amy: from new york this is democracy now! >> the most astonishg thing was when one of the juices asked the vernment lawyer,ould you allow abzubaydah to testify. it was a stunning question and the swer was even more stunning. he is being held in guantanamo. the justice says whyoesn't he file a habeas petition? he has filed a habeas petition, 14 years ago.

amy: the torture cover-up continues. we will look at wednesday's supreme court argument about guantanamo bay prisoner abu zubaydah, who was waterboarded over 80 times at a secret cia black site. the biden administration argues he details about his torture are state secrets including the role of two psychologists, who designed the torture programs. we will get the latest. then to ethiopia. >> cnn can revl based on cument or evidence and witnesses accounts, ethiopian airlines has been transport in weapons between ethiopia and -- since the beginning of the war in ethiopia that has seen thousands killed. amy: we will speak to award-winning cnn reporter nima elbagir, about how ethiopia used its flagship commercial airline, ethiopian airlines, to

transport weapons during the war into gray. a federal judge has temporarily blocked the near total ban on abortion in texas. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in texas, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the state's near total-ban on abortions, granting the justice department's emergency request to halt the law while courts consider its legality. in his ruling, judge robert pitman slammed the texas ban's unconstitutionality, writing quote "this court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right." we'll have more on this story after headlines. on capitol hill, republican senate minority leader mitch mcconnell said wednesday he would allow an emergency extension of the federal

debt limit that would put off the risk of a u.s. default until december. senate majority leader chuck schumer says a vote is likely today. the world health organization has endorsed a first-of-its-kind vaccine against malaria for children in sub-saharan africa. the w.h.o. said the vaccine proved to be safe and reduced severe malaria by 30% in children enrolled in a pilot program in ghana, kenya and malawi. w.h.o. chief tedros adhanom ghebreyesus called the vaccine a major victory in the fight against one of the world's worst infectious diseases. >> this long-awaited vaccine is a breakthrough for science, child health and -- control. it could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.

amy: it's the first vaccine ever approved for use against a parasitic disease. malaria claims the lives of about a half a million people each year, half of whom are children in africa. the united states reported more than 2,500 covid-19 deaths on wednesday, even as new cases continue to fall from a summer peak. with the latest deaths, the u.s. has now recorded more covid fatalities in 2021 than in all of 2020. the white house said wednesday it would spend $1 billion to purchase at-home and rapid antigen tests in response to an ongoing nationwide shortage. los angeles's city council has approved a measure requiring people entering indoor public spaces and large outdoor gatherings to provide proof of vaccination. in colorado, the uc health hospital system says it will deny organ transplants to patients who refuse to get vaccinated for covid-19. most transplant centers already require patientso receive other vaccinations, like for hepatitis and measles, and routinely make

organ recipients pledge to abstain from tobacco and alcohol. in afghanistan, a u.n. agency will start paying to keep the country's fragile healthcare infrastructure afloat after the flow of international aid dollars, which the health sector relied upon, dried up following the taliban takeover in august. this includes paying the salaries of at least 25,000 health workers. last month, the biden administration granted special licenses to some organizations, including the u.n., to engage in transactions with the taliban, which is under u.s. sanctions. meanwhile the humanitarian situation is becoming increasingly dire. this is afghanistan director of the world food programme mary-ellen mcgroarty. >> the afghans still living in the country are adjusting to the reality. it is incredibly sad and a

humanitarian crisis has escalated and magnified at an incredible pace. it is a crisis that has its roots in decades of conflict and the increasing pressures of climate change. amy: the united nations secretary-general has appointed staffan de mistura of italy as his personal envoy for western sahara. the appointment comes after the post went vacant for over two years. morocco has occupied western sahara since 1975 in defiance of the united nations and international law. over the past four decades, thousands of western sahara's indigenous people, the sahrawi, have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the moroccan occupation. to see our exclusive documentary, "four days in western sahara: africa's last colony," visit our website at democracynow.org. back in the united states, the education department is temporarily expanding student loan forgiveness for public service workers. the move is expected to benefit 550,000 people including teachers, social workers, military members

and others who were previously not included in the public service loan forgiveness program. in texas, a crude oil spill wednesday at the marathon galveston bay refinery near houston is prompting even more calls to break free from fossil fuelependence. this comes as southern cafornia confronts one of its worst ever oil spills from an underwater pipeline. meanwhile a recent study by the international monetary fund found the fosl fuel industry received subsidies of $11 million per minute despite pleds by world leaders to fight the climate catastrophe. the biden administration is restoring several key provisions to the national environmenl policy act, related to the review process of infrastructure projects. the environmental and community safeguards were gutted last year under the trump administration. a federal appeals court has blocked a california law banning private prisons, arguing it infringes on federal authority over immigration policy.

