03/22/22 03/22/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the front of the supreme court building "equal justice under law," are a reality and not just an ideal. amy: history is being made in the senate. confirmation hearings have begun

for supreme court nominee judge ketanji brown jackson. if confirmed, she would become the first black woman to serve on the supreme court. we will hear excerpts of monday's hearing and get response. then we look at russia's siege of mariupol. we will speak to human rights watch researcher who has just left ukraine after interviewing survivors who managed to escape the devastated city. >> since march 2, the city has been cut off from electricity, water, gas, even cell phone towers. the families i interviewed today spoke about explosion after explosion rocking their neighborhoods. their houses, their walls, trembling. amy: plus we go to kyiv to speak with ukrainian peace activist who is calling on all sides to de-escalate and find a way to end the war. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has accused russian forces of reducing the southern city of mariupol to ashes. tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in the sttegic port city with little food or water. there are now no foreign journalists in the city to document what is happening. in southern ukraine, russian forces used stun grenades and machine gun fire to disperse a crowd of hundreds of people who gathered in kherson monday to protest against the russian occupation of their city. [gunfire] amy: ukraine's defense minister accused russia of state terrorism, saying its assault on ukraine has killed thousands of civilians, including 50 children, while destroying more than 400 schools and damaging more than 110 hospitals.

ukrainian officials say a 96-year-old holocaust survivor was among those killed when russian forces shelled an apartment building in the besieged city of kharkiv on friday. boris romantschenko was captured by the nazis at the age of 16, deported to germany, and forced into hard labor as a political prisoner in four nazi concentration camps. he returned to the infamous buchenwald camp a decade ago to celebrate the 67th anniversary of its liberation. on monday, ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky contrasted the killing of romantschenko with vladimir putin's claims that he's seeking the denazification of ukraine. >> he survived buchenwald. the conveyors of death created by the hitler team, but he was

killed by a russian strike which hit at or near kharkiv multistory building. with each day of this war, becomes more obvious what denazification means. and russia has summoned the u.s. ambassador to moscow to deliver a former complaint of joe biden calling putin a were criminal. interested several relations between moscow and washington since 1933. on monday, president biden claimed putin is considering the use of chemical weapons, though biden cited no evidence. pres. biden: he has backed us against the wall and now he is talking about new false flags he is setting up, including asserting that we, america come have biological as well as chemical weapons in europe. simply not true. i guarantee you, also suggesting ukraine has biological and

chemical weapons in ukraine. that is a clear sign he's considering using both of those. amy: the pentagon has identified the four u.s. marines who were killed friday after their plane crashed in a remote region of norway. the crash of the marines' v-22 osprey came as the u.s. led nato allies in a series of massive war games known as cold response. about 30,000 troops from 27 nato -- countries are taking part, making it norway's largest military exercise since the end of the cold war. nato says the drills are unrelated of russia's invasion of ukraine. a russian judge has declared opposition leader alexy navalny guilty of fraud and contempt of court in a trial denounced by human rights groups as a politically-motivated sham. navalny is vladimir putin's best-known domestic critic. he has been jailed since last year at a penal colony east of moscow after he survived a nerve agent attack in 2020. the kremlin denied involvement in the assassination attempt.

prosecutors have asked to add a 13 years to navalny's 3.5-year sentence on a previous charge that human rights groups have also rejected. navalny's spokesperson said the guil verdict was expected. >> it isot a surprise putin would like to keep him in prison for as long as he is in power. amy: last year, video emerged of him making hateful xenophobic and vile, it's about muslims and immigrants. amnesty says it will continue to fight for navalny's freedom. japan has renounced russia's decision to withdraw from world war ii peace talks more than 76 years after the soviet union ended hostilities with japan. the two sides never signed a peace treaty to formally conclude the war and have been locked in a dispute over territorial rights to the kuril islands, which japan calls its

northern territories. japan's prime minister fumio kishida on monday blamed russia for walking away from peace talks. >> this entire situation has been created by russia's invasion of ukraine and russia's response to push this onto japan -russian relations is extremely unfair and completely unacceptable. japan would like to strongly protest against this. amy: afghanistan's health ministry says widespread malnutrition is leading to a surge of premature births and infant deaths. the ministry estimates that since january, more than 13,000 newborn babies have died from malnutrition and hunger-related diseases. that is more than six infant deaths per hour. some 3.5 million children need nutritional support and 95% of afghanistan's population does not have enough to eat. human rights watch says u.s.-led

