04/05/21 04/05/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the of humidity h almost no access to coronavirus vaccines at least for the next three months and possibly longer. amy: with covid-19 cases soaring to record highs in india, the modi government has suspended exports of coronavirus vaccines. we will look at how the world's

poorest countries are at india's mercy for vaccines. and white calls are growing by big pharma to waive their patent rights. then we go to ethiopia where rape is being used as a weapon of war in ethiopia's military offensive in the tigray region. >> he pushed me and said you have no history, you have no culture. i can do what i want to you and no one cares. amy: we will speak to the award winning sudanese journalist nima elbagir of cnn who spoke to ethiopian rape survivors who fled into sudan for safety. plus, dr. martin luther king was assassinated 53 years ago. i knew i could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today, my own government. amy: all that and more, coming

up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. coronavirus cases and deaths are surging across latin america, -- across much of the globe including latin america, europe, and south asia, with india reporting more than 100,000 covid-19 cases for the first time. it's the first time a country other than the united states has reached that grim milestone. india's maharashtra state, home to the country's most populous city mumbai, announced a weekend shutdown and a weekday curfew. bangladesh has entered a week-long lockdown to slow a surge in cases. argentina's presidenalberto fernandez has tested positive for covid-19. he received the russian sputnik v vaine in january. peru recorded a record daily death toll of nearly 300

saturday as the nation prepares to vote for a new president and congress next weekend. pe has been in political turmoil following what some called a legislative coup last november, which removed former president martín vizcarra and amid a corruption scandal involving government officials receiving the coronavirus vaccines ahead of the general election. in europe, france has entered a third national lockdown as icu's fill to capacity with coronavirus patients. at the vatican, as italy imposed an easter weekend lockdown, pope francis delivered a sermon in a scaled-back mass at st. peter's basilica, where he warned against vaccine nationalism. >> i urge the entire international community to overcome the delays in distribution and to promote the distribution especially in the poorest countries. amy: here in the united states, more than 4 million coronavirus vaccine shots were administered

for the first time in a 24 hour period saturday. the seven-day average for vaccines is now higher than 3 million a day as more states continue to expand eligibility to anyone 16 or older. nearly a third of people in the u.s. have received at least one dose of a vaccine, with close to 20% fully vaccinated. despite the increasing pace of vaccinations, health experts continue to sound the alarm for a possible fourth wave. this is dr. rochelle walensky, director of the centers for disease control. >> it is important that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, continue to take prevention measures and public and adhere to our guidance on ways to reduce the spread of covid-19. wear a mask, physically distance, avoid crowds and poorly ventilated areas, and wash your hands frequently. amy: the cdc said friday fully vaccinated people can safely travel both domestically and

internationally, though the agency still recommends against non-essential trips due to the high number of infections. a u.s. capitol police officer was killed after a man crashed his car into a security checkpoint friday. william evans was an 18-year veteran of the agency. another officer was hospitalized. the suspect was shot and killed on the scene after police say he attempted to attack the officers with a knife. authorities are investigating a possible motive. the attack comes three months after the january 6 capitol insurrection, which killed one officer. another died by suicide weeks later. the first week of former police officer derek chauvin's murder trial wrapped up friday with testimony from the longest-serving officer in the minneapolis police department who said chauvin violated police policy when he kneeled on george floyd's neck for nine-and-a-half minutes last may, as floyd repeatedly gasped "i can't breathe." this is lieutenant richard zimmerman responding to questions from the prosecution.