the california law, which went into effect last year, bans new and renewed contracts with private prisons, and phases out all private facilities by 2028, including immigration jails run on behalf of immigration and customs enforcement. the state of california says it will appeal the latest ruling. a school shooting in arlington, texas wednesday left four people injured. the suspect, an 18-year-old student, has been taken into custody. the attack took place a -- sparked renew calls to tighten texas gun laws. the attack took place a little over a month after texas' permitless gun law went into effect, which allows people to carry guns without a license as long as they have no priors with state or federal law. in colorado, workers at five amazon warehouses are seeking class action status for a lawsuit alleging the retail giant refused to pay them for time spent at employee mandated covid-19 screenings before the start of their shifts. the workers say that,

beginning in march 2020, they routinely waited in long lines for up to one hour to answer questions about their symptoms and have their temperatures checked. more than 10,000 workers were affected. under colorado law, workers must be paid when they are required to be on their employer's premises or on duty. vermont independent senator bernie sanders is pushing back against senator joe manchin, after the west virginia democrat said he would oppose much of president biden's $3.5 trillion, 10-year budget reconciliation package, known as the build back better act. manchin told reporters last week he doesn't want to create a quote "entitlement society." on wednesday, senator sanders said u.s. working families should be entitled to child care, universal pre-k, affordable prescription drugs, dental and vision benefits, free community college, and a world free from catastrophic climate change. sanders called on senator manchin to make it clear which of these proposals he

wants to cut from the -- he wants to cut. >> the time is long overdue for him to tell us with specificity, what he wants and what he does not want, and to explain that to the people of west virginia and america. amy: this week, immigrants and their supporters began a four-day, round-the-clock "sleep-out" protest outside the brooklyn home of democratic senator chuck schumer. they're demanding the senate majority leader overrule the senate parliamentarian and include immigration policy in the build back better budget reconciliation package. this is alejandra marin, an undocumented essential worker and member of the group new immigrant community empowerment. >> we need a change in the laws in th count. we need congress, president biden, schumer. we are here at your out --

at your house, asking for immigration reform. we are the backbone, the foundation of this economy. we deserve justice, equality, human respect as people, as human beings and essential workers of this country. for that reason, i am here with all of you today to fight for a just immigration reform for essential workers of this country. amy: the 2020 nobel prize in literature will be awarded to a tanzanian novelist. the nobel committee cited his quote, uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism, and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents. they are the first black african writer to win a nobel prize since 1986. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman. in texas, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the state's near total-ban on abortions, granting the justice department's emergency request to halt the law while courts consider its legality. in his ruling, judge robert pitman slammed the texas ban's unconstitutionality, writing quote "this court -- from the moment sba went into effect, women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their bodies in ways that are protected by the constitution. that other courts may be able to find a way to avoid this conclusion is theirs to decide. this court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right." judge pittman also accused texas lawmakers of quote, pursuing an unprecedented and aggressive scheme to deprive its citizens of a significant and well-established constitutional right. we go now to boston where we

are joined by amy littlefield, the abortion access correspondent at the nation. her recent article on texas is headlined, "this is what the first hours of a near-total ban on abortion look like." amy, first, talk about the significance of this judge's ruling and what it will mean for texas. amy l.: judge robert pitman ruled and said what advocates in texas and clinic operators in texas have been saying all along, that the near total ban on abortion in the state of texas is flagrantly unconstitutional, that the attempt to make an end run around the court by using civil lawsuits to enforce this law was something this judge could transparently see through, that this was about banning abortion, which is not allowed under the constitution as it is currently interpreted. however, it is important to

