11/01/19 11/01/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we are going to continue advocating for what is right in public schools in the city of chicago. we are going to continue asking the wealthy and powerful in the city to help support the work of the kids all across the city. chicagoool teachers in

are heading back today, marking the end of a historic 11-day strike that had shut down the nation's third-largest school district. we will get the latest. then we speak to a former gambian beauty queen who has accused the country's former dictator of rape. fatou jallow just testified before gambia's truth, reconciliation, and reparations commissionon. sexex with me or pleasure withh meme. whatat he wanted tdodo w was tot me. whatat he wanted to do was to teh me a lesson. what he want to d do was to manifest his ego. amy: and we go to colombia, where five indigenous leaders have been massacred in the southwestern province of cauca. has deployedue

troops to the region. all that andnd more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the house of representatives voted along partisan lines thursday to formalize the impeachment inquiry into donald trump. all 196 house republicans voted against the measure and all but two democrats voted in favor of the resolution, which sets the stage for the first publicic hearings of the investigation. this is california democrat adam schiff, chair of the house intelligence committee. >> the founding fathers understood that a leader might take hold of the oval office who would sacrifice the national security, who would fail to defend the constitution, who would places personal or political interests about the interests of the country. they understood that might happen. and they provided a mechanism to do with it, and that mechanism is called impeachment. amy: the house vote came as tim morrison, a top official on

trump's national security council, testified in a closed-door hearing that the president withheld nearly $400 million in military aid to ukraine over the summer. morrison's account corroborated other officials' claims that trump's move was meant to pressure ukraine's leader to publicly investigate former vice president joe biden and his son hunter. president trump and first lady melania trump have filed a declaration of domicile, declaring their permanent residence to be the mar-a-lago club in palm beach, florida. they were previously listed as residing at trump tower in new york city, where donald trump has been a lifelong resident. "the new york times" cited an official close to trump who said the move was primarily for tax purposes. florida residents pay no state income tax. in a tweet, andrew cuomo wrote " good riddance. it is not like donald trump pay taxes here anyway. he is all yours, florida." in afghanistan, the cia is accused of backing afghan strike forces whose members have committed summary executions and other atrocities without

accountability. in a 53-page report released thursday, human rights watch says the cia-backed afghan soldiers unlawfully killed civilians during night raids, forcibly disappeared detainees, and attacked healthcare workers who allegedly treated taliban fighters. this is patricia grossman, asia director of human rights watch. >> we are calling on all of the theies to be adhering to rules in place. the problem with thehese paramilitaries is they operate outside normal chains of command within the ordinary afghan government forces or the u.s.. forces. so they y are not held accountable. the lack of f transparency means civilians cannot go to someone and find out what happened, get any kind of justice for the crimes that were committed. amy: the intercept reports a loophole in u.s. law allows the cia to ignore a rule barring the pentagon and state department from training or equipping foreign military units when

there is credible information they've committed serious human rights abuses. iraqi prime minister adel abdul mahdi on thursday offered to resign if lawmakers could agree on his replacement, as tens of thousands of anti-government protesters continued to rally in cities across iraq. mahdi's offer comes after more than 250 people have died at the hands of iraqi security forces since the protests began last month. they are demanding jobs, better public services, and an end to government corruption. in argentina, thousands marched through the streets of buenos aires thursday in the capital city's first major demonstration since incumbent president mauricio macri lost t sunday's election to center-left candidate alberto fernandez. protesters are demanding a reversal of cuts to pensions and public utility subsidies imposed after last year's $57 billion bailout by the international monetary fund. they are also demanding the senanate pass a bill expanding food assistance to comombat

rampant hunger. this is esteban marcionini, who led a protest outside the imf's offices. >> what we're going through is a catastrophe. the price increases on food makes the situation truly unsustainable. what we're debating every day is whether to eat or not. amy: chile's government heleld talks with oppososition leaders thursday in a bid to queuell anti-government protests, now entering their third weeeek. the protests erupted on october 19 sparked by a hike in subway fares, but quickly grew to nationwide demonstrations against inequality, the high cost of living, and privatization. this week chile's embattled theident announced cancellation of the climate summit. he announced thursday spain has offerered to host ththe climate summit. yesterday i i spoke with ththe presidident of spain who made te generous offer to organize the