>> what is your view of that use of force during that time period? >> totally unnecessary. >> what do you mean? >> first of all, pulling him down to the ground, face down and putting your knee on a neck for that amount of time is just uncalled for. amy: more police testimony is expected this week, including the police chief who in june said floyd step was murder. -- floyd's death was murder and not due to "lack of training." the u.s. and iran will hold indirect talks this week in vienna on a possible plan to bring both nations back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement. the nations will negotiate through other parties to the deal for now. former president trump unilaterally withdrew from the

landmark deal in 2018 and re-imposed sweeping sanctions on iran. in jordan, more than a dozen prominent figures have been arrested and are accused of hiding a coup against the king abella -- a villa ii. king abdullah's half-brother, the former crown prince hamzah bin hussein, said in a video statement he'd been put under house arrest with most of his lines of communication cut off. he accused jordan's leaders of corruption, incompetence and harassment and said he would continue to disobey orders from the army not to speak with the outside world. in britain, over 100 people were arrested saturday during "kill the bill" protests in london as people marched around the country to stop a new bill which would increase police authority to crack down on peaceful demonstrations. this is a protester in london.

>> we should have the right to protest. any country coming to government needs to be held to account. i protesting hold a government to account. otherwise it becomes a dictatorship. amy: in somalia, five civilians were killed and four others wounded on saturday after a suicide bomber struck a tea shop in the capital mogadishu. there was no immediate claim of responsibility. earlier on saturday, al-shabab fighters attacked two key somali military bases with car bombs and heavy gunfire. in india, at least 22 police officers were killed and more than 30 others injured after a pitched, four-hour gun battle with hundreds of maoist fighters on sunday. the police had been carrying out anti-insurgency operations in the central state of chhattisgarh when they were ambushed by the maoists. the rebels have been waging a four-decade-long guerrilla campaign in support of india's indigenous people and other marginalized groups. at least 100 people have died

after torrential rains triggered massive floods and landslides in indonesia and east timor sunday. most of the victims are in -- were in indonesia. thousands of homes were submerged. indonesia's disaster agency says some 125 million people, or half the country, live in areas at risk of landslides which is largely exacerbated by deforestation. back in the united states come authities in florida are racing to prevent the catastrophic collapse of a 77 acre waste-water storage pond at an abandoned phosphate mine in the tampa bay area. work crews have been pumping more than 20,000 gallons of contaminated water per minute from the piney point reservoir into surrounding waterways after containment walls began leaking. florida governor ron desantis has ordered the evacuation of 300 homes. officials initially ordered prisoners moved to the second floor of a jail near the pond but later reversed the order saying it posed a security risk. some models predict the collapse could trigger a 20 foot high

wall of water. this is the administration or scott hopes. >> we're talking about the potential of 600 million gallons within a matter of seconds and minutes leaving that retention pool and going around the surrounding areas. amy: according to epa, phosphorus and nitrogen in the wastewater could harm humans and kill fish. a warning to our audience, the following two stors contain graphic descriptions of police violence. in texas, seven collin county sheriff officers were fired last week over their involvement in the killing of a 26-year-old black man, marvin scott iii, who died in jail on march 14. scott's family says he may have been suffering from a mental health crisis. scott was arrested that day on misdemeanor marijuana possession charges. he had less than two ounces of marijuana on him. before he died, officers put

scott on a restraint bed, pepper sprayed him, and covered his face with a spit mask. protests have erupted in chicago following a fatal police shooting last week of 13-year-old adam toledo. police were called to the predominantly latinx neighborhood of little village, where an officer started chasing toledo. the officer then shot him, striking him in the chest. he was pronounced dead at the scene. shortly after the shooting, police alleged there was an armed confrontation and posted a photo on social media of a firearm on the ground. body camera footage of toledo's killing is expected to be released soon. major league baseball announced it will move its all-star game and draft out of atlanta to protest georgia's recently passed voter suppression law. the highly contested legislation adds new voter id requirements, shortens the window for absentee voting, severely limits ballot drop boxes, and grants the state power to intervene in elections in democratic counties. and in labor news, over 1300 steelworkers in pennsylvania,