sanctions are impairing afghan'' basic human rights to life, food, health care, and jobs. the group says afghanistan urgently nee a functioning banking system to address its hunger crisis, with u.s. sanctions on afghanistan's central bank making large transactions impossible. the u.s. senate judiciary committee has opened historic confirmation hearings for president biden's supreme court nominee judge ketanji brown jackson to fill retiring justice stephen breyer's upcoming vacancy. judge jackson currently sits on d.c.'s federal appellate court and is the first black woman nominated to serve on the supreme court and the first former public defender. during her opening remarks, judge jackson defended her nearly decade-long record as a federal judge. >> i have been a judge for nearly a decade now, and i take that responsibility and my duty to be independent ver

seriously. i decide cases from a neutral posture. i evaluate the facts and i interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me without fear or favor, consistent with my judicial oath. amy: after headlines, we'll hear extended remarks from judge jackson and speak fatima goss graves of the national women's law center. the united nations top official warns monday the paris agreement's goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celsius is on life support. u.n. secretary-general antónio guetteres said untries would need to cut global emissions nearly in half by 2030 in order to have a chance of reaching the 1.5 degree target. >> global energy grew by 6come to the highest level in history. coal emissions have rged to record highs.

we are sleepwalking through climate catastrophe. our planet has already warmed as much as 1.2 degrees and we see the devastating consequences everywhere. if we continue with more of the same, we can kiss 1.5 goodbye. two degrees a be out of reach. amy: gutteres said countries that are looking to replace russian oil and gas should invest heavily in renewables, rather than pumping more oil or drilling new wells. the u.s. securities and exchange commission has unveiled a draft rule that would require publicly traded companies to document how their activities contribute to the climate crisis. under the rule, corporations would be required to report greenhouse gas emissions from their own operations as well as from the energy they consume. the public will have 60 days to comment on the proposal. chinese media reports rescue crewhave found no signs of survivors in the wreage of a passenger jet that crashed

monday in the southern region of guangxi. president xi jinping has ordered an investigation into how the plane fell more than 25,000 feet in just two minutes. the u.s. national transportation safety board has assigned an investigator for the crash since it involved a u.s.-made boeing 737-800. the aircraft has an excellent safety record, unlike boeing's 737 max, which had software flaws that led to crashes in indonesia and ethiopia that killed all 346 people aboard. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. on monday, the senate judiciary committee began historic confirmation hearings for

president biden's supreme court nominee judge ketanji brown jackson to replace retiring justice stephen breyer. once a clerk for breyer, judge jackson now sits on d.c.'s federal appellate court. if confirmed, she would be the first black woman nominated to serve on the supreme court and the first former public defender. her parents, her husband, daughters attended monday's hearing where she was introduced by university of pennsylvania carey law professor lisa fairfax and former george w. bush-appointed u.s. court of appeals judge thomas griffith. before she spoke, senators made opening statements. today and wednesday she will be answering questions from the senators. this is democratic senator corey booker of new jersey. >> i know tomorrow and upcoming hearings will have tough, hard questions. please, let me just acknowledge the fact that this is not normal. it has never happened before.

the senate is poised right now to break another barrier. we are on the precipice of shattering another ceiling, another glass ceiling. it is a sign that we as a country are continuing to rise to our collective cherished highest ideals. i just feel the sense of overwhelming joy as i see you sitting there, as i see your family sitting behind you. amy: meanwhile, republican senators used their opening remarks to attack judge jackson's work as a public defender, her representation of people detained at guantánamo bay, and to raise questions about what some said were "lenient" sentences as a judge in child pornography cases. this is republican senator josh hawley. >> what concerns me, and i have been very candid, in every case, and each of these seven, judge jackson handed down lenient sentence that was below with the