note that this is not the final word, and we also don't know exactly how clinics are going to put this ruling in the practice. senate bill eight which bans abortion after cardiac activity can be detected, between five and seven weeks, one to three weeks after a missed period. many clinics, most clinics in the state had provided abortions up until cardiac activity. planned parenthood of south texas stopped providing all abortions because they were afraid of getting sued under this law. we don't know exactly how differenabortion providers in texas are going to move after this ruling but i know an independent clinic that haseen fighting the bill from the beginning has said they will move as quickly as possible to start resuming abortions, even though the law has been hidden, a

provision that allows abortion providers and anyone who aids or abets in an abortion to be sued while the preliminary injunction is in place, retroactively. if the fifth circuit court of appeals or the supreme court puts this w back into place, anybody who violes it in the meantime even though it is on hold could still face a lawsuit. for folks who have not been following this, the civil lawsuit provision is what is so nefarious and what gave conservative justices cover to allow this law to go into effect. instead of being enforced by the state of texas, this law is enforced by private citizens who can sue anyone who helps 70 get an abortion. amy: just to elaborate on -- who helps somebody get an abortion. amy: just to elaborate, it could be the taxi driver who brings a person to a women's health clinic, it could be the antiabortion activist outside who takes down the license plate, finds out who

that is and susan for $10,000 -- and sues for $10,000. the texas doctor who gave an abortion got sued by some buddy who was not even involved. amy l.: an attorney who was under house arrest was the first to sue the doctor. that is the sort of bounty hunter provision of this but the effect has been a near-total ban, which is a lot less creative and exciting and much more transparently the goal of antiabortion forces along, to cut off access to abortion in texas. we saw it happen in a state previously last year during the pandemic, in march and april of 2020. governor greg abbott tried to ban abortion as a non-essential service, and just like senate bill eight, that measure wound its way

through the courts. access flipped on and off eight times. you had clinic staff coming out of the waiting room telling patients who had been sitting there, sorry, we just heard that the court ruled against us and you are going to have to go home and we will call you if we can see you begin. you had this dock and forth going on. we could see that start to play out again in texas because immediately, this decision in favor of abortion rights has already been appealed to the fifth circuit and the end of the line is the supreme court and i think one of the most significant things about the texas law is that the supreme court showed their hand. they showed they are ready to allow a near-total ban on abortion to go into effect in a state where one in 10 women of the -- of reproductive age and a number of people capable of getting pregnant live. we have seen the human rights consequences, the heartbreaking consequences of that over the past month. amy: finally, before we go,

you wrote this piece in the nation, "this is what the first hours of a near-total ban on abortion look like." you talked about a woman named anna. could you end by telling us her story? amy l.: one thing i learned from working to you -- from working for you is always try to end on a positive note. i traveled to washington, d.c. for the rally for abortion justice. this was hosted by the women's march. the numbers were nowhere near what they were in 2017, during the inauguration of president trump when there were half a million people in d.c. and you couldn't move. they were about 20,000 people in d.c., another 660 rallies across the country taking place. what i saw emerge, the numbers are relatively small, i saw a new generation of leaders who have been shaped by the

cruelty of incrementalism, the cruelty of one law after another after another in states like texas. i saw a woman named ana, 21 years old, she spoke from the stage and she tried to get access to hormonal contraception in texas but she couldn't get it because you may not know but texas actually requires parental permission for teenagers to get access to contraception. she couldn't get birth control. she was having sex and a condom broke and she went to get emergency contraception, but the store wouldn't sell it to her even though legally it is supposed to be available over-the-counter to people of all ages. there are protections for anyone who wants to deny someone access to plan b, underreported religious grounds. she could not get access. when she tried to fight for her rights in the store, they threatened to call security.