ohio, new york, massachusetts, and connecticut are entering their second week on strike. united steelworkers says allegheny technologies has refused to bargain in good faith with workers who are demanding fair wages, job security, and better healthcare. meanwhile, in alabama, over 1000 mineworkers are on strike at warrior met coal. amazon workers from bessemer, about 30 minutes away from the mines, have been joining strikers on the picket line. votes are still being tallied in bessemer in what could become amazon's first ever union. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show with the urgent push to ensure equal access to covid-19 vaccinefor all nations, rich and poor. and growing calls for big pharma to waive their patent rights. as christians around the world marked easter sunday, italy moved up midnight masses to meet

a 10:00 p.m. curfew amid a spike in covid cases and pope francis used his easter mass address at st. peter's basilica in the vatican to warn against vaccine nationalism. >> in the spirit of internationalism of vaccines, urge the entire community to overcome delays in the distribution and promote their distribution, especially in the wrist countries. amy: according to oxfam, rich countries with just 13% of the worlds population have bought up more than 60% of vaccines even before their production. this comes as covax, the united nation initiative to bring mass vaccination to poorer countries, has placed orders for more than 2 billion shots but most of them won't come until the second half of this year. meanwhile, deliveries from the

world's biggest manufacturer in india have been delayed as the covid-19 cases sore to record high in india. with more than 12 .6 million confirmed coronavirus cases, india has the world through highest caseload after the united states and brazil. on sunday, the head of the public-private gavi alliance, which works to provide vaccines to the developing world and is backed by the united nations and the gates fountion, addressed the delayed on an interview during cbs's "face the nation." >> india by volume is tlihe largest supplier vaccines for the developing world. because of the new wave of outbreaks and india right now, the indian government has stepped up their vaccination programs and that has made they required more doses, which means they have made less doses available for the rest of the world. we had expected in march and

april about 90 million doses and we suspect we will get much, much less than that. and that is the problem. we are in a race because we also see wealthy countries beginning to cover much of the population. our hope is they will begin to make their vaccines available to the rest of the world, including ones they may not use. for example, the u.s. not only has moderna, fisa, and j&j, but they also have vaccine from novavax and from astrazeneca. those could be made available and they would make a big difference in terms of the supply for the world. amy: well, our next guests write about this in a new piece for "the guardian" headlined "the world's poorest countries are at india's mercy for vaccines. it's unsustainable." in it they note that as the u.k. saw a delay in doses from india -- "a far more chilling reality was unfolding -- about a third of all humanity, living in the

poorest countries, found out that they will get almost no coronavirus vaccines in the near future because of india's urgent need to vaccinate its own massive population." for more, we go to india, where we are joined in bangalore by achal prabhala, the coordinator of the accessibsa project, which campaigns for access to medicines in india, brazil, and south africa. and in delhi, leena menghaney is an indian lawyer who has worked for two decades on pharmaceutical law and policy. she is the head of the médecins sans frontières,r doctors without borders, access campaign in india. we welcome to democracy now! both elaborate further on what is taking place as we hear pope francis question we address demanding the world gets these

vaccines, especially the poorest countries. >> thank you. what we're saying now is a failure that was foretold in your when vaccine manufacturing and vaccine research just began. what is happening today is humility failures over the last year, -- accumulative failures of the last year, many of which could been avoided. of the vaccines available in the world, there are from pfizer and moderna not available outside rich cntries. astrazeneca is one of the few countries that has made its vaccine a little more available, primarily by signing an agreement with the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world who happens to be located in india. now, the problem is that with a signed over with the rights to supply vaccineso 92 poor countries around the world, including india essentially to

one vaccine manufacturer with very few backups stop what that has meant is that you have these 92 countries that are dependent upon one company that operates on indian soil. but it sure population, can you should get about 35% of these vaccines. but what is happening is the indian government is acquiring far more of those vaccines and 35% at this moment and for the next couple of months it will be closer to 100%. the problem is these are not india's vaccines. these were always meant contractually for about half of humanity, including india. now they are not getting that. the head of the covax initiative which promised to provide a pipeline of vaccines to these poor countries last year has said he hoped to have 100 million doses out. the reality is so much worse because what is out are 28 million vaccines -- 2 million of