federal guidelines recommended and below what prosecutors requested. so i think there's a lot to talk about their and i look forward to talking about it. amy: after sitting through nearly four hours of opening statements from senators, judge ketanji brown jackson address the committee. she vowed to be an independent judge who knows her "limited role." these are part of her remarks. >> the first of my many blessings is the fact i was born in this great nation. a little over 50 years ago, in september of 1970. congress had enacted two civil rights acts in the decade before, and like so many who had experienced lawful racial segregation first-hand, my parents, johnny and ellery brown, left their hometown of mii, florida, and moved to washington, d.c., to experience new freedom. when i was born here in washington, my parents were

public school teachers. and to express both pride in their heritage and hope for the future, they gave me an african name, "ketanji onyika," which they were told means "lovely one." my parents taught me that, unlike the many barriers that they had had to face growing up, my path was clearer. so that if i worked hard and believed in myself, in america i could do anything or be anything i wanted to be. during this hearing, i hope you will see how much i love our country and the constitution and the rights that make us free. i stand on the shoulders of many who have come before me, including judge constance baker motley, who was the first

african american woman to be appointed to the federal bench and with whom i share a birthday. and like judge motley, i have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the front of the supreme court building "equal justice under , law," are a reality and not just an ideal. amy: part of judge ketanji brown jackson's opening remarks at the first day of her historic supreme court confirmation hearings. before she spoke, activists rallied outside the supreme court in support of her nomination. >> if you have ever wondered, is that for me? it is personal when we get to watch her break that glass ceiling. amy: that was fatima goss graves, president and ceo of the national women's law center

speaking at monday's rally in d.c. and she joins us now for more. we welcome you back to democracy now! can you talk about the significance of judge jackson's nomination? and then the issues raised by the republicans who clearly are staking out, well, in a number of cases, we have some presidential aspirants on the judicial committee, and raising issues that actually had nothing to do with her. >> yesterday we started the morning with a really joyful, intergenerational rally for a reason. because it is a big deal to be at this point in history. it is a big deal not just for my generation who maybe never thought you would actually see a black woman nominated to the supreme court, but for younger generations who now can see themselves not just as

potentially supreme court justice -- they can see themlves in so many different fields, and that matters. we have young girls speaking at the rally yesterday and hearing from their perspective what it meant to them was really heartwarming. judge jackson, as you just saw, is a phenomenal nominee. she is so highly qualified. she is so highly credentialed. but actually, i think what has broken through with her character and her integrity. so witnessing her raise her hand, witnessing her give her opening statement and her view of the law and how serious she takes the role of being a judge, that was also an important thing yesterday, too. juan: fatima goss graves, could you talk a little bit about her record in terms of her

experience, especially representing what time obey prisoners and currently -- guantanamo bay prisoners and currently serving as a judge on the u.s. court of appeals for the district of columbia? >> judge jackson is in some ways unusual as the nominee because of the depth and breadth of her experience. she has been in private practice, has been a federal public defender -- was on the u.s. sentencing commission. she's had a wide range and now she has been a district court judge and is a court of appeals judge at the moment. what that means is she is going to bring a really broad understanding. her experience as a federal public defender, though, is one that is so worthy of attention in part because it means that the court would now have someone who has direct experience with people who are having contact with the criminal justice system. the fact that we actually do n

have anyone on the supreme court now who brings that experience says a lot. the supreme court makes tons of decisions that impact the actual real lives of people who are facing criminal penalties. if you are watching the opening statements yesterday, you heard the sort of posturing that was coming in. and i expect that today and tomorrow she will get a lot of questions about her representation of criminal defendants, including in terms of guantanamo. one of the things that has been really important, though, is to remind ourselves around why we actually have a justice system that allows everyone to have representation. that is core to our constitution. equal access to the law, equal access to justice is core. and that is not just something for the wealthy. it is actually for those who

cannot afford it. and that is the work that she did. that work is noble. juan: and given the highly partisan and sharply divided nature of the senate in recent years, what's the importance of the fact she has already been through the confirmation process in the senate three different times? >> so this is judge jackson' fourth time before the senate judiciary committee. she has been confirmed three times. she has gone through the same committee three times, all with a partisan support -- including just last summer where she had three republicans join her in her nomination to the d.c. circuit. so some of what you are seeing now, the posturing as if their deep concerns around judge jackson's record doesn't actually fall squarely into what they have done in the past.