cop 25 summit in madrid, spain, the sasame date was to be carrid out in july. -- in chile. spain will have just one month to prerepare for the global sumt in m madrid, which will follow snap elections on november 10. democracy now! will be covering the u.n. planet summit. here in new york city, former secretary of state rex tillerson told a federal court wednesday that exxonmobil did not mislead shareholders about the financial risks of climate change while tillerson was ceo of the company. investors suing the oil giant contend that under tillerson's leadership in 2014, exxon kept two sets of books on the predicted costs of future climate regulations -- lowballing internal company estimates in order to justify carbon-intensive projects like mining canada's tar sands. a damning report by "insideclimate news" and "the los angeles times" revealed that exxon knewew that fossil fuels contributed to climate change as early as the 1970's but did not

take any action even as it covered up the science. the student group "fridays for futurere nyc" is l leading a scl strike and rally today outside the manhattan courthouse where the exxon trial is underway. the group tweeted -- "exxon knew in 1982 they were stealing our future. and now they'll pay for it." swedish climate activist greta thunberg has turned down the nordic council environment prize, rejecting $52,000 in award money. in a statement posted to instagram, thunberg called the offer a "huge honor" but wrote -- "the climate movement does not need any more awards. what we need is for our politicians and the people in power start to listen to the current, best available science." she will be speaking today at los angeles city hall. in california, homes in san bernardino burned to the ground thursday as climate

change-fueled fires continue to rub around california. a new fire also broke out in ventura county, prompting thousands more to evacuate. in north dakota, the keystone pipeline remains idled after the tc energy company said a rupture spilled over 380,000 gallons of crude oil in a rural wetland. the skill came as the environment protection agency moved to roll back obama-era regulations meant to prevent toxic heavy metals from coal ash from leaching into groundwater. california democratic congressmember katie hill delivered her final remarks on the floor r of the house of representatives thursday, in a scathing critique of the double standards that apply to men and women in washingn. hill waslected trepresen southern califora'a'25thth district last nomber as one of

the first open b bisexl pepeop electeto congrs. she announced r resignion th week afr admittg to a nsensualelationsp with a campaignide befo she too offi. house hics invtigatorsere alsoooking io an alled affa betweenill and r leslative rector, ough hi has dend that relatiship. thallegatis surfac after retate.orgnd "the day mailpublblisd nakekeimages of hill witho h her csent. hill hasccccuseder abusi husband of enlisngng theelp p of "hateful political operatives" in a smear campaign based on cycyber exploitation. >> i am leaving because of a misogynistic culture that gleefully consumed my naked pictures, capitalized on my sexuality, and enabled my abusive ex to continue that abuse, this time with the entire country watching. i am leaving, but we have men who have been credibly accused of intentional act of sexual violence and remain in

boardrooms, on the supreme court come in this very body, and worst of all, in the oval office. amy: new york congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez told politico -- "this doesn't happen to male members in the same way -- revenge porn in this respect. i don't think we're really talking about how targeted and serious this is. we're talking about a major crime." in missouri, a series of public hearings is underway to determine the fate of the state's last remaining abortion provider, a planned parenthood clinic in st. louis. in june, state officials moved to deny the clinic's license to perform abortions in a move decried by pro-choice groups as a politically motivated attack on reproductive rights. on tuesday, missouri health director dr. randall williams admitted he kept a spreadsheet tracking the menstrual periods of planned parenthood patients -- a database that was emailed between health department employees. missouri lawmakers are demanding

the governor investigate the spreadsheet as a major violation of medical privacy laws. on thursday, the director of surgical serviceces at planned parenthood's st. louis clinic broke down in tears as she testified about invasive, medically-unnecessary pelvic exams she was forced to administer to people seeking abortions under an order by dr. randall williams. the mandate has since been reversed. in august, a federal judge blocked missouri's near-total ban on abortions one day before it was set to take effect. a federal court halted a similar abortion ban in alabama earlier this week, citing the supreme court's landmark 1973 decision, roe v. wade. in gambia, a beauty queen who says the president raped her when she was 18 years old testified thursday to a public truth and reconciliation commission that is iesestigati the atrocities of former prpresent yahya jammeh fafato"toufah" jallow s s beco a leading voe againsthe foer preredent, who ruled e westfricicanountry of 2 llioion ople for 22 year

before his regimenended 2017.7. two her womehave alscome forwd to acce the foer prident ofape and xual assaul lar in theroadcastwe' go toambia to spe with "tfah" jallow abo her tesmony. in hong kong, police fired tear gas thursday evening to clear crowds of anti-authoritarian protesters who mingled with halloween revelers in the city's busiest nightlife district. the protesters used the holiday as an excuse to once again defy a government ban on face masks, imposed last month as part of a widening crackdown on public assemblies. >> i think if everyone here wears a mask, everyone can represent us. hong kong has a mask ban now, but our people will not yield to this ridiculous law. amy: economic data released thursday show hong kong entered a recession in recent months, amid a v violent response to protests that erupted in june. another massive protest is being planned for saturday.