which went right back to india. the number of vaccine doses that have gone out to a third of humanity, 91 poor countries, is 80 million doses or just enough to cover about 1% of the population of these countries if they even got the vaccines, which some have not. >> amy: the consequence of the contract between oxford and astrazeneca with the serum institute in india, just to explain for people to understand what is taking place and the role of these large pharmaceutical companies? >> [indiscernible] the rule is you have to have at least three suppliers. if you look at india, it has many manufacturers. the decision to go and have --

it started with oxford printing astrazeneca -- the monopoly is going to cost us. [indiscernible] astrazeneca is in a difficult position. it has to vaccinate at a faster pace and at the same time ensure these vaccines go to the developing world. this is a difficult point in india's policy acres. i would not want to be in their shoes today. amy: you right the billions of

means of doses are not for rich countries and not even for india alone there for all 92 of the poorest countries in the world. the bulk of india's vaccination goals were being met by just one supplier, which faces the impossible choice of either letting down the other 91 countries depending on it or offending its own government. can you talk more about this and e gross vaccine inequities we are seeing across the globe? >> absolutely. one of the interesting things about this is how it begins. oxford university has a research laboratory which shows promise on research for coronavirus vaccine. this is exactly this time last year, about march. they suggest in public statements they would like to have as many manufacturers around the world make the vaccine.

they had this idea of world in which anyone can make their vaccine. the gates foundation steps in and advises the institute to go with the pharmaceutical company. one month later they sign an exclusive contract with astrazeneca. astrazeneca then licenses a large number of doses to the serum institute in india, south korea -- both which are now producing vaccines. what they do is transfer one concentration of monopoly power to another manufacturer with another kind of monopoly power, the monopoly power to supply have the world's population, including india, with a number of vaccine doses that is simply not enough. one of the funny things about this, it is as though everybody involved from the gallup -- gates foundation to astrazeneca

and including the governme of india, as though they suddenly realized how many people live in india. our population is not a secret. we have 1.3 billion people. we have always known these people would require vaccines, yet it seems to have taken the government of india until about two months ago to discover we would have to ramp up our vaccination program at which point they decided through this result of bad planning and, julie that decisions essentially usurp vaccines that were meant for other poor countries who do not have the kind of vaccine manufacturing capacity india does. because they are being made within indian sovereign territory, they are actually able to do that. to the detriment of countries like ghana and nigeria who received enough to inoculate 1% of the population and will now have to wait at least until july this year but possibly much longer because india's

vaccination needs as well will continue to be met by this one company where all the vaccines -- were all the vaccine doses are concentrated for the next several months. amy: leena, what you're calling for with the people's vaccine initiative around the world as well calling for this, as well as countries like india and south africa, calling for pharmaceutical -- the wto and the u.s. to support the waving of patents by pharmaceical companies? >> this proposal is quite interesting. bishops the power to the corporations to government. what it really says is -- hiv-aids, lid overcome country by country, drug by drug.

sending a lot of time producing not just vaccines but medicines another edible products. in a nutshl, what is proposing is that we don't have to do this the hard way. we don't have to overcome vaccine by country. it is autotic waving of intellectual monopolies. that could result -- [indiscernible] amy: achal prabhala, can you elaborate on this? there is been a big push. we just spoke with the former foreign secretary of brazil -- of course, covid is exploding there -- and he also expressed

great disappointment in the biden administration for not suorting the call of thewto to wave the intellectual rights of these corporations during the pandemic. >> there is no choice. they must they wish to hava solution that works not only for the rest of the world but also for them. in their own selfish interest, they must find a way to waive or suspend pharmaceutical monopolies in the pandemic. one of the things that is happening at the w t o is this agreement that we analyzed which has turned out to be quite catastrophic it's being held up as the example. we are criticizing astrazeneca, but that is because they have done something to make access available. companies like pfizer and moderna and to some extent johnson & johnson have done nothing. astrazeneca's licensing agreement is a failure.

