03/08/21 03/08/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is decracy no >> a my ti here i've been told, yoare guil. i am innocent. >> he has been helped against his will for six years without a single charge against him. amy: president biden is facing new calls to close the u.s. military prison at guantanamo. we will go to mauritania to

speak with mohamedou ould slahi, who was jailed for 14 years and tortured at guantanamo but never charged with a crime. his story is told in the new feature film "the mauritanian." we will also speak to the film's director kevin macdonald, as well as one of the lead actors tahar rahim, andsalahi's lawyer played by jodie foster and at the film, nancy hollander. >> he said, i will tell you anything you want. that he told them anything they wanted to hear but it was really information they fed him "you did discontinue?" "we just need you to tell us you did it," so he said, "i did it" but it was all lies because he had not done any of it. amy: all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the senate passed esident biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package saturday 50-49 with not one republican voting in favor of the bill. it includes $1400 direct payments for individuals making under $75,000 or couples making twice that, but will be cut off for anyone making more than $80,000 or $160,000 for couples filing taxes jointly -- a significantly lower cap than the house's version. the senate also extended federal unemployment benefits at $300 a week, down from the $400 approved by the house. the legislation expands the child tax credit and provides funding for vaccine distribution, testing, as well as local governments and schools. the bill passed by the senate

does not include the $15-an-hour minimum wage increase. eight members of the democratic caucus joined all republicans in voting down senator bernie sanders' amendment to include the minimum wage hike in the bill. west virginia's joe manchin, delaware's chris coons and tom carper, new hampshire's jeanne shaheen and maggie hassan, ntana's jon tester, maine's ans king and arizona's kyrsten sinema. that all voted down $15 an hour. the bill will go back before the house tuesday before heading to biden's desk. the united states recorded arly 4800 covid-19 deaths over the weekend. daily coronavirus infections are down from january's record highs, but have plateaued at levels comparable to last summer's peak. in arkansas, republican governor asa hutchinson is planning to end a statewide mask mandate by the end of the month. california officials are preparing to reopen baseball

stadiums and amusement parks including disneyland unable here first. in new york, movie theaters have reopened for the first time in nearly a year, albeit with masks required and lower occupancy. on sunday, white house medical adviser dr. anthony fauci warned the u.s. risks a fourth surge in cases, fueled by the spread of troublesome coronavis variants, if public health measures are rolled back too quickly. a warning to our audience, the following stories conta graphic foage and descriptions of police violence. in minnesota, jury selection opens today in the murder trial of former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin, who was filmed killing george floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes and a video since seen around the world. over the weekend, hundreds of protesters marched to demand justice for all victims of police brutality. minneapolis will spend at least $1 million on barbed wire

fencing and barricades during the trial, with thousands of police officers and national guard troops mobilized in the streets. george floyd's family spoke at a news conference saturday ahead of the trial in houston. this is his brother philonise floyd. >> my brother was valuable. he was an asset to this family. but this world, he is changing it. he is a global asset now. he told me time and time, my name will ring bells all around the world. i never thought it would be like this. everybody who is watching this, understand that we will have change. you just have to be the change and force it and make the change. amy: in rochester, new york, newly released footage shows a police officer tackling and pepper spraying an african american woman who was walking

with her three-year-old daughter after the mother was accused of shoplifting. this follows another disturbing incident in january when rochester police handcuffed and pepper-spred a nine-year-old black girl. in a statement, the new york civil liberties union responded -- "no police department that routinely deploys tactics designed for physical and psychological torture on black toddlers, children, and mothers has any iota of legitimacy, accountability, or trust." last month, a grand jury decided not to file charges against the rochester police officers involved in the march 2020 death of daniel prude, who died from asphyxiation after officers handcuffed him while he was naked, put a hood over his head and pushed his face into the freezing cold ground for two minutes while kneeling on his back. president biden has signed an executive order promoting voter

access to the polls as republican state legislators across the united stateadvance bills to resict voti rights. his der camen the 56 anniversary of bloody sunday, when african americans and their allies tried to march from selma montgomery, alabama, demanding the right to vote. as they crossed the edmund pettus bridge in selma, they were violently attacked by the alabama state police, beaten with nightsticks and electric cattle prods, set upon by police dogs, and tear-gassed. john lewis led that marc in 2015, democracy now! was in selma for the 50th anniversary of bloody sunday where i spoke with amelia boynton robinson, a lifelong voting rights activist who was beatennconscioushat day in 196 her wheelchair was being pushed by theeverend jesse jackson. she was 103 years old when we spoke. what gave you the courage that data face the state?