listen. this is a very important nomination. i think it is important there be robust conversation abt her record, about the many different roles she has had. that is why she has turned over thousands of pages. what is not ok our efforts to distort her record. the senate judiciary committee is not a place for misinformation. this is not some area of the dark web or social media. this is a serious proceeding for a seous role, and it is worthy of that approach. amy: this is part of south carolina republican senator lindsey graham's opening remarks yesterday. >> this is not kavanaugh, what do we mean? it means that democratic senators are not going to have their windows busted by groups. that's what it means. it means no republican senator is going to unleash on you and

attack about your character when the hearing is virtually over. none of us, i hope, have been sitting on information about you as a person for weeks or months. you come into our offices and we never share it with you to allow you to give your side of the story. we wait until the very last minute when hearings about to be gaveled concluded and say, "oh, by the way, i've got this letter." and so happens that every media outlet in the country has the letter, too, so the next morning there were headlines all over the country, really, accusing judge kavanaugh and basically bill cosby. none of us are going to do that to you. amy: fatima goss graves, can you decode what he is saying? and senator blackburn criticized judge brown -- judge brown jackson for supporting the 1619

project saying fundamentally it is calling america racist. of course, she could not respond to any of these points because each one makes their statement. >> you know, i think there are two related this that are happening. the first is that you are seeing some republicans trying to rewrite history. they are trying to make us think that the totally outrageous nomination processes that we sell with justice kavanaugh, with justice amy coney barrett, were typical. they were not. it was just 2018, so many of us were around in 2018 to actually witness and participate -- i was in the hearing room for justice kavanaugh's nomination, and i will tell you i still think about that hearing. i still think about the giant to service that was done to very serious allegations of sexual

violence. and it actually has come out in the last year the fbi did not actually do the investigation it was promised, so i'm not sure whether earning it up -- it absolutely has nothing to do a judge jackson. it is an effort to make people think those nomination processes were typical. they were not. the second thing you are saying, and i think, unfortunate, judge jackson is going to be subject to it today and tomorrow and serious ways, sort of preparation and posturing for the 22 election. you will hear about the things that some of the republicans plan to launch in that election. again, those things actually aren't related to her record. i don't think the hearing room is the place for this sort of misinformation and distorting of her record that you're going to see around things like critical race theory, around the sort of attack that was levied around transit use.

it enforce and we are going to see that in the searing riposte of amy: fatima goss graves -- go ahead. juan: what about this thing that was raised initially yesterday in terms of her sentencing in child pornogray cases? what you know about that? >> i think that is one of the most giant's services and it does not surprise me that it is coming from senator josh hawley. i think the thing that people should know as he tries to mischaracterize her record is that she has sentenced more than 100 defendants proportionately to the crimes they have committed. and in lines with other judges. that is the thing that he knows but is still trying to mislead the public about her record. that is why she has the clear support from the law enforcement community. so this is a nonsense issue. he is doing it to make people confused about her record. it is unfortunate.

amy: we want to thank you for being with us. but not a dog each day we understand the hearings will begin at 9:00 eastern time today, wednesday, and thursday. we will be live streaming them at democracynow.org. fatima goss graves, thank you for being with us president and , ceo of the national women's law center. >> thank you for having me. amy: coming up, we look at russia's siege of mariupol. we will speak to human rights watch or who has just left ukraine after intviewing survivors who managed to escape the devastation. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "2nd rhapsody on ukrainian themes, opus 18, shoomka'." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has accused russian forces of reducing the southern city of mariupol to ashes. tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in the strategic port city with little food or water. there are now no foreign journalists in the city to document the destruction. a team of reporters from the associated press recently left mariupol after spending 20 days in the besieged city. by the end, the reporters said they were being hunted down by russian forces. ap video journalist mstyslav chernov has provided a harrowing account of life under bombardment in mariupol. i want to read part of his description of what he witnessed. for our television audience, we will also show images of mariupol by sergii makarov, a photographer from the area. they were provided to us by human rights watch. these are the words of the ap's mstyslav chernov --