by the time she got to d.c., she thought it wasn't -- it was too late and she took a princi test. when it turned up positive, she immediately knew she had to seek a judicial bypass procedure because in texas, you have to have a parent's permission to get an abortion. because her parents lived overseas, she had to ask a judge for permission and had to prove she was a good student, but sure enough of making a decision about an abortion. from the stage, i heard her say, i'm not a baby making machine. i should get to decide what i want to do. i thought this is a generation that has been radicalized, it has been moved and shaped and forged in what one activist called the hell that is texas right now. this is the generation that will lead us forward. they used terminology and rallying cries that are so different from the 1990's when roe was under threat in

the planned parenthood case. it was a rare -- it was a far cry from the safe calls we heard in the 1990's. talk about pregnant people and trans and non-binary people. they are intersectional, they center black women in their work. this movement is ready to lead and it was really exciting to see. amy: i want to thank you for being with us. we will link to your piece, as well as your piece "this is what the first hours of a near-total ban on abortion look like." amy littlefield is the abortion access correspondent at the nation. this is democracynow! when we come back, the torture cover-up continues. we will look at wednesday's

supreme court oral arguments for a case of one guantanamo bay prisoner, abu zubaydah, who was waterboarded over 80 times at a secret cia black site. stay with us. ♪ ♪ [music break]

amy: "mirror of the stone" by kamilya jubran. this is democracynow, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i am amy goodman. we turn now to look at the biden administration's attempts to keep secret information about the u.s. torture program following the september 11 attacks. on wednesday, the supreme court heard a case brought by abu zubaydah, a guantanamo prisoner who was waterboarded over 80 times while being held at cia black sites. his legal team has spent years trying to obtain testimony from two psychologists, doctors james mitchell and bruce jessen, who helped the cia design and implement its torture program. the u.s. government is also trying to keep secret the location in poland of the cia black site where abu zubaydah was tortured.

wednesday's hearing took a surprising turn when several justices asked why the united states is refusing to allow abu zubaydah to testify himself in an ongoing inquiry in poland. this is justice stephen breyer questioning abu zubaydah's attorney david klein. >> why don't you ask mr. zubaydah? why doesn't he testify? he was there. why doesn't he say this is what happened? they won't deny it, i don't think if he is telling the truth. >> you're talking about mitchell or jessen? >> i'm saying the person who was there. isn't he your client? >> abu zubaydah cannot testify. >> why not? >> because he is being held in comedic auto in guantanamo -- incommunicado. >> the words were active combat operations against

taliban fighters, apparently going on in afghanistan. they are not anymore. why is he there? >> that is a question to put to the government. >> have you filed a habeas to get him out? >> there has been a habeas pending in d.c. for the past 14 years. >> you just let it sit there. >> personally i am not handling that proceeding. my understanding is that we have done everything we could to move it forward but it simply has not moved forward. amy: that is an excerpt from the oral arguments in the sipping court -- in the supreme court arguments -- we are joined by raymond bonner, pulitzer prize winning investigative journalist. he is producing a documentary with alex gibney about abu zubaydah and the cia's interrogation program called "the forever prisoner." his latest article for propublica is "will the united states officially acknowledge that it had a secret torture site in

poland?" also with us, joe margulies, attorney for abu zubaydah, professor of law and government at cornell university. he was counsel of record in the landmark guantanamo case rasul v. bush. we welcome you both now. joe, let's begin with you. you are part of the legal team. the case argued before the supreme court, talk about the significance of the oral arguments yesterday. when you use words like habeas corpus, explain what that mea. joe: of course. it was an extraordinary argument in several respects. the narrow question is whether we can secure the testimony of james mitchell and bruce jessen, for use by the polish prosecutors in their investigation into whether crimes were committed in poland at the black site. the more important term that the oral argument sought,

one, virtually every justice on the court described abu zubaydah's treatment as torture. they used that word. there were no euphemisms. everyone understood that what happened to him was torture. second was the obsertion you made, the questions by justice breyer, justice gorsuchnd justice sotomayor or, asking why is it that you just can't let abu zubaydah testify? that would obviate the need for mitche and jessen's testimony. what was as interesting as they request that abu zubaydah be allowed to testify was the government's equivocation and inability to answer that. they were asked, if the solicitor general was t provide a follow-up statement, explaining whether they will allow abu zubaydah to testify.