it is not working out. it is inadequate. it needed to be bigger and better and taken into account the people who live in this world. the fact that you can -- the decision that you can leave it up to the pharmaceutical companies to slightly distribute the extreme concentration of powers that they have, which is a proposal he actively discussedw at the wto is foolish. i hope this will serve as caution that nothing other than a dramatic step to suspend pharmaceutical monopolies all over the world will get us out of this pandemic. amy: achal prabhala, you talk about oxford university's original motivations for developing the vaccine and talk about motives being forwarded -- by the gates foundation. how? >> oxford university has this idea that since we were in a

pandemic that created this global emergency, they must do something that would step out of the norms of the kind of pharmaceutical research they do. what they wanted to have very clearly expressed by the lead researchers was to be able to lessons as many manufacturers as possible around the world. i don't think they intended to lose money but they just this was very clearly expressed. but very quickly on the advice of the gates foundation and a few other parties -- vk government was involved -- the contra completely changed the system of licensing was dramatically reversed. they signed an exclusive contract with astrazeneca but that went out and created a handful of these access licenses of which is only truly one that functions and serves for half

the world's population. it is a mistake of tragic proportions that i'm not sure every party involved understands. i believe they were working with the best intentions, but they were working without an understanding of the last 20 years of human history. it is a mistake that definitely should not be repeated, certainly not used as a solution, and something we need to reverse and correct at this moment. amy: you mentioned while you are very critical of astrazeneca, moderna advisor's desk and pfizer's contracts or worse. >> they're running on this model with a belief supplying literally between 50% and 20% of the world whicis accumulative of everyone who lives in rich countries is sufficient. they will do nothing more than that. 80% of the world were 85% of the world is being left out to dry. the idea is there going to places where they have high-paying customers, usually in the form of government from

whom they have these huge preorders, madrona posted revenue of billions of dollars so they are doing well out of the strategy. their ideas to limit the production of vaccines to people can afford them to safeguard the relatively new technology of messenger rna platform that they have deployed in this vaccine, to perfect that platform against future exploitation, his future commercial use to the extent it is democratized and therare more people who can manufacture this around the world even in the pandemic -- i think it threatens our ability to exploit the platform in the future. so the idea is to hold this close, to serve in the pandemic those who can pay and pay no mind to anybody who lives outside this tiny handle of countries they're currently rving and doing well for them. amy: as we know from the pandemic, what it has taught us, if nothing else, if one person is sick somewhere come everyone

has the potential to be sick. i want to thank you, achal prabhala, coordinator of the accessibsa object, and leena menghaney, indian lawyer who has worked two decades on pharmaceutical law and policy. when we come back, we go to ethiopia where rape is being used as a weapon of war. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. a warning to our audience, the following segment contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence in disturbing images. the ethiopian government has announced eritrean forces have started withdrawing from the tigray region in northern ethiopia. harrowing witness accounts have emerged of eritrean soldiers killing tigrayan men and boys and committing acts of sual

violence, including rape against displaced civilians. eritrea entered the tigray region to support ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed's military offensive in november targeting the tigrayan people's liberation front. the true death toll from the conflict remains unknown but researchers recently identified almost 2000 people killed in 150 massacres by warring factions. the biden administration has been pressuring the ethiopian government to end its military offensive and for eritrea to withdraw its forces. biden recently sent senator chris coons to meet with the ethiopian prime minister who won the 2019 nobel peace prize. rape has also been used as a weapon of war in the tigray region by ethiopian and eritrean soldiers. cnn's nima elbagir recently spoke to one ethiopian woman who fled to sudan after being raped. >> he pushed me and said, you

tigrayan's have no history. you have no culture. i can do what i want to you and no one cares. >> what brought you to the clinic today? >> i have not told anyone but i have been thinking i am pregnant from the rape so i came to check and discovered i am. amy: nima elbagir also spoke to dr. tedros tefera who is treating rape survivors who are now living in a refugee camp in sudan. >> the women that had been raped say things they say to them when they were raking them is they need to change tir identity to at least -- her status. amy: the bloodline? >> clears the bloodline.