>> my mother was a civil rights activist back when i was born. i worked with her at 11 years old. i worked with her when women suffrage became a reality. amy: in senegal, at least five people, including a young boy, have been killed amid days of clashes between security forces and protesters. protests erupted last wednesday over the arrest of opposition leader ousmane sonko, who is expected to be a key challenger for president macky sall when elections take place in three years. sonko has been accused of rape by a woman who worked at a massage parlor, though he has denied the charge. protesters are also calling out the country's economic troubles and the lack of jobs and the presidency of sall. in equatorial guinea, at least 20 people were killed and hundreds injured in a series of explosions near a military barracks. the last -- blasts created a

chaotic scene, sending massive plumes of smoke into the air and ripping roofs off buildings as wounded people were carried away to the hospital. the blasts were caus by the neigent handng of dynate according to president teodoro obiang nguema, who has ordered an investigation and appealed for international assistance to rebuild. in somalia, at least 20 people were killed and 30 injured after a suicide car bomb detonated outside a restaurant near the port in thcapital mogadishu friday. the attack led to the cancellation of a protest over the indefinite postponement of elections amid an ongoing constitutional crisis. in burma, witnesses say two protesters were killed by live fire today during ongog anti-coup protests. burma's main labor unions have launched a general strike as mass protests and the violent crackdown on pceful demonstrators intensify five weeks after the military coup. february an official from the party of overthrown civilian leader aung san suu kyi died over the weekend while in police stody. at least 50 people have been

killed since the start of protests. soldiers have begun camping out in rangoon hospitals and university campuses in what a local group says is an effort to terrorize residents. in the philippines, a local rights group has accused security forces of killing nine activis during a series of raids sunday. the raids came just two days after president rodrigo duterte ordered forces to "kill" and "finish off communist rebels." human rights groups say the order is part of duterte's campaign of state terror to stifle dissent. in switzerland, muslim advocates are condemning the passage of a far-right proposal that bans wearing face coverings in public places. opponents are calling the new rule sexist and islamophobic. the far-right campaign flooded the streets with posters that read "stop radical islam!" and "stop extremism!" featuring a woman wearing a black niqab -- a veil worn by some muslim women that covers the lower half of the face.

rights groups have vowed to challenge the new rule. pope francis concluded a historic three-day tour of iraq, becoming the first leader of the roman catholic church to visit direct -- iraq. he visited the city of mosul, and other areas and sites decimated by islamic state fighters. pope francis capped off his visit sunday with a mass in erbil. >> i pray the members of the berries religious community, together with all men and women, work together to forge bonds of internet he and commonality and peace. so, salaam salaam. amy: california congressmember and former house impeachment manager eric swalwell is suing former president trump, rudy giuliani, and others "for the injury and destruction" of the deadly january 6 u.s. capitol

insurrection. swalwell says they called for the violence then "watched approvingly as the building was overrun." calls are mounting for new york governor andrew cuomo to step down as new accounts of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct surface. on saturday, two more former aides accused cuomo of sexual harassment, including asking invasive personal questions and making unwanted physical contact. one of new york state's most powerful democrats, senate majority leader andrea stewart-cousins, joined the chorus of calls for cuomo to resign. in a bombshell interview with oprah winfrey, meghan markle and prince harry revealed shocking details about life as royals, includinthe racism suffered by markle, which also extended to her unborn child when she was pregnant with their son archie. >> concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be

when he was born. >> what? who is having that conversation with you? amy: meghan markle, also known as the duchess of sussex, also shared she had suicidal thoughts and was unable to get the help she needed from within the royal institution. markle told oprah winfrey, "i just didn't want to be alive anymore." today marks the 50th anniversary of an event that exposed fbi abuses and mass surveillance under former director j. edgar hoover. on march 8, 1971, a group of activists broke into an fbi office in media, pennsylvania, where they stole documents detailing the secret counter-intelligence program to monitor, infiltrate and disrupt social and political movements,