and jordan has recalled its ambassador in tel aviv after israel refused to release two jordanian citizens who have been held without charge since their arrests in the israeli-occupied west bank in august. isisrael routinely uses its "administrative detention" policy to hold palestinians indefinitely without trial in military jails. on thursday, palestinian protesters in the west bank city of ramallah held a solidarity rally. this is demonstrator raya zeyadah. >> these protests and rallies are in solidarity with our female and male prisoners in the occupation jails, especially the prisoners who are on hunger strike and the prisoner whose life is in danger. we are all here in one voice that says we are with the prisoners, both men and women. amy: jordanian-palestinian hiba al-labadi has been held in an israeli jail without charge since august, when she was arrested after crossing between jordan and the occupied west bank. she's been on hunger strike for nearly 40 days and was

hospitalalized after her health deteriorated. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. teachers in chicago are heading back to school today, marking the end of a historic 1111-day strike that had shut down the nation's third-largest school district. after weeks of tense negotiation, the city agreed to reduce class sizes, bring on hundreds of extra social workers, nurses, and librarians, and increase salary by 16% over the next five years, with big gains for low-wage workers. this is chicago mayor lori lightfoot announcing the news. >> in agreement with c2 prprident jesssse sharkey, class will resume tomorrow. we invited him to come out so we could do a joint announcement. he declined, but we have an agreement and teachers will be back in class and students to be back in class totomorrow. amy: the u union demanded that teachers be able to make u up te full 11 dadays of school before agreeingng to return to work. ththey eventually settled wiwite

city on five dayays. negotiations lasasted hohours ad union members were split on whether or not to approve the deal with the city. this is chicago teacachers union president jesse e sharkey. >> this has been a tense last two weeks. but it is not about me or the mayor. this is about the members of the chicago teachers union. 20,000 teachers and thousands of education support workers and clinicians. frankly, our memembers are still on the picket line today. they don't need to see me smiling with the mayor when in fact what they need to see is we have a tentative agreemement. we nowow have a return agreemen. i'm glad that people get to return to work. frankly, it has been hard on teachers. parentseen hard on the to be out this long. it has been hard on our students. doing aid not feel like celebration lap with the mayor

right now. amy: 7500 public school workers with the service employees international union who had been striking also settled with the city earlier this week. they stayed on the picket lines through thursday. well, for more, we're joined by two guests. in chicago, stacy davis gates is with us. she is the executive vice president of the chicago teacher union. and labor journalist sarah jaffe joins us from philadelphia, author of "necessary trouble: americans in revolt." welcome to democracy now! let't's gogo directly tohihicag. stacy davis gates, can you talk that yout this deal is struck, the chicago teachers union, with the city of chicago, that if all of the workers today, well,nds teachers are back at school. >> our members took a ten-day sacrifice to finally bring about some equity in the chicago public schools. our school communities will have a nurse five days a week in

every school, a social worker five days a week and every school. school communities on the south and west side of the city are now being prioritized. they will get the wraparound support they need, the class size limits will go into effect almost -- will go into effect faster for them. look, this sacrifice are members made has ushered in a new type of chicago public schools that offers sanctuary to their students, that provides homeless students with the necessary support. we are very pleased with the outcome. we just really thank our peers in the city for standing by us. the salarylso about and health care benefits that you negotiated. >> virtually no change in our health insurance and are members got a cola, cost-of-living increase. and ourst wage workers

bargaining unit, two thirds of them, their children could qualify for free and reduced lunch prior to going on strike. now we have lifted that basement and those women who serve in our school communities, who are the glue and our school c communiti, they don't have to exist in povertananymore. amy: the chicago tribune ran an editorial headlined "this ctu strike has betrayed chicago's children." the editorial read in part -- "there are about 300,000 children in chicago who have missed nearly two weeks of classroom instruction and after-school activities. there are high schoolers who have fallen behind on college application preparations. athletes who lost the chance to participate in postseason playoffs and tournaments. and there are children from every community who counted on school as a sanctuary. for thousands of those children, school essentially was their only place of learning, emotional support and consistency." the editorial went on to criticize ctu leaders saying -- "they made outlandish demands as if city hall owed teachers not

just a big wage bump but a utopian version of chicago." stacy davis gates, can you respond? >> we got what we needed for our students. it is always outlandish and utopian when right-wing new sources limit the resources that black children, brown children in the city get to have. it is a shame that the "tribune" cannot see the work that teachers did in these 10 days as a benefit for the entire city. i know that our members are happy to go back to work today. they are happy to go back to work because they are a part of shrink in a new way of doing public education in the city that prioritizes the least of them a bargaining structure that is for the common good because our members serve the common good. we are very pleased about the transformation that our city is going through in this moment.