amy: to talk more about the crisis in ethiopia, we are joined by nima elbagir, award-winning senior international correspondent for cnn based in london. welcome back to democracy now! describe this issue of rape as a weapon of war described the region. people are so unfamiliar with the outside that region. >> i think probably the best way to explain in a nutshell is this is essentially a conict of power between the tigray liberation front who were the dominant party in the ruling party for almost 30 years and abiy ahmed who was swept to power when demonstrations top of ruling coalion. you have an understandable conflict and existenti conflict between these two once upon a time allies. what is happening is the way these ethnic numbers break down

in ethiopia, two grains are minority. but you also have these disparate groups together in the centralized -- centralization is what is currently falling apart. when you bring in militia from other regions, and that is what the doctor was talking about when you bringst that historicay has -- that is what you see. ethnic cleansing taking place off a basis, competition for power. that is perhaps the problem is the world has what is happening in tigray through the aperture of power. and has been slow to realize, many people believe it is not genocidal. political intent to destroy his coming and intent to destroy whole part of people, amy. amy: talk about the women who were coming forward to describe

what has happened to them. >> heartbreak is that many of the women don't actually feel able to come forward. when we spoke to the doctor, i asked how many women have been able to tell him they been raped and he said five. all five because they thought they were pregnant. i said, how did you suspect based on the trauma and the injuries presented with? and he said thousands. there are thousands of women who have been through that camp or have been to that cap you're not getting the treatment and the support they deserve and need because rape is such an act of psychological and intimate violence butlso communal violence. that is what women saythey feel this rape has isolated them within the community because of the shade and the stigma. for a lot of these women, it is not just the immediate act of rape, it is what that act of violence does.

and that is if they're not pregnant. if they are pregnant, that is where a lot of this comes in. the doctor told me one of the women that he had been trying to seek out because he had heard she was raped -- she made it to the camp because she had committed suicide because rape her rape had been done in such a public way she felt unable to continue as part of that community. amy: you are reporting from the sudanese-ethiopian border, and the mns of exit refugees have that were desperately fleeing being blocked off. >> is currently only one path to safe refuge, which is across the river which is the geographical border essential between sudan and ethiopia. when you cross the river, you come into the cap why the reception center is ther but we discovered, speaking to refugees at border, the

ethiopian forces had arranged themselves in such a manner this border that for months had been seeing thousands of people rushing to refuge in sudan was seeing at best 12 refugees able to escape ethiopian forces across safely. that is my own definition of a war crime. blocking the avenue to safe refuge in a time of war and a time of humanitarian disaster is a war crime. the ethiopian government argument is refugees can cross -- given the ethnic, what refugees are being stopped and having id checked for their ethnicity and how they are treated by train at you thew been soldiers when the id says tigray, it is unacceptable to believe that going back is an option. that one safe haven in sudan is now being blocked off for

refugees. amy: i want to turn to your latest report on ethiopia about a massacre in tigray. this was a collaboration between cnn and amnesty international. again a warning, this video contains very disturbing images. >> you're watching footage filmed by a soldier turned whistleblower now in hiding. this video was obtained by a weed organization based in the u.s. the video you're watching will show these ethiopian soldiers execute these men. a work crime. the ethiopian government has waged war against tigray's leaders for the last five months with the help of neighboring eritrea. we know these are ethiopian soldiers because of the flak on the shoulders here and here.