in 2014, democracy now! spoke with three members of the citizens' commission to investigate the fbi just after they made their identities public for the first time. keith forsyth, who served as designated lock-picker during the caper, was hoping to speed the end of the vietnam war. >> the war was escalating and not de-escalating. i think what really pushed me over the edge was shortly after the invasion of cambodia, there were four students killed that kid state and two more killed at jackson state. sorry. i did not think -- you would think i would have this down after all these years. that really pushed me over the edge that it was time to do more than just protest and march with a sign. amy: just air interviews with those who broke into the fbi

offices in media, pennsylvania, you can go to our 2014 shows at democracynow.org. here in new york, hundreds of workers shut down the brooklyn and manhattan bridges friday to demand justice for undocumented workers and others excluded from government pandemic relief funds. many of the workers deliver essential services in the food industry, cleaning, and construction, or have lost their jobs in the pandemic. the proposed "invest in our new york" legislation would raise taxes on wealthy new yorkers to generate $50 billion for excluded workers, among other things. meanwhile, immigrant women and domestic workers marched in new jersey sunday calling on governor phil murphy and lawmakers to fund a just recovery for all. >> we are essential but we are also excluded women. we are excluded from all types of relief since the beginning of the pandemic. the federal estate government have failed as.

this is unacceptable and cruel. amy: and millions of women around the world are taking to the streets today to mark international women's day. in the philippines, hundreds of women led a rally outside the presidential palace in manila, chanting "stop killing us." protesters are demanding the resignation of president rodrigo duterte. this is an advocate with the women's rights group gabriela. >> we would like to underline the fact we are in a deeper crisis. amy: in india, thousands of women farmers led hunger strikes and sit-ins at multiple sites on the outskirts of new delhi, where tens of thousands of farmers have camped out for over three months protesting new

neoliberal agricultural laws promoted by prime minister narendra modi. in australia, hundreds of workers from nurses to teachers gathered outside a government building in sydney condemning violence against women and calling for greater gender equality and protections in the workplace. in mexico, the names of femicide victims were painted on security barriers placed in front of the presidential palace in mexico city's zócalo ahead of a massive march today. over 900 femicides were reported in mexico last year alone. >> we believe that it is important they're written because the fight is for them. what we want is to ask for justice, for the people to be aware in the president who lives here to understand we are fighting because they are killing as. amy: in guatemala city, hundreds of women and girls gathered outside the presidential palace to protest the rising number of femicides in the country. after a march, advocates filled the constitutional plaza for a

music festival, where activists danced and artists painted colorful murals commemorating the victims of femicides. this is one of the protesters. >> i dreamed that women are free from violence, that i can go out on the streets and vips, no i'm going to come back home alive -- at peace, knowing i'm going to come back home alive. amy: international women's day also marks four years since 41 girls were burnt to death inside an orphanage near guatemala city for protesting sexual and physical violence. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. coming up next, president biden is facing new calls to close the u.s. military -- at the military prison at guantanamo. we will speak with one of the men held there for more than 14 years, mohamedou ould slahi, and the attorney who fought for his release for years.

a new film is based on their story called "the mauritanian." stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. president biden is facing new calls to finally close the u.s. military prison at guantanamo. since 2002, over 770 men and boys have been held at the prison in cuba. have them, only eight have been convicted of a crime. three of the convictions were later overturned. today the prison's population is down to 40. according to "the new york times," the u.s. spends a staggering $13 million per prisoner each year.

president george w. bush opened the prison in january 2002 -- just months after the september 11 attacks. president obama campaigned on closing guantanamo within his first year, but he failed to fulfill his pledge. he was fought by congress. president trump moved to expand guantanamo during his presidency. now the future of the prison lies with president biden. during a presidential debate in 2019, pbs moderator yamiche alcindor questioned then candidate biden about guantanamo. >> vice president biden, why could you not close guantanamo bay? >> we attempted but you have to have congressional authority to do it. they kept it open. it is an advertisement for creating terror. amy: the white house recently pledged to conduct a robust review of options to close the prison.