it is led by a movement, a movement of community groups, of parents, students that amplified in this moment with their teachers. amy: can you talk about the fact it was not only the chicago teachers union, but seiu that also went on strike? the significance of this? >> these are black women who are making wages that did not make that is growing increasingly unaffordable. these women went out on the picket line with the teachers and they won tremendous gains in their salary structure. i will l be honest with you. i don't think this could happen , as monumentalve as it was without the seiu 73 members on the picket line with us.

those women settle their contract before we did. the next day, they were on the picket lines with us. the solidarity we had with the city, with each other was tremendous in this moment. look, this is a movement that has been percolating for the last decade in this city. to bring about change that focuses on those communities that have been left behind while skyscrapers in downtown chicago are built with taxpayer money. this is a shift in how we can -- conceive of public resources actually helping those that needed the most. this is a win for our city. this is a win for our state. this is a win for our country. amy: stacy davis gates, you are a mom of three schoolkids in the chicago schools. i think about that editorial that talked about this utopian version of chicago you're looking for. can you talk about what educational justice means? >> it means black children and chicago don't have to beg for a

nurse, which is the very minimum for most color and across this country. chicago has a very terrible history of racism and segregation. and when you read editorials like that, it provokes those same feelings agaiain. our children come every single child in the chicago public schools, deserves more than what we even won in this contract. this contract sets forth an infrastructure to help us fight for even more. when you can take a public subsidy and build a playground in one of the richest neighborhoods in this country and call it a giveaway but then make teachers picket and strike for 10 days to get a social worker and school communities that have been ravaged by violence, poverty, and employment, and disinvestment, there is something wrong with their priorities and values of those who are in charge. iat i am saying today is that am proud that chicago lifted its voice in unison to say that we are going to transform the way and which we prioritize children

in the city, our school communities in this city, and the public sector in this city. amy: sarah jaffe, you have been looking at school strikes for years and you have also had this wave of school strikes across the country, not to mention the chicago teacachers union s strif 2012. talk about the significance of what just took place with the nation's third-largest school district. >> i think we have to start with the chicago strike of 2012 because that is where this entire wave was rooted. when stacy says they have been fighting for a decade, this is a caucus within this union that took power in 2010 that fought for the right to strike and then successfully went on strike in 2012 beat rahm emanuel -- in many ways were committed to privatizing to crushing the union then lori lightfoot was -- and so that is where this movement began. the last time i was on we were

talking about los angeles and the los angeles teachers pushed her this framework and now the ctu has done this again. they have comeme back to the center o othe teachehers union movement wear them along. they brought demands around housing and they extra funding for students suffering from homelessness, extra nurses and social workers, think students need to be able to go to o schos and learn. you hadcy davis gates, talked about mayor lightfoot being a shero, that she had the opportunity to be a shero. how would you assess what she has done over the last 10 days? >> i would say we are disappointed that it took a strike for her to make good on the promises that she put forth on the campaign trail. i think this serves as notice to all of us in the movement that when candidates assume our positions and our platforms and our agenda, that we can hold

them accountable to making good on those things. aok, this was never about power struggle. in fact, for the last decade, it has been about giving chicago students what they deserve. and she was in a position to do it before the strike, and certainly our members took it to a strike and they won those things for the students. amy: sarah jaffe, there is a lot of union activism going on right now, not only teachers across the country, but you have the gm strike ended on friday. we're talking about nearly 50,000 workers and the most significant strike against gm and like half a century. and you have on wednesday, uaw reaching a deal with ford. talk about this. >> where to o begin. it was surprising thomas everybody, including some of the workers at gm, that the union was willing to go to a strike in the first place. they were out on strike i

believe for over four weeks to 60 days -- 40 days, i'm sorry. when you look at what is going on in the country, again, i always start with chicago. sort of reviving strike. at gm, saw the difference between what it looks like to have a union like the ctu that is prepared for this, that knows what they're going for, that has a democratic bargaining structcture that is transparent and communinicates with its members versus a lot of the gm workers that i talked to were feeling kind of a comfortable, not sure what was going on, did not feel the union leadership was communicating with them. disappointed in the contract. the contract nearly did not pass. i spoke to a lot of workers who were voting no. the question of whether you can take the kind of bargaining for common good framework that the ctu and other teachers unions have been using and apply that to the private sector, apply it to places like gm, where the uaw did build the middle class in this country. the uaw's bargaining has also