if they do, that will be a sea change at guantanamo. guantanamo was built to be an isolation chamber, and they have never allowed any detainees to have uncensored access to the outside. the ole purpose of it was to prevent that ki of communication. if that changes, that will be a radal thing the third thing that was interesting was justice breyer's observation which we have been arguing on abu zubaydah's behalf for some time, that there are no hostilities left in afghanistan. the leg justification for continuing to hold them has disappeared. yesterday we heard a supreme court justice accept it as though it were commonplace. how can anything think otherwise? that is what we have been saying for some time. amy: as you speak, we are showing for our audience

around the world, the artwork of abu zubaydah in guantanamo. raymond bonner, it is great to have you with us. can you talk about the story of abu zubaydah? you are doing a documentary, "the forever prisoner," on it. raymond: he was the first terror suspect captured after 9/11. he was captured and seized in pakistan, in a joint cia/fbi, to some extent, pakistani police operation. he was the first taken to a secret prison. i've interviewed both the cia, the head of the cia operation and fbi operation at the time and zubaydah was taken, the first to be rendered to a secret site. he was taken to thailand. soon after he got there was when james mitchell and

bruce jessen showed up and began the interrogation. as joe pointed out, it was interesting yesterday in the argument to hear justice barrett talking about torture, what happened to zubaydah was torture. none of these euphemisms like enhanced interrogation techniques. he was the guinea pig in a way. this is where mitchell designed the program and tested the program of torture. it always struck me that a lot is made of the 83 times he was waterboarded. if you read what was done to him, in the government cables that were sent at the time, to me, the waterboarding was almost benign. they kept him sleet look -- sleepless. they put him in a small coffin sized box for hours, overnight. he couldn't move. they hung him by the cell

bars with his feet dangling off the ground. it got to the point it was so bad that mitchell would just snap his fingers and zubaydah would get onto the waterboard. what they did to him was far worse in my view than waterboarding. then when journalists started to get onto the story about a secret prison -- for member this is back in 2002, we didn't know about secret prisons or black sites -- when they found out about it and started to ask questions, the cia moved him to poland, secretly and quietly, which leads to the cases joe has described that was heard in the supreme court yesterday. if i could say one more thing about yesterday's argument, in addition to the three points joe raised, i

was gob smacked whethey start asking -- when they started asking the lawyers about zubaydah's habeas petition. 14 years ago, justice roberts asked about it. hasn't he filed a habeas petition? yes he has. 14 years ago. joe margulies was his lawyer than. 14 years ago and the court has yet to rule on his habeas petition. it is unprecedented, always dangerous to say because somebody will find a case that has taken longer than 14 years but it is staggering that for 14 years you had two judges who had the case in the d.c. district court, the federal court in western d.c. and they have yet to rule. the cables are there. in 2002, mitchell and the

cia interrogators in thailand, came to washingn saying we are about to do these eit's, torture. he might die, they said. if he does, we are going to cremate him and if he doesn't, we want assurances that he will never be in a position to tell his story. langley cabled back, you have the assurances of everyone here that he will be held incommunicado for the remainder of his life. that is exactly what is happening. we are never going to hear from abu zubaydah. i would be stunned if he were as allowed to test -- if he was allowed to testify. amy: just to sum up that story you wrote about these parts -- these partially declassified cables that show they said if he dies they will cremate him but if he survived questioning gina

, haspel - who became cia director under trump - sought assurances that quote "the subject will remain in isolation and incommunicado for the remainder of his life." raymond: exactly. i'm not sure it was gina haspel. we don't know who signed the cable at that time, because they have been redacted to a degree. we don't know who the signatories are, we just know the language. they are quite revealing. it probably came from the alex station which was the group the -- the group that was trying to find osama bin laden. joe may know who sent those cables. amy: joe, if you could tell us that and also about the significance of the cia black site in poland. let's remember, it is the biden administration that is fighting to keep all of this

secret, the biden administration. joe: that's right. our litigation began during the trump administration, and the trauma administration sought the review in the united states supreme court and the passing of the baton between trump and biden, they picked up the argument and double down on it. there is no window, there is no air between the ministrations. -- between the administrations. what raymond is describing, the torture that took place in thailand which was the first black site. abu zubaydah was the first person thrown into a black site to have this interrogation, quote, enhanced, and we know a fair amount about what happened to him at thailand. what we don't know, what happened to him in poland.