"one bomb at a time, the russians cut electricity, water, food supplies, and finally, crucially, the cell phone, radio, and television towers. the few other journalists in the city got out before the last connectis were gone and a full blockade settled in. the deaths came fast. on february 27, we watched as a doctor tried to save a little girl hit by shrapnel. she died. a second child died, then a third. ambulances stopped picking up the wounded because people couldn't call them without a signal and they couldn't navigate the bombed-out streets. shelling hit the hospital and the houses around. it shattered the windows of our van, blew a hole into its side and punctured a tire. sometimes we would run out to film a burning house and then run back amid the explosions. by this time i had witnessed deaths at the hospital, corpses in the streets, dozens of bodies shoved into a mass grave. i had seen so much death that i was filming almost without

taking it in. on march 9, twin airstrikes shredded the plastic taped over our van's windows. i saw the fireball just a heartbeat before pain pierced my inner ear, my skin, my face. we watched smoke rise from a maternity hospital. when we arrived, emergency workers were still pulling bloodied pregnant women from the ruins." those are the words of the associated press's mstyslav chernov who spent 20 days in mariupol documenting the russian siege. to talk more about the humanitarian crisis there and across ukraine, we are joined by belkis wille, senior researcher with the conflict and crisis division at human rights watch. she's just left ukraine where she spent over three weeks. human rights watch has published a new report largely based on her research, titled "ukraine: ensure safe passage, aid for mariupol civilians: residents describe harsh conditions during russian attack."

she joins us now from zurich, switzerland. thank you so much for being here. i know you must be dealing with so much trauma now as you took in the trauma of these testimonies. describe what you heard from the mariupol survivors. >> i mean, what i heard was truly an absolute hellscape. families were talking about how they were fleshing out water in their heating systems to try to get access to water to survive as they spent over two weeks in basements, sheltering before they were eventually able to get into their own personal vehicles and get outside the city. there were also melting snow to get water a going to local streams and rivers. all of them said waiting on

these lines meant you were essentially at risk of bng shelled. they would go outside their basements only to cook food on open flames in their yard. it was those times when they left their basements that they would see dead bodies strewn outside, it dead bodies of families they knew. families who said they could not kill their son who was killed in an explosion nearby because the shelling continues and it is not safe to bury him yet. the stories were really horrific. i would say perhaps most difficult stories to hear were from older people and people with disabilities. when the electricity was cut, like everyone else in the city who went out to basements to shelter, they could do that -- could not do that meaning with no electricity, they could not take elevators. a man lives on aixth floor,

sat on his sofa with windows blown out. it is below freezing temperatures, just watching the shelling and the explosions in the fire, hoping he would survive. juan: belkis wille, human rights watch has reported the extensive use of cluster munitions by the russian forces in some places. could you talk about what you found about -- >> and the early days when the conflict began in donetsk, we saw cluster munitions being used multiple times. the second biggest city of ukraine that has been heavily damaged in recent attacks,

cluster munitions were used. we issued a report on the use on numerous days on a city near odessa. we have seen civilians injured and killed. juan: there have been reported instances of relations of attempts at cease-fires in an effort to create humanitarian corridors. what have you found about that and how have 70 people been able to leave despite -- so many people been able to leave despite a lack of organized form of humanitarian relief through these corridors? >> officials have tried to [indiscernible] at the international community of red cross. numerous times has said these efforts put in place as short-term cease fire to allow for humanitarian corridors to open have failed.

the idea is these corridors would allow for civilians to safely evacuate areas of the fighting, but also that urgently needed humanitarian aid could get into areas where there are going to be some civilians that simply cannot leave most of some people, as i mentioned, or people, people with disabilities, other people who cannot leave or do not want to leave areas that they live in. i would say it is important to note that ultimately, the obligation on both sides is to allow civilians to leave safely and aid to get in regardless of whether corridors exist or not . the people of mariupol waid for days for corridor to be put in place so they could evacuate safely. after a days and days of waiting , it was around march 14, that a few people simply decided enough is enough. i'm either going to die in my

basement were trying to leave the city not prefer the latter option. they got in their cars adjuster to driving. they knew they were driving into russian territory but were hoping they would make it to the reef -- ukrainian side. on march 14, we heard in the news suddenly that 160 cars were trying to make it to the ukrainian side and that is when my colleague and i actually headed to the area where we knew people would be arriving once they made it back into the ukrainian controlled territory. we stayed there fotwo days interviewing some of the thousands of people that that also got into their own vehicles and took the risk of making it out of the city and arriving safely. amy: belkis, you talk about people getting into their own vehicles. what about people who don't have them? the most compromise people?