supporters of closing guantanamo include defense secretary lloyd austin. shortly after biden was inaugurated in january, seven former prisoners penned an open letter to biden. they wrote -- "many of us were abducted from our homes, in front of our families, and sold for bounties to the u.s. by nations that cared little for the rule of law. some of us had children who were born in our absence and grew up without fathers. others experienced the pain of learning that our close relatives died back home waiting in vain for news of our return. waiting in vain for justice. that is what you must contend with and change." one of the seven authors of the letter was mohamedou ould salahi, a mauritanian man who was held without charge for 14 years during which time he was repeatedly tortured. he was once falsely accused of being one of guantanamo's most high-value detainees. his story is told in a new film just out called "the

mauritanian." he will join us later in the broadcast. the director and cast of "the mauritanian" . the video urging the closure of guantánamo prison. this is se from t cas >> t movie i aout momedou ou slahi w wasortured and imprised f years andever charged th a cri. >> and i'm a ste ndred anhave pasd throug the dos. >>uaána is a mbol of torture, iefinite detention. close guaámo once d for all. >> end indefinite detention. amy: first we are joined by nancy, who represented mohamedou ould slahi, played by jodie

foster in the new film. she's joining us from albuquerque, new mexico. nancy hollander, welcome to democracy now! can you talk about the efforts to close guantánamo and wi-fi for so many years for this? both representing mohamedou ould slahi, who we hearw from in a moment, as well as another man whoi is stillll? >>? amy: we are you perfectly. clubs i thought for this for years because mohamedou ould slahi is an innocent man. he was tortured in guantánamo. they knew early on that he was innocent. certainly after the torture ended. they realized his confessions were fake and yet they ma no effort to release him. finally won a habeas case.

the judge ordered he be immediately released. the government, even then, 2010, they had held him now for almost nine years, still could not tip the balance of a civil case to show they had any reason to detain him. however, the obama administration, after saying they wanted to close guantanamo, the justice department build the case. the court of appeals brought it back to the district court. the district court did not act on it. i think perhaps the district court realized when they went up to t court of appeals, there

were going to lose. so they just stop. ultimately got mohamedou ould slahi out to something else obama created, review board. it had to be unanimous. that took another six years. amy: mohamedou is one of 770 men and boys held at guantánamo for this last almost 20 years. eight of them have been convicted of crimes. three of those convictions were overturned. the vast majority of people, including mohamedou, were never charged and yet the government now is spending something like $500 million to maintain this prison a year?

>> sorry, amy. you cut out. amy: the government is spending around 500 million dollars to maintain the present a year? ok, let me go to mohamedou ould slahi himself. he is joining us from mauritania, imprisoned at guantamo for nearly 14 years without being charged with a crime. in moment, we will talk about the film, major feature film, that has just been released about you, mohamedou. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about the letter you just wrote to president biden? mohamedou, can you hear me? >> now i can hear you.

amy, thank you very much for having me on your program. always a big admirer of your program. i know you from guantánamo already. could you please repeat the last part of the question? amy: can you talk about the letter you signed along with another -- with a number of other former prisoners at guantánamo calling him president biden to close the prison? >> yes. i am a big believer in democracy and human rights. [indiscernible] outside the rule of law and i don't want people from this part of the world specifically,

africa and the middle east, to be seen as underhuman, as people who are not deserving of human rights and being subjected to the rule of law. i don't want that anymore. this needs to stop. all we want is just like your program, democracy now. i cosigned that letter. it sprang from my mind, the very last image i saw from my mother as she held prayer beads in prayer and [indiscernible] the rearview mirror. and she disappeared. she disappeared forever.

the only thing i know about her is that last memory. the very last memory that i could not replace with anything else. i really believe -- i sent two letters, by the way, amy. one is with this group and one is a personal letter i wrote with my hands and sent to president biden. i really believe he is a good man. i think him having suffered the loss of his young wife [indiscernible] that is something i couldn't even imagine how painful it is. i think you would close the prison because the prisoners do

not belong. it is his respect to human rights and human dignity -- it is disrespect to human rights and human dignity and the constitution of america. it tells more about those who made it than those -- all around the world. amy: i also want to tell our audience who is listing around the world, we are having some sound issues as we are speaking with mohamedou ould slahi in mauritania. we are rejoined now by nancy hollander, your attorney, on the telephone. mohamedou, -- nancy hollander, how much stuff do you hold president biden first thing last year when he was running that he felt guantánamo should be closed, that the defense at good terry, the first african-american defense secretary lloy austin, says it should be closed, and the biden administration says there conducting an interagency review

justic state department, pentagon, and whate should have a net guantánamo? >> i believe it if the political will is there, president biden can get guantanamo close. six people there have been cleared for release. at least one of them for over 10 years. there is no reason why they can't find homes where those people will be safe either back in their country or another country. those people should be gone. they should -- that should be an easy start. the other 25 or so are called forever prisoners, they need to find homes for them. we do not have forever prisoners, amy, in our justice system. people who have been convicted are sometimes held for life without parole, but these people have never been charged. some of them have been there since 2002.

and for those people that happened charged, including my client, they have to provide every single right under the united states constitution and get those cases resolved. there trials or pleas or transfers. that can be done. the political will has to be there to do it. amy: there is the latest news in the last weeks about vaccines, about vaccines that were headed to guantánamo for the, what, 40 prisoners that are held there now, and then they were barred from getting them, nancy hollander. a book with new york times" reported pentagon suspended the plans to provide the coronavirus to those remaining prisoners originally scheduled to get them in early february.