we know mitchell described it and said abu zubaydah was treated very shabbily. he uses those kinds of euphemisms for the most grotesque torture. that is all he says. no one has ever questioned him about what went on in poland. the polish prosecutor knows where the site was. he knows when operated. inside the cell, he doesn't know. there were only three people there, abu zubaydah, james mitchell and bruce jessen. they won't let abu zubaydah testify. if you want to know what happened there, we need to question james mitchell and bruce jessen, who i must say are privately willing to provide this informati. they said we have no objection, we are happy to sit down for a dip is -- for a depositn. it was the united states government that intervened and said their testimony is a state secret. the other thing want to observe, even mitchell and

jessen, when they were torturing him in thailand after six ys of virtual 24 hour a day torture, they decided they were done, that they had emptied the content of his head and concluded they had gotten all the information they needed from him or all the information he had to give. they cabled that to cia headquarters in langley. mitchell believes it was jose rodriguez who cabled back, in james mitchell's words, you guys are a bunch of pussi, you have to continue this. blood is going to be on your hands if there is another attack. keep torturing him. so ey did for another two weeks. what they eventually concluded is that abu zubaydah was telling the truth all along, contrary to what they believed when they started torturing him. he was not a member of al qaeda and had no involvement in the planning for 9/11 and he had never been a member

of al qaeda. sy -- he is eologically opposed to al qaeda, which is what he kept saying. they eventually concluded that was true. amy: joe, you have met abu zubaydah. can you talk about what condition he is in today, after all of this time, held for so many years, in guantanamo? joe: no, actually i can't because his condition at my observation of it is classified. everything he tells me. this is why the government -- the courts questioned -- the court's question is so comical. everything he tells me and everything i learned from him is classified at the highest levels. if he says to me, for instance, i'm having terrible headaches and i vomit every morning, i can't relay that. i can't say this is what he said. i can only write it down and submit it to the cia for

declassification. we have cemented over 100 pas of abu zubaydah's statements and recounting of what happened to him, and that has been submitted for years, and the cia has never cleared it. many years ago, they authored me to say that i am very concerned about his welfare. very concerned or grvely concerned, some adverb like that. nothing has changed between then and now. but that is all i can say. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us. joe margulies is the attorney for abu zubaydah. raymond bonner, producing a documentary about abu zubaydah, and the cia's interrogation program called "the forever prisoner." we will link to your piece, "will the united states officially acknowledge that it had a secret torture site in poland?"

coming up, we will speak to the award-winning cnn reporter, nima elbagir, about how ethiopia used its flagship commercial airline, if the opium airlines to transport weapons during the war in tigray. stay with us. ♪ ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracynow, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i am amy goodman. we now turn to the mounting humanitarian crisis unfolding in ethiopia amid civil war and famine. it has been nearly a year since the ethiopian government launched an offensive against tigray separatists and the united nations has estimated nearly half a million people need amanda terrien assistance. u.n. officials say ethiopia's government is blocking the movement of medicine, food, and fuel into tigray, with as little -- seven senior u.n. officials were expelled last week, given the just 72 hours to

leave the country. the un security council held a number to meeting yesterday to discuss the crisis in ethiopia -- held an emergency meeting yesterday to discuss the crisis in ethiopia where u.n. secretary-general antonio guterres called for ethiopian officials to grant "unhindered" aid access . ethiopia's u.n. ambassador, taye selassie, pushed back in an extraordinary exchange. >> all efforts should be focused on saving lives and avoiding massive human tragedy. this makes the announcement by the government to expelled senior u.n. officials, mostly humanitarian staff deeply disturbing. we explained our concern to the human officials. in july 8, 2021, the foreign

minister -- explaining in great detail the misconduct that required corrective measures. >> there is a written document provided by the ethiopian government to any human institution about any of the eight members of the u.n. that were expelled. i would like to receive a copy of those documents because i not -- i have not had any knowledge. amy: that is the u.n. secretary general, having a back and forth with ethiopia's ambassador to the united nations. this comes as ethiopian minister -- prime minister and 2019 nobel prize laureate abiy ahmed was sworn in on monday for a second term. he has come under fire for his response to the conflict . on wednesday, cnn reported