examining details of the stitching, color, camouflage patterns of military experts confirm the use match those of the ethiopian army. in addition, the soldiers are speaking the official language of the ethiopian federal army, distinct from the local language. we also know the location by analyzing the video and geo-locating the footage. we know it is in central tigray by the terrain just south of the city. this model developed by amnesty international and verifies that location through spatial analysis. you can see the mountain range matches the footage. the captives were moved from where you saw them sitting to hear. 1.7 kilometers away. we know that because the video was tracked and mapped key geographical features were matched the basis of a high-resolution satellite image of the site.

by pinpointing the location, cnn was able to speak to local villages who confirmed their family members were dragged away ethiopian soldiers and have not been seen since. some believe their loved ones are in this video. you can hear soldiers asking the whistleblower to come closer. >> why don't you get close? film the execution of these? >> the wording is important. "execution." this is premeditated. they have rounded up these men to kill them. we must warn you, what you're are about to see this horrifying. "shoot him in the head" he says come in they do. look to your screen. we paused the video just before his victim falls to the ground. again, another soldier raises

his weapon toward that man in the white scarf was to the video cuts out but the next scene tells you what happened to him. to all of them. the soldiers continue to shoot making sure there are no survivors. what you are wnessing is an extrajudicial execution. we counted at least 34 young men the beginning of this video. all are nowresumed dead. their bodies casually flung over the ridge. no attempt to hide what has been done here. no apparent fear of consequences. directions are so appalling, -- their actions are so appalling, we can only show individual frames from the video but it does not stop here. you can hear someone's thing open check that one, that one is not dead. kill him or i will." same soldier moves along and

kills as other soldiers watch on. much of the region remains on the blackout but cnn and amnesty international were able to speak to localillagers and family members who told us at least 39 men remain missing from the village. one man s able to watch the video and confirm to us that his brother is among the dead depicted here. family members continue to search for their loved ones but have been unable to reach this remote area. their wish to respectfully bury their dead will go unheeded. nima elbagir, cnn, london. amy: that report by nima elbagir , award-winning senior international correspondent for cnn based in london. produced in collaboration with amnesty international.

this was one of the few issues addressed and now president biden sent chris coons, his fellow senator from delaware, to ethiopia to meet with the prime minister. what is the u.s. demanding? and do you believe the eritreans are pulling out has announced today? >> the u.s. is demanding timeline. that is well and good, but the issue is the ethiopian's have refused access to aid organizations. how would you verify the timeline? the other thing they're asking for, do supported mechanisms for investigation is a joint mechanism with the ethiopian human rights commission and the u.n. people have a lot of concerns. what you are saying is a government who state actors as

we saw in the video are coitting executions should be allowed to have influence, let's say, because the ethiopian human rights commission is the state appointed body should have influence on the investigations of their own alleged atrocities. that seems like something you would not expect to happen under judicial law in the u.s., so why are you allowing that to happen internationally? it is clear that president biden is the we care about human rights, that is back on the table, but now it is about how you effectively push human rights abuses and that is the part that doesn't really seem to be a clear and concise policy. amy: what do you think would be the most effective way to deal now with ethiopia and with these mass crimes ainst humanity that you're documenting? >> ethiopia is economically in a lot of trouble. they are seeking support from the world bank, seeking loans,

seeking to leverage those loans and the world bank is looking seriously at giving them these loans a certain point -- at a certain point, you have to make the statement that human rights abuses is murder it should not be allowed to seek money at the same time. who knows where that money will go? that has to be the bigger concern. so we have to try to look at what points of leverage exist across the international sphere look to cooperate, to bring those what's of leverage to bear. nobody says there is anything bad about america coming back to the table as an arbiter of morality and human rights, it just has to be done effectively and in collaboration with the rest of the world. amy: nima elbagir, thank you for being with us, award-winning senior international correspondent for cnn based in london. just back from eritrea and sudan. her recent report headlined "'two bullets is enough': analysis of tigray massacre video raises questions for

ethiopian army." next up, dr. martin luther king was assassinated 53 years ago. we will hear dr. king in his own words. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. we end the show today with the words of dr. martin luther king. he was assassinated april 4, 1968, at the lorraine motel in memphis, tennessee.