been for the common good, but it is a little harder to take those issues of homelessness in the community, for instance, to thte bargaining table when you are workers at an auto company that is facing major changes i in its business model. one of the fights this time around at gm was about the closure of certain plants stop talking about opening a battery plant for electric car production in the area around where the lordstown plant was in ohio. but those are now going to be jobs covered by the same contract. they will be outside. gm once those to be lower wage, lower security jobs because that is the future of where the company is going. they gm strike was a mixed bag. still, the big thing about it is the workers wewere ready to stay out. for 43% of the workers, they were ready to continue to fight for more. amy: "the new york times" reported last year the number of workers who participated in significant strikes soared to

nearly 500,000, the highest point since the mid-1980's, while the duration of such strikes reached a 15 year high. and what doeshat this make the future look like? >> we are still nowhere where we were before ronald reagan crashed the air traffic controllers union. that was a signal from the white house, from the highest position in the land, that it was open season on union. it has been open season on unions is pretty much my entire life. i was born in 1980. what we're looking at now are unions fighting back in the face of decades of concessions, .ecades of givebacks in the public sector, talking about fighting back after the jenness decision that made the entire public sector what we call right to work, which means they do not have to pay anything to the union to be covered by its contract. despite that, unions have not members.ed and immerse

they have been able to win more for ththeir members. not dead,movement is but it is not back at strength, anything close to it. we are also seeing our industries unionizing. the workers here in philadelphia won their you know about two nights ago 70-1. not nearly as many as in a uaw plant, but it is a sign that eveven sort of whihite-collar workers are e understanding that unionizing is a way they have power on the job and can fight back against all sorts of things going on in this industry. amy: finally, sarah jaffe, you just got back from london where labour party organizing is at a peak right now. you have jeremy corbyn, the labour party leader, announcing he is challenging boris johnson for the prime ministers ship. the significance of this? significance is related because the labour party, somewhat like that chicago teachers union and other unionos

that have reformed, decided when this leadership got into power to invest in organizing departmentnt. this is sosomething the ctu did and others did and now something that a major political party, the biggest social democratic party in europe, has put money into. i wrote a big feature e this susummer about the labour party community organizing unit that is doing work on the ground but also in places where landlords are abusing their tenants, and newcastle the owner of the football team, which is beloved by the entire community, is also one of the country's biggest low-wage employers. they're taking these issues that people face every single day and saying the labour party cacares abouout these anand we're goingo organize with you u around these now. then when electioion time comes, they're hoping that pays off and those people are feeling a connection to the labour party that maybe t they have not dealt and their entire lifetime. amy: i want to thank you both for joinining us.

we will continue to follow this. labor generalist -- analyst sarah jaffe and stacy davis gates of the chicago teachers union. when we come back, we speak to former gambian beauty queen who has accused the country's former dictator of rape. beforetified yesterday gambia's truth reconciliation and reparations commission. and then we will look at the murder of five indigenous activists in cauca, colombia. among them, the woman known as the cauca indigenous governonor cristina bautista. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

micco that was chance the wrapper. he was wearing a bright red sweatshirt that said "ctu." this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman.

we turn now to gambia, where a gambian beauty queen who says former president yahya jammeh raped her when she was 18 years old has testified before a public truth and reconciliation commission. fatou "toufah" jallow has become a leading vovoice against t the former presisident, who rurulede west africican country o of 2 million people for 22 years before hisis regime endeded in . this is s toufah speaking before the commission on thursday.. a warning -- she describes the attack in grgraphic detail. toyahya jammeh decided penetrate me. but before he didid, he took oua needle from his pocket and d he injecteded me onon my arm. i'm not sure e of what it i is r whatat it was f for. - -- jammeh did not oncee want sex with me or pleasure with me.e. what h he wanted to do was to ht

meme. what hwanted to do was to teach me a lesson. what he wantedo doo w was to manyifest his egojust likee of us can't belieieve a girl can say no, someone likike yahya jajammeh in his position found t ary disrespecectful for 19-year-r-old from notot an elie background o or not the e daughr ofof a presisident to somehow gr someind of audacity to say no toim, that he is a man who hasn't had so many noes. bausese oa sense of underanandingr i wawabetter of. waso is because i felt it wrong. amy: that is fatou "toufah"