>> that is political. we are talking about 40 people. 40 people are not going to use that vaccines could be used by other people. and these prisoners have every right, just as prisoners in the united states, to get this vaccine. secondly, if they are concerned -- if people are concerned about the health and safety of others in guantánamo who are in contact with the prisoners, certainly, they what to get them vaccinated. if they want to start these hearings again for those who have been charged, then everybody has to get vaccinated. it is ridiculous. it is just beyond ridiculous that 40 vaccines would make any difference to peoe getting them in the united states. america we want to ask both of you, mohamedou ould slahi and nancy hollander, to stay with us , as we continue our coverage of guantánamo. we turn now to the new feature

found "the mauritanian." the film tells the story of mohamedou ould slahi, a mauritanian man who was held without charge for 14 years during which time he was repeatedly tortured. in the film, salahi is portrayed by tahar rahim and jodie foster plays salahi's lawyer nancy hollander. >> if you stray outside the designated areas, you will be removed from the island. >> it is recommended you wear a jab wn visiti your clnt. >>epresentead recrter for 11 mohamou oulslahi, the mauritian, helat guantamo >>e recrted the guys o flewour planes io the sout tower. >> you put those m on my sban plane?

usd back ay fromhe table and we will gethere as quick we can. i amancy holnder a thiss assocte. wisto representou. >> let's get tot. >>he u.sgovernme i holdg upwards 7 proners. since when dwe sta locking peoplep withoua tri in is count? the prosetionill sh uthe evidencegainstou. its redact. f yohave a pblem, ta it up th the gernment. >> a my me her i' been ld am glty. not romethi i have ne. i am iocent. he is been ld again his will for six yea witho a

sile chargbeing la against m. 'not jusdefendinhim, i'm dending thrule of w. where have from in mauritaa, w -- nevedid i believthe unit stateof amera wou use terto ntrol. >>'ve ner beepart of consracy, bu 'm stting t ink is is wh it els ke to be onhe outsi. either ar t jersey or get off thfield. >> you nd to tl me wha happed or i can't defendou. you derstandhat? maybee is guilty. >>hat is. >> thais not pt of myob. >> wn it mes toy remmendaon, the e who wi haveo answeror. whamakes y thinkou' any better than e rest ous? >> i don't.

>>or eig years 've been dreamingf being a couroom. nohat i'm he, i'scared t deat >>hink iigur out w they builtuantánamo dowthere. my clit is not suspe. >> would y please ise your right nd and reat afteme? amy: that is the trailer for "mauritanian," which is now streaming online. in addition to nancy hollander and mohamedou ould slahi, we're joined by the film's director kevin macdonald. his past films include the oscar winning documentary "one day in september," "touching the void," and "the last king of scotland." kevin, welcome to democracy now! i was wondering if you could start by talking about how you came to do this film? >> good morning, amy. i came to do this film because i

was sent mohamedou's good full b -- good full book. i thought it was azing. i could not figure out how to make a film out of it and i was going to turn down the offer and then the producer said, talk to mohamedou. i got on skype with him in mauritania. as you can see, it is not always the most reliable signal, but we had a long chat. also captivated by him and his personal story and i think one of the struggles with communicating the sheer scale of the horror and injustice of guantánamo has been there has not been a single figure who has had the charisma and the appeal, i guess, if you put it in a crass way, to reach out to a wide audience to make people understand on human level what went on. i think mohamedou -- mohamedou

such a charismatic, intelligent person. i think in his book and in hi person, and i hope in the film, we present a very human portrait of what it is like to be imprisoned in that hellish place. amy: can you talk about the making of the found, the getting of the major actors -- jodie foster is also executive producer. she just won a golden globe for playing nancy hollander, so our guest on today's show, the persevering lawyer from new mexico who represents mohamedou ould slahi and how you got it distributed and what it means to play in this country -- it is not a u.s. distributor, is that right? >> it is a u.s. distributor. the finance is largely american, in fact. a little bit from the bbc.