ethiopia's government has used the country's flagship commercial airline to shuttle weapons to and from neighboring eritrea during the civil war. this is part of the investigation by nima elbagir. >> ethiopian airlines, but among the regular cargo, evidence of sinister shipments. cnn can reveal based on docuntary evidence and witnesses accounts, ethiopian airlines has been transporting weapons between ethiopia, eritrea, since the beginning of the war that has seen thousands killed. according to aviation experts, this would constitute a violation of aviation law. among the evidence are these stills taken on board ethiopian airlines flight -- and verified by cnn. it is the middle of the night. this cargo plane is being

loaded by hand, a slow and unorthodox method. look closer. this isn't usual cargo. they are being loaded onto this civilian aircraft and being transported from eritrea to ethiopia. here is the cargo manifest, corroborating the day and time. the date is significant. it is just four days into the conflict and months before eritrea officially admits to being involved. amy: that is part of the new scene investigation by nima elbagir, called "ethiopia used its flagship commercial airline to transport weapons during war in tigray." welcome back. this is explosive. can you lay out the

significance of this, and also the response of the ethiopian government? nima: it goes to the heart of the narrative that if theo be a and eritrea -- that ethiopia and eritrea have been -- the people have always said they attacked ethiopia because there was a joint plan to attack them. to finish them as was put at the time. ethiopia and eritrea he ways dend that. they said november 4, they were blindsided and needed to launch this law enforcement operation. november 14, that was when the two former enemies turned allies came together. it dissolves all of that narrative because we found right from the first week of november that these flights were going back and forth, gunrunning between the two

allies. even before they were hit, they were already planning on attacking tigray and eritrea needed this weaponry to come down from the north into tigray. this narrative that somehow the ethiopian government was caught unaware begins to crumble. then you also have the reality of how ethiopian airlines had built itself up into the name that it is today, through its relationships, decades long alliance with the u.s. and american aviation giant going. -- giant boeing. it is favorable access to u.s. markets, hundreds of millions of dollars it has built that fleet being used as an apparatus of war and to conduct -- to bring weaponry into a region whereby the u.s. government's own findings,

ethnic cleansing is happening as we speak. amy: for people who are not familiar with the conflict, who have heard of the ethiopian-eritrean conflict, how that works into all of this. nima: tigray is where the senior partners who earned -- you owned this firm came from. they held the presidency under -- and his successor before the demonstrations that installed the nobel laureate who himself was a part of the tpls led government. you can say that what this is is an existential conflict over power, over he and his allies in neighboring eritrea centralizing rule and taking it back from the tpls, who were elected to govern tigray. beyond that, more importantly and i think often when we have these

conversations about how complicated this conflict is, we allow the reality to be obscured. this is a targeting of innocent civilians who share the same ethnicity as the former rulers of ethiopia and tigray. it is a minority which has disproportionately ruled ethiopia, but it is still a minority that has almost 6 million innocent civilians in and around those who are part of this conflict. it is those civilians that the ethiopian government and their allies are targeting and starving. amy: i want to ask you about facebook's involvement. it was raised in a senate hearing yesterday but i want to go to your stunning investigation for cnn documenting ethnic cleansing in ethiopia headlined "men are marched down the road

and corpses float down the river." >> this is the river, a source of life of the people living along its banks. for weeks, the river has been bringing with it dark secrets from the ethiopian region of tigray. mangled corpses mysteriously appearing here downstream in sudan. we just got a call the three bodies were found at the riverfront. we are running to see what we can see. he's been living here for years. he is a key point of contact for those driven to sedan by the conflict. -- to sudan by the conflict. they see a grim tally of those executed by ethiopian forces that somehow end up in the river.