jallow testifying on thursday before gambia's truth, reconciliation and reparations commission. two other women have also come forward to accuse the former president of rape and sexual assault. human rights watch says that yahya jammeh "handpicked" women and girls to rape or sexually assault while president, requiring so-called "protocol girls" to be on callll for sex. jammeh denies the claims. gambia's truth and reconciliation hearings have been live streamed across gambia. an ongoing reckoning of the horrors committed during yahya jammeh's role including killing and disappearing hundreds of people, torture, unjustified jailings, and sexual violence against women and girls. members of his d death squad hae admitted during ththe hearings o killing migrants, journalists, and civilians during the president's reign. the perpetrators have never been brought to justice, including jammeh himself, who fled to equatorial guinea in 2017 after losing the 2016 6 presidential election. at first he refused to cede power for weeks before leaders in the region helped arrange his exile.

well, we go via democracy now! video stream to gambia, where we're joined by toufah jallow, along with attorney reed brody of human rights watch who is currently leading the prosecution of former gambian dictator yahya jammeh. we welcome you both back to democracy now! toufah, could you describe how you felt yesterday as you testified not only before the truth and reconciliation commission of gambia, but your live-streamed throughout gambia and the world. you did this for hours yesterday in graphic detail. talk about how you feel today, what this meant to you, why you chose to rereturn to gambia to make this statement. >> thank you for having me. i feel great. i felt like the message had been sent. itit was a very difficultt day. hours and h hours of testifying. but i thought it was necessary and it was important that it was

translated in our local languages come of thahat we do t hide behind euphemisms anymore. it was fulfilling. -- that he contributes is brought to justice. amy: you made a decision to publicly testify. others who have gone through were protected witnesses. why did you decide to bebe so public? >> it is sometething i thought about. i completely understand why womenn decide not to come out publicly. we've a all seen the backlash ad the implications that come with it. not be taken will seriouously. people will think of them as jujust stories and not see the human beings behind these stories. so i i decided i w would not hie behind feaear anymorere. in orderer t to take back ththat

power, i h had to be a able to e him no matter how dififficult tt might be. amy: and what kind of response have you gotten from your fellow and sister gambian's? >> it is been great so far. some are calling me a liar and attacking me, but overall, women servinglly, in t the nationanal a assembly,y have really come forward t to embrace this moment. a lot of women have come foforward. women cocome in and testify abot abuses t that have been c coming against their bodies. it is been a very welcoming # metoo moment. the conversation is going online and in our communities.

amy: can you brieflyamy: can yoe how you are able to testifify today, the fact you fled gambia after you were raped, as you describe it, by the president, the dictator of gambia? you have been crowned a beauty queen and gambia. and then describe what happened. >> i mean, it has been a long journey. it is a beauty pageant, but more of scholarship pageant to go and be sponsored and study abroad. that was the maifocus of e pageantry. it isomemethg i toto pride in. and to date, i do tt regret the expericeces or processes. it just so happened the presidt sought as an anue to ha a accesto young girls. i still wear the crown bdldly andd proudly as a mbmbian auty een.n. the beau about i is i ve owd my tth a t the tthth of

otheromenndgone thrgh so mumuch hling and pai it tk me a lg time tget herebut my motheanand my father he been vy pportive at helpsithin thcontext the lture i come fm. amy: afterour crowbeauty queen a he summed you tthe graphiclycribe wh happeneto you, you descri he rapeyou, then ta abt how yofled t country and whyou feltou neede to. i mean, ts is in 201 how olwere you >> i was 19 years d in 2015 when the right happened. it happened onc a pne call -- ha already sn the consequees of saying n i cod not hide. i coulnot t sano. i woulhave beetaken whai waed to or not. i had twoptions,ither to

keepeing useas a sex oect or r away fr everythg that i i lovendnonownd start new fe. at that e i did n know whe i s gng t to r whatat aited men the otr sidedef the cnce, bui took tt that i would ratr be in the ldererne thebebusesed raped me and te again. amam so you caped the countr how di you eape? -- i went toto the market to do groceries come just to throw off whoever was following me. then i went to the capital and i did not take the ferry. i tooook a boat because it is unlikely t to be found on one. and then i took another carar tt was transnsportingivestock and i sat between two men i in the front. face and my my identityty. i found myself o on the others f the border, which is senegal.