just 39 years old. while dr. king is primarily celebrated as a civil rights leader, he championed the cause of the poor and organized the poor people's campaign to address issues of economic justic he was also a fierce critic of u.s. foreign policy and the vietnam war. we are going to play a part of his "beyond vietnam" speech, that he gave a year to the day before he was assassinated here in new york at riverside church. >> i speak as a child of god and other the sferingourt vietnam i eak for tse whose land beinlaidastewhose homes are beg dtroyed, ose culture beingubverted i eak r the poor of amica, whare ying t doublprice of smash hopes ahome and death d corrupon in etnam. i spk as citen of e wod, for theorld as stands aght at theath we

have taken. i speak as one who loves america, to the leaders of our own nation -- the great initiative in this war is ours. the iniative tstop it must be os. as have lked ang the sperate,ejected,ngry you men, i havtold them tha molotov cotails an rles would no sol tir proems. have ted oer them deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meangfully nviolent actio. what theask and ghtly so, whatbout vieam? they a of her own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it

wanted. their questions t home. i knew i could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today, my own government. i hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. with this powerful commitment, we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores and thereby speed the day when "every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain." a genuine revolution of values

means, in the final analysis, that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. this call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. this oft-misunderstood, this oft-misinterpreted concept so readily dismissed by the nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. when i speak of love, i am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response, i am not speaking

of that force which is just emotional bosh. i'm speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. this hindu-muslim-christian-jewish-bu dhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of saint john -- "let us love one another, for love is god and everyone that loveth is born of god and knoweth god. he thaloveth not knoweth not god. for god is love. if we love one another god dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." let us hope that this spirit will become the order the day. we can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow

bere the aar of retaliation. the oceans of history are made turbult by the er-rising tides of hate. history is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. as arnold tobesays, "love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life d good agast the damning choice of death and evil. therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word," unquote. we are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. we are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. in this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late.

procrastination is still the thief of time. life often leaves us standing bare, nake and dejected with a lost opportunity. the "tide in the affairs of men" does not remain at the flood. it ebbs. we may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, "too late." there is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. omar khayyam writes, "the moving finger writes, and having writ moves on." we still have a choice today -- nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. we must move past indecision to action.

we must find new ways to speak for peace in vietnam and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. if we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight. now let us begin. now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter -- but beautiful -- struggle for a new world. this is the calling of the sons of god, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. shall we say the odds are too great? shalwe tell em the suggle is tooard? wi our mesge be that the forcesf americ life mitate agait their arrival as full

men, and wsend oureepest regret or wl therbe another message of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? the choice is ours. and though we might prefer it otherwise, we must choose in this crucial moment of human history. as that noble bard of yesterday, james russell lowell, eloquently stated -- "once to every man and nationcr comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth and falsehood, for the good or evil side some great cause, god's new messiah, off'ring each the bloom or blight, and the choice goes by forever twixt that darkness and that light. though the cause of evil prosper, yet 'tis truth alone is strong

though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown, standeth god within the shadow keeping watch above his own." and if we will only make the right choice, we will be able to transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of pee. if we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. if we will but make the right choice, we will be able to speed up the day, all over america and all over the world, when justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. amy: that is dr. mark luther king delivering his

speech on april 4, 1967, to the day before he was assassinated. 53 years ago. and that does it for our show. democracy now! is currently accepting apgñgú

♪♪ sally sara: a secret war, right on our doorstep. [chanting] sally: west papuan activists are fighting for independence from indonesia like never before. [guns firing] sally: jakarta is cracking down hard, cutting communications, and banning foreign media. sally: but we've managed to get inside where a long-running insurgency has reignited. [gun firing]