this is an awful job, one they say is their duty. we reached the first body on this small island. we must warn you, the images you are about to see are very disturbing. from the binds still in his skin, you can tell this was a tortured death. the image is too gruesome to show you. his eyes betrayed the horror in front of him. they pull the body out and the stench was immediate. it clearly had been decomposing for a number of days and he was tied back with a plastic wire, clearly restrained. part of the skull was collapsed in. a horrible sight. they move to pick up somebody else. they make notes of the

bodies and their markings, trying to piece together this mystery. he doesn't trust anyone to do it for them. among the flotsam, another body. >>'s legs were amputated. >> they also take photographs as evidence. this is a crime scene, but the potential perpetrators are far from here, in ethiopia. the second body is put into the same body bag. they have such few resources, but are determined to maintain a certain dignity. they are buried near the river in a shallow grave, in hopes that one day they will be exhumed and reburied in their homeland. for now, there are only two shovels and a pit. others join in, pushing the earth with their bare hands. laid to rest on unconjugated ground, they desperately

trying to give respect to their dead, marking the graves with a makeshift cross held together with a single face mask. a new dawn rises. witnesses and local authorities tell us it brings with it 11 new bodies. for months now, we've been investigating atrocities committed by ethiopian and allied forces in tigray. it is clear to us this marks a new chapter in the ethnic cleansing of the region. here in sudan, there are survivors. the living speaking on behalf of the dead. escapees, eyewitnesses from the ethiopia border town, describe to us a renewed campaign of mass incarceration and execution. the numbers they are telling us are extraordinary, talking about possibly over 10,000 people, detained just for being from tigray.

we began to piece together the puzzle. we are here in sudan. upstream in ethiopia. based on descriptions from multiple escape detainees, the camp and its surroundings have become a master tension facility -- a mass detention facility. a storage facility. the electric goods warehouse, where electric wire is stolen. the sesame warehouse. the list goes on. eyewitness testimony and sell it -- and satellite imagery verified the existence of seven mass detention facilities where torture is rampant and two outside towns including a military camp.

these are pictures of victims, husbands, fathers, sons. many show victims restrained easing the same small gay yellow electrical wire identified by eyewitnesses as having been stored in the electric goods warehouse. cnn spoke to multiple eyewitnesses and international and local forensic expert. most of the victims were tortured, executed, piled on top of each other, most likely in a facility or mass grave before ending up in the river. after examining the bodies, experts were able to pinpoint one of the techniques used. victims had their arms tied back at the elbows in an excruciatingly painful torture position. in the last few weeks, the bodies of over 60 victims have floated into sudan from ethiopia. evidence from a methodical campaign, one which bears

all the hallmarks of genocide as defined by international law. up in this remote corner of sudan, this is evidence the world wasn't meant to see. he takes us to see the first person he laid to rest. the water will eventually reclaim the body, but this was the best he could do. already beginning to fall apart, the body could not be moved, an image which still haunts him. >> even -- leaving the body here hurts my heart but what can i do? to leave your people by the river, your sister, your brother, not laid properly to rest. when you see that, it hurts you. it hurts your heart. but what can you do? this is what we have been condemned to. >> he stays vigilant,

looking out towards his homeland. as long as this conflict continues, the threat of more executions, more bodies floating downstream is ever present. amy: again, the award-winning senior international correspondent for cnn, nima elbagir. that report, just astounding and important. i wanted to end by asking you about the role of social media in the -- would you call it an aside in ethiopia and tigray? -- call it genocide in ethiopia and tigray? nima: genocide is a legal ruling, so we can't use that but we believe it has all the hallmarks of genocide. there is no doubt that social media and especially facebook has played a huge role in this. it was incredibly chilling to hear that testimony in

front of congress because it mirrored so much the experience of what i have gone through, other journalists attempting to report on this have gone through, the way that hate has been weaponized, the incitement of violence out there in thepen on facebook and oth platforms has been really difficult for all of us. thankfully so money people are persisting in their coverage of this. we have to think democracynow because you guys from the beginning have been amplifying our work and amplifying the challenge -- the tragedy in tigray. amy: i want to thank you for being with us. you are an incredibly rave reporter. nima elbagir, award-winning senior international correspondent from cnn, speaking to us. "ethiopia used its flagship commercial airline to transport weapons during war in tigray." we will link to that as well as her previous work. that does it for our show. democracy now! is currently

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of traditional technology. welcome back. thank you for joining us again on nhk "newsline." people in and around tokyo are worried about what could come next than the 0.9 magnitude earthquake. the tremors did not trigger a tsunami but about 22 people were hurt. >> translator: based on past experience a quake with similar