the rest of the finance is an american. it was very, very hard with this subject matter. even five years ago, we probably could not have got this movie made in america. but now, guantánamo is at a sufficient distance that maybe people sensitivities are little more blunted, which is helpful. of course, it is still an ongoing issue. mohameu was on released in 2016 and we started working the fm or nancy started working onheossibili of thound en befo he was releed. it was hard film tget made and the ly reasoit happened wasecause tse actors, benedict cumberbatch, shailene woodley, and jodi foster, and tahar rahim because they got

behind it and saw these were wonderful roles. not only that, this is a film that really, really wanted and needed their support. amy: we will talk with tahar rahim in a moment. we will take a break and come back to this discussion about the new feature found that has just been released called "the mauritanian." stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. i want to go to another clip from "the mauritanian," when mohamedou ould slahi's character meets with his lawyers nancy hollander and terry duncan, played by shailene woodley and jodie foster. >> iean wh i say.

the is neviden. i trust you to trt me. i'm innont. i'm innont. wh do you ed to seto belie this? >> dsn't matt what we believ it matrs whawe can pve. juslike my terrogats. >> we know y are innoct. we do. but weave tove tha ande can't do tt unlesse see t legationagainst u. th is all are askg for. >> wn you you wt to sue the govement, whatoes that mean? here will behree namesn the wsuit. e unitedtateof ameri, dona rumsfel and geoe w.

bu. >> [lahter] sure y not? amy: that is a clip from "the mauritanian" featuring jodie foster and shailene woodley as the lawyers nancy hollander and terry duncan. and our next guest actor tahar rahim, who was playing mohamedou ould slahi. for more, we go to tahar rahim speaking to us from paris. welcome to democracy now! it is an honor to have you with us. we're also joined by the director kevin macdonald. tahar, talk about your decision to play mohamedou in this utterly painful film, tremendous amount of focus on torture at guantanamo.

this was not an easy decision, was it. >> first of all, when i read the script, -- sorry. i made a mista because i was thinking of the title and it was "guantanamo diary" at that time and i would only read "autonomy" and i thought it would maybe be the stereotypical part that i got in the past. i read the script and was very happy as an actor to get such a beautiful part withany laers, colors depth. when i read the script, i started to realize i knew it but it is a true story so i felt sad, angry, a i waslown away by his ability tforget people. -- forgive people. when i finished it, really

wantedo be part of the people doing justice. sometimes we me movies, for good reans, somemes movi are so movg, it bond sinema. and th one i bond sima. amy: mohamou, are e subjt of ts film. he wrote "guantána dry, rst whenou are sti i prison, we did a show on guantánamo diary and your diary was read by dominic westf the well-known actor from "the wire" and "the affair," and other films. can you talk aut what this bill means to you and then, tahar, i would like you to talk about learning about what mohamedou is going through from mohamedou himself. but mohamedou, what this means to you watching this film from mauritania? >> so, you know when you hit

guantánamo bay at the time i did, things can only get better. when you been stifled for so many years to have no voice, you cannot defend yourself -- not even yourself. i'm not even talking about the lawyer defending me. there is only one single narrative, that is the narrative of the u.s. government. the government against you. it started with the book. i was so blessed to have best selling that has been translated [indiscernible] i know and major motion picture -- and now a major mion picture with kevin macdonald, tahar rahim, jodie foster,

shailene woodley, nedict cumberbah, and oers. y, this inot my mie. th is the vie of se many ople. some of the ople whoere kiapped afr9/11were rtured teath. th did notave a chce to tell tir story. antherare ma people everhereow as wepeak w suffing in senceecause there iso rule o law. the were ten away d they are inrison. this movies tellintheir stor ndiscernle] enjoy e same freedo as you come amyand the ople in france and uned kingd. do't nt to be the exceptn all ofhe time.