amy: and now you're residing in canada but have returned to gambia. an image that is so graphic as people all over the country standing up and saying with signs "i am toufah." reed brody, we only have a few minutes. you are leading the push for the prosecution of jammeh. you are an attorney with human rights watch. can you talk about the 'sgnificance of toufah testimony? did the president respopond? tesestimony was the culminination of several weekskf hearings at the truth commission about sexual violence. you have women c coming forwardo talk about beieing raped by jamh 's interior minister, his secret service. you had a protected witness talking aboutut this system -- w

she was hired to be a a protocol growth. she was offered jobs and scholarships. when she refused to have sex with him, she was fired. had a a cohort, jammeh's prprotocol, wh d describeded the sysystem. there was an entntire system in place. the truth commisission, as you mentioned earlier, is spewing out t information about torture, assassinations, now rapee committed by t the former president who lives in exile and equatoririal guinea. the hope is thatat when the truh commission finishes its work, he will recommend the prosecution of jammeh as well a as other people whoho bared the greatest responsibility for the crimes of that period, andnd that we will move from the trip prorocess -- which is very y important -- - o the juststice d department, whih for mosost victims, is even m me imimportant in whichch jammeh's henchmen a and hopefully yahya jammeh himselflf, the government

will seek his extradition. since jammeheh is vivictimized t only gambians, b a massacre of migrants from ghana and nigeria and senegegal, that t there wile original consensus in favor of bringing yahya jammeh to justice. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us. jallow returnrning to gambia to boldly confront her rapist on national television. and reed brody, human rights watch attorney. we want to thank you both for being with us and your bravery, overwhelming i think for so many people and inspiring. when we come back, colombia's reeling after five indigenous leaders were massacred in cauca earlier this week. among them, the woman known as the indigenous governor of cauca

, cristina bautista, now the president of colombia has deployed over 2000 troops to the region. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: performing in democracy now! studios. to see the interview as well as performances, go to democracynow.org. we end today's show in colombia, where the massacre of five indigenous leaders in the southwesestern region of cauca to say sent shockwaves through the country. and report of the open fire on a group of indigenous guards. according to the association, the men also fired an ambulance attending to those injured in the attack. among the victims was cristina bautista, the chief of the semimi-autonomous indidigenous rereservation of nasasa tacueyo. four of the community's unarmed guards were also killed, while six others were wounded. on monday night, just hours before being murdered, cristina bautista sent an alarming audio recording to some of her whatsapp contacts. >> we're in the checkpoint of

the headquarters and a black man just drove by. men started shooting. thank god no one was wounded but we are on high alert because there is activity at the shelter. amy: colombian president ivan deploy 2500to troops to the region. he blamed dissidents of the farc guerrilla rebel group who opposed the country's peace accords. but police have made no arrests and no suspects have been named in the massacre. sincnce the signing of the peace supports in 2016, at least 700 -- peace accords in 2016, at least 700 social leaders have been murdered in colombia, according to the institute for development and peace studies, with afro-colombian and indigenous activists at the forefront of the targeting. well, for more, we're joined by mario murillo, vice-dean of the school of communications at hofstra university and award-winning journalist who has extensively reported on colombia and the region of cauca. welcome to democraracy now! i went to see you lead a discussion yesterday at new york university. -- rosinang of people

bautista was recently here in the united states, a leader in the indigenous comommunityty and resistance. can you talk about what you understand took place? >> i appreciate you doing this. this is shocking, talking to the community all day yesterday, being in touch with folks on the ground and parts of cauca theree isis shock and fear and a sensef immobilization. that is exactly the strategy to do that prices nicely against the indigenous movement. it is shocking, but not new. over 700 people killed, indigenous and other social movement leaders killed in cauca the numbers are about over 200 indigenous leaders targeted, threreatened. the colombian government itself says some -- over 1300 cases of threats, of cases of torture. i think 40 in the past year

indigenous leaders themselves and cauca killed directly. we have been sing it one by one but t suddenly we sesee thihis massacre the other day and a people are paying attention to it, but it has been going on consistently pretty much over the last three years, really for the last 10 years it has been cultivationthe coca escalates in the area and cauca cap elated place for coca. amy: as you try to communicate with the people from the region, what place? >> what is happening is a battle of territory. the indigenous community's who for years my for decades, have been struggling to control their sacred territory and do it through peaceful means, to the autonomy, the indigenous autonomy and authority that they have can be -- cristina bautista is representative of that

authority -- confronting all on groups from the armed forces groups,es, guerrilla narco trafficking militias -- small groups working in different ways. we were talking last that with the former president of the -- here in new york. he pointed out the big difference now and what was going on 30, 20 years ago is that in the past, there was a clear definition as to who was who. the community knew there might elne been farc or combatants, paramilitary groups working with narco traffickers, and that government forces themselves. now you have the whole dispersed group of fighters and armed combatants. the government immediately embraced this narrative that this was farc dissisidents. it is a good chance they were but there were six or seven groups that identify as farc groups that did not take part in