the poorest, the disabled? >> that's the thing that everyone that i interviewed raised with me. they said, we were sheltering for weeks in a basement with 50 other people, 80 other people. we heard cars were trying to get out we got into our car, maybe have to people or a quarter of the people that were sheltering with has had cars and we left, but we left behind others. these are people who did not ve the means to leav i think the sad reality is that the people that we spoke to were the lucky ones. they were the ones with the means and the ability to get out of the city. we know from local authorities they estimate at least 200,000 people are still in the city. i can say many of them civilly do not have the means to get out. that is why it is so important that humanitarian aid can get into the city where food stocks are dwindling, medication is running out and so many need

help. amy: i would ask you are about kharkiv. these are the voices of volunteers who cleaned debris from residential buildings that have been attacked. >> the girl that was walking opposite the medical center was killed. a man wounded with shrapnel in his lungs and other part of his body is laying your entrance five. he was going home and it happened. as a lieutenant colonel in the reserve. a grandmother was killed. it is disabled. >> honestly speaking, i do not see much sense in leaving the city. joining territorial defense force? i don't have any military experience but i can help the city with my labor. why not? >> at the moment, i do not have any work at home. i am 70. i am an engineer with experience. until yesterday, i had work to

do. when i saw the appeal, i understood this was more urgent, more important, more needed now. amy: those are the voices of volunteers in kharkiv. you also have human rights watch documenting russes use of cluster munitions, particularly in another city under siege. if you could talk about these attacks as well and what you have documented? >> in the city of kharkiv, we initially were documenting several distinct uses of cluster munitions in the city at a time when many civilians were still there. cluster munitions that did enter and kill civilians. more recently, we have published a much more detailed report that actually says 43 individual attacks on civilian property -- shops, homes, other common spaces that civilians use, to

the point the cityas been so severely damaged. duringhe time these attacks were rocking the city, there was not any safe corridor out. there wasn't an easy way for civilians to leave. that is, unfortunately, why so many were wounded and killed in those attacks. and then as you said, the fighting has proceeded on other fronts. in the last days, another city has been under heavy shling a attacked. there is a military air base, a factory. but the areas where we have seen cluster munitions landing are also in residential neighborhoods. in other parts of the city, we have interviewed people that have had munitions landing in the middle of their house while they and their family were still there. unfortunately, these attacks will continue to wound and kill civilians. juan: i wanted to ask about the

role of countries like poland in welcoming millions of ukrainians who are fleeing the war. and they have gotten a lot of media attention for that. but at the same time, poland has continued to close its borders to syria, lebanon, people fleeing devastation in their own countries in africa. for example, march 2 from according to press reports, the polish border guard tweeted, "last night 51 foreigners tried to illegally cross into poland from belarus stop 11 people from syria, 33 from iraq, one from burkina faso, and six from the congo were arrested." this is an area at the belarus orders while forgn journalists are not allowed while they can fill and report on the refugees being welcomed from ukraine. what does this say about the

nature of the human rights implications of one group of people being treated one way and another group of people being treated another way? >> i think that is such an important point to make. i crossed the border out of ukraine on sunday. i was simply astounded by what i saw. when across the border, i saw dozens of tents from numerous organizations around the world. as i was getting my bearings straight and figuring out which direction to go in, a man handed me a steaming cup of coffee. a woman handed me able of soup. some offered me a free sim card. people were just riveting diapers, baby food, providing pre-transport into cities of poland. it was incredible. the welcome -- amazing but at the same time, such start

contrast to what we have seen at the polish border, the polish-belarus border. we saw people being pushed back across the border back into belarus. we saw people freezing to death and being beaten by border guards. as you say, it is not like volunteer organizations had wanted to provide assistance at that two people stuck on the water, but they were not allowed to. it is disturbing to see this difference. all i can hope is now that we have seen what a welcoming response can look like and should look like, that that is extended to all refugees and asylum seekers. amy: in fact, didn't you go into ukraine to investigate what was happening to african students, for example, who were trying to flee ukraine? >> in the first days of the war