we wt to jusenjoy e same eedoms tha you n be tread tside thrule olaw. simpleitiz likeou and mewe don't haveeapons. we do't ha the pole. we don'tave the cia all haves the la if the law fails us, we are very much screwed up. amy: the film is very painful but also has such poignant moments like this one. this clip from "the mauritanian" where nancy hollander, the lawyer laid by jodie foster, is it's mohamedou played by tahar rahim in his cell. >> i would like you to consider releasing your letrs. ewspaper >> maybe bk. people nd toead yo story

themlves. itill put essure othe gornment tgive us court te. >> am readfor that >> wou you likme to st outsid >> keepoing. >> youon'want to pra >> what doouare? >> i d' i care about y. >>hat you'll me sig ncy? who i sui today,od? no e today. then whare you here? no reason inarticular. i ju didn't wantouo be alone.

amy: at that moment, she reaches out to hold mohamedou's hand. tahar rahim and jodie foster playing mohamedou ould slahi and nancy hollander. nancy hollander, why did you keep going back to guantánamo? 14 years mohamedou was held. did you think you would see the day he was freed in 2016? >> amy, i did not know whether he would ever be freed. working in every possible way we could and when there was nothing happening, which was true for years, encapsulated in that scene, terry and i took turns going back every couple of months to see mohamedou because there is no other way to communicate with him. it is not like a regular prison where you can get phone calls in the federal system where there

is email. there is nothing. so we had to go there to make sure he was ok. we spent days there. guantánamo is not a place where you go to the prison for an hour and make a flight to come home. the flights go down on sunday and come back on thursday or friday. so we spent hours and hours and days with mohamedou. there were times when he gave up, i believe. when i questioned why he wasn't praying, it was because i felt that he was depressed. at one point, he did say it is difficult to have faithhere. amy: let me ask mohamedou, what cap you going? your mother died while you were in prison. >> to be perfectly honest with you, i really don't know.

but i kept praying, meditating, but the thing that really brought me so much peace was when i decided completely and utterly to forgive everyone close stuff -- everyone. i knew inside my cell, i wish nothing but good life to the people who tortured and hurt me. i really felt at peace. i had things i wish i had said about this canadian woman of lebanese descent who said [indiscernible] not because you deserve it, but because i want to move forward. or something to that effect. that helped me a lot. amy: tahar rahim, did you

commicate with mohamedou throughout the filming of this? what did it mean for you to meet mohamedou, to play him? >> it was very important to meet him first because i needed to meet him to make it happen so i could build my chacter. at the more i would talk to him and the more i felt i was meeting with someone extraordinary. i started asking questions like, you know, when we started to talk about it, i know it is not cool, but we talked about the darkest moments of his life. i could see it was very hard for him to talk about it and that he was still wounded inside. he manages to hide it and control it.

i thought, i did not want to talk about it ever. and we talked and befriended. i was like, yeah, i'm grateful to meet someone extraordinary and i like to compare him to kind of a mix between mandela and muhammad ali. if you get a chance to mt someone with theame level of wisdom in life, he should take advantage of it. that is what i did. i mostly listened to him. yeah, it helped me a lots a character but as a man come it enriches me. amy: nancy hollander, you dealt with lieutenant colonel stuart couch, who is played by benedict cumberbatch. if you can talk about his ultimate decision to resign and what it meant for you to get the full documents of what happened to mohamedou and what it meant for him who fought almost equally as hard to get them?

>> i did not actually meet stuart couch until later, but i read that article shown in the movie "the conscience of the colonel" -- delight amy: he was the prosecutor. >> yes. in the article, i learned, that is when we first learned several important things. one, the prosecutor who was a marine, had decided that he was no longer -- i'm sorry, he was not a marine. i believe he was army. but he decided he could not prosecute this case because mohamedou's confessions relied torture. this was an incredible decision by this military man to stand up for what he believed he was supposed to do. he believed he was trained to suort thlaw, to support the geneva convention, to support

the convention against torture. and he did what very few people would do. he walked in, put the file down, and said "i cannot do this." we also learned in the article for the first time that -- they were threatening the death penalty for mohamedou. we did not know any of that until later. amy: mohamedou, we only have 30 seconds, i would ask is you speak from mauritania, a married in american lawyer, you have an infant and cannot be together now. your final message to the world? >> my fil messagto theorld is that democra and human rights do work and people prosper. [indiscernible] dictatorship and authoritarian regimes do not work. that is a fact.

amy: on that, we have to leave it. mohamedou ould slahi, imprisoned at guantánamo for nearly 14 years, nancy hollander, his lawyer, played by actor jodie foster tahar rahim, who

♪ thank you for joining us fr. from our studio in tokyo, this is "nhk newsline". the japanese government is laying the groundwork for suin prime minister to meet with joe biden. when b