the negotiation that led to the signing of f the peace accord in 2016. but these groups have long ties with state security forces. the fact they are there without any interference -- we are talking about very smamall thoroughfares where there is only one way in or out. amy: and these are military checkpoints they have to go through. there are a number of bases in cauca. >> this is precisely the argument the indigenous leaders are making. and when the armed forces announced they were going to send troops there and militarize it with cooperation with the indigenous leadership, the indigenous movement immediately pointed out, no, wait a minute, we're not asking for any military intervention because in many ways they are the ones killing us. there are plenty of reports. even two days before this particular massacre, there was a ,eport of an indigenous leader organizer, activist who was killed and tortured by military

forces. the military itself made the argument thahat this was a combatant who died in combat. and all of the evidence shows this was a common person. amy: i want to go to an indigenous activist who was in close touch with christina. democracy now! reached her thursday night, last night, friend ofdra a cristina bautista. she was in ecuador when we reached her. she describes the last time she hearard fromom cristina bautista earlier this week. >> i i met her a l listwo years ago. i i identified witith her a a lt because she was a humble womana. she was a very committed woman, but she alalso addddssed t the contradictions. we talked d about the differtt contradictions that were seen in our movement and the need to open spaces for dialogue and get

on the right path again, she would say. we had a fluid communication via whatsapp. this monday she admitted to a whatsapp group with a proximally 70 people from the north of cauca. and that whatsapp group, we circulate the information of what happens in the cauca territory. that monday at 10:30 at night, she sent a message thing "alert. we are at the light post in a van with men shooting drove by. also nobody in the whatsapp group reacted or asked. then i sent a message to cristina and asked what was happening and if she could record an audio and at least make an alert. she sent me that audio. i received it about 10:30 at night. at 11:00, i circulated a. she said she was very worried, that she felt very alone, and it

wasn't her turn to patrol that region that day, but she, as the authority and caretaker of the territory, it was her responsibility to be there. we then talked at like 12:00 at night the next day as i'm here, not in colombia, we had commitments and we left. i did not talk to her that morning. thein the afternoon i heard terrible news of the massacre. and right now we just heard a report that t anotherrassacre hs occurred. then went onmedra to share her message with an american audience, which for decades has funded the so-called war on drugs in colombia and currently backs the government of right-wing president ivan duque. >> is a woman, i would ask the peopople, the e presses, and the movemement to understand what is happening in colombia, the war they are inflicting upon us is precisely to guarantee the

reproduction of the patriarchal, colonial, and capitalist system to a accumulate wealth there in the united states. who is p profitingith his b bod, with death, with displacement of the with the destruction of our economy here? understand we are being subjected to war to guarantee the preservation of a system that notot only exists in colombia, but in different parts of the world. and that the challenge we have as peoples i is to try to o see beyond t this state that ininfls war.r. we n nd to selff organize, defed ourselves autonomomously, and he autonomous resisistance be on te institution, which is the one killing us. nmy: that is vilma almedra, a indigenous woman remaine remembering her friend.

there is enormous repression and there is the resistance. what is being resisted? >> i think thahat is the threat that the indigenous movement represents to the powers that be and the armed groups. the authority that they pose and then present in terms of protecting the territory, in terms of defending the land camino, we're talking a green movement -- and colombia, the original green movement. they're using the constitutional authority to protect the land and confronting actors who are taking advantage. from extractive industries throughout the country, mining -- illegal mining and cauca andd other parts of the country, nanarco trafficking, all of thoe are part of the extractive philosophy the colombian government, notwithstanding its discourse against drug the governmentp

of duque, when he talked about seseing troopsps to cauca, thats precisely what they're wanting to do. militarize the zone. i think that is really complicated to understand. people ask, why don't they want the military there? the mililitary are part of the problem. i'm fortunate, the u.s. policy for decades has been driven by military and anti-narcotics so-called drug w wars policies that do not take into consideration the rights of the people in terms of their movement and the rights to resist that policy. amy: we will continue to follow this. mario murillo, vice-dean of the school of communications at hofstra university and award-winning journalist who has extensively reported on colombia and the region of cauca. welcome to the world. congratulations to his parents

nat and amanda. democracy now! is currently accepting applications for paid six-month internships here in our new york city studio. learn more and apply at democracynow.org. 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 york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

>> we've all heard it said that life is like a game. most games, whether we work in

teams or work alone, have