in particular, we had -- ukraine is a country that has many, many tens of thousands of foreign students that study there. students from india, nigeria, china, morocco -- all over the world. when the conflict started, you saw many people trying to get on trains and buses to get to the border with poland and other borders. and priority was being given to ukrainian women and children. those were the faces on buses and trains -- being prevented from boarding many foreign students. i interviewed many students who eventually made it to the western city of lviv. andean students, nigerian students. they described to me how they were pushed off of buses. they were pushed off of trains. they were prevented from boarding because global

authorities were telling them priority was given to ukrainian women and children, not you. amy: belkis wille, thank you for being with us, senior researcher with the conflict and crisis division at human rights watch. just left ukraine where she spent over three weeks documenting the effects of the war across the country. human rights watch has published a new report largely based on her research and we will link to it at democracynow.org. coming up, we will speak with a pacifist in kyiv. stay with us. . ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we end today's show in kyiv where we're joined by yurii sheliazhenko, the executive secretary of the ukrainian pacifist movement and a board member of the european bureau for conscientious objection. yurii is also a member of the board of directors at world

beyond war and a research associate at krok university in kyiv, ukraine. he has been closely following reports from the occupied southern ukraine city where russia forces used stun grenades and machine gun fire to disperse a crowd of hundreds of people who gathered monday to protest the russian occupation. welcome back to democracy now! you are still in kyiv. can you talk about what is happening now and what you are calling for? i am particularly interested, for example, in what seems to be an almost unanimous call for a no-fly zone so russia cannot pummel the cities. but the west is deeply concerned that enforcing a no-fly zone, meaning shooting down russian planes, will lead to a nuclear war. and what your position is on this? >> thank you.

greetings to all the people around the wor. a no-fly zone is a militarized response to the crisis and what we need is not escalation with more weapons, more sanctions, where aggression toward russia and china. we need a comprehensive peace talks. the united states -- on the contrary, the conflict is beyond ukraine. conflict between the east and conflict within russia and ukraine. the function of nato -- ukrainian nationalists in 2014 and violent power erupts in

donbas russian nationalists and russian military forces the same year. 2014 was, of course, the year of starting this violent conflict between -- from the start with the government and separatists. and then after conclusion of a peace deal, minsk agreement which both sides are not complying, the objective about cease-fire violations on both sides. these violations were escalated before the russian invasion. the whole problem is a peaceful solution. internationally approved by the

united nations was not complied with. now we see that instead of biden , zelensky, putin, xi jinping at the negotiation table, how to transform this world for better, to remove any hegemony and establish harmony. instead of that, we have politics of threats from the united states to russia, to china. demands of warmongering. to establish a no-fly zone. by the way, it is incredible threat toward russia and ukraine and separatist spreading around the world not only to

warmongering regime, but for russian people, to. but we see many of the russian people -- i am thankful to all courageous people who resist nonviolently to warmongering. those people who protested against the russian occupation of kheon and army -- invading army shoot at them, it is a shame. there are a lot of local people pursuing a nonviolent way and ukraine. [indiscernible] the report concludes europwas

not a safe place in 2021 for many conscientious objectors in several countries and russia occupies crimea and donbas. [indiscernible] death threats come discrimination. considered treason and punished. thousands of people were -- i like to call a statement of conscientious objectors in russia from a new report called what is happening in ukraine is a war by russia. conscientious objectors calls on

russia to stop the war. the movement calls on russian soldiers not to dissipate -- participate, to not become war criminals. calls for all recruits to apply for alternative civilian service or be exhibited on medical grounds. also condemns militarized forces of ukraine. negotiations which we see now -- juan: i just want to ask you because we have only a few minutes left, you talk about the direct involvement of the u.s. and nato already. there is been very little reporting that not just on the issue of the weapons being supplied by the western ukraine,

but also, clearly, by the actual satellite surveillance data that the ukrainian army is most likely receiving from the west? my guess is years from now, we will learn that drone attacks on russian forces were being directed remotely from american bases in places like nevada or even if they are already significant number of cia and special operation forces inside ukraine. as you say, there are natialists on all sides. russia, u.s., and ukraine who have fueled this crisis right now. i am wondering your sense of what resistance is among the ukrainian people to this war? how widespread has it grown? >> you know, this escalation is the result of a push from military contractors.

american defense secretary -- you have [indiscernible] supply fighter jets. they profit from war and push for war and even hope to profit more from bloodshed, from destruction. and