with him. we did not know where he was. he was taken by force at his to thend transported capital of nigeria. he didn't either food or during their water for those days. he was basically in isolation with no food or water. on the tuesday after he was able to get in touch with his lawyer as well as of the people to come in and provide him with food. but since then, he basically has been in isolation for over a month being held in the capital with basically -- he is basically locked in a room for the most part. juan: in the formal charges against him are based on? >> there are no formal charges per se.

he is being investigated, so the courts gave the badgering government or the dss the ability told him for 45 days to investigate. treason, possible treason and terrorism. they based it upon a meeting with a man w who has an organizization around -- he t with h him. yep, they made i it public.. in fact, hee disisagrees with se ofof the r rhetoric, but h he mh him and his whole thing i is bringingng in e everybodydy's vs so that nigeriaa can be a county for pretty mucuch all of its citizezens. so thahat is one of thehe things they m mentioned againinst them. they a also m mentioned h he mae taken money from internatitional countrieies and met themem in d. yes never been to the by before, which is interesting statement

on the nigerian government's part. and no money basically has been found. those were some of the things that they have mentioned and associated with him, but they basically have no grounds for holding him and have not found any evidence. you nani jansen reventlow, are part of an international team of attorneys representing sowore. can you talk about how you got involved in the significance of his case here in the united states as well? i met him for the first time when we were supporting him in his defense on a number of cases that were brought against -- here in the u.s. for the critical investigative reporting. i was alerted to his case shortly after hisis arrest and attention. at that time, sowore had a good legal team in nigeria to represent him. led by very famous human rights

lawyer. they're trying their best to to tout -- to challenge his detention. unfortunately, it has been unsuccessful. petition that you just mentioned, calling for the u.n. and special repertoires did intervene, basically. we consider his arrest and detention of the arbitrary and a violation of his freedom of expression, freedom of association. we want them to take action. juan: what is the general situation in nigeria for journalists or other critics of the government? >> it is generally very challenging environment where both intntimidation and also lel repercussions for critical reporting and generally voicing opposition orr challenging thehe regime is met with consequences. does not stand alone. there have been numerous

arrests. also in the context of the august 5 demonstration that did take place were numerous people were arrested, including a number of reporters that work very human rights defenders have been arrested over the past months. amy: the venture in court totified sowore's detention the terrorism act. if you can expand on that. in ruling on august 8, the high permitted the holding of sowore without pressing any charges, net can be extended. is that correct? >> correct. the security service found request for 90 days -- filed a request for 90 days to conduct investigations. in issue was ordered for 45 days of detention. this has been challenged. last week this finally came to a

hearing in court but unfortunately the judge who that the petition decided he basically could not rule on the matter and referred it back to the original court that issued the order. juan: i wonder if you had an opportunity to talk to your husband at all and what are his spirits like? >> they have allowed him to call twice. he got to speak to myself and also the children. amy: how old are your kids? >> nine and 12. he is definitely putting up a brave front, but it is hard. staying in isolalation for that calland having monitors with your family or limit what you're able to say. amy: his use of the word "revolution" his organization if youion now, nani, can talk about the significance of this? they are saying this amounts to

treason. however, they themselves have used that word talking about the need for revolution in nigeria, africa's most populous country. >> sowore used the word "revolution" a a an emotive term and uses in the e context of wawanting to achieveve transforormative change throught his career. when he found sahara porters, hsaid he wanted to reporting,,e news founding an organizazation that would rely o on investigatative citizezen reporting.g. intetestingly, after his arrest, thee was a aarge o ocry within nigegeria. and many peoeople pointed d to e fact meded the officls he us the word "revolution." amy: has the trump administration intervened in any way to help sowore? >> not that i'm aware of. amy: we will continue to follow sowore's case. i want to thank you for being with us. opeyemi sowore is the wife of omoyele sowore who was arrestedd

on august 3 in lagos nigeria. nani jansen reventlow is a part of an international team of attorneys representing sowore. that does it for our broadcast. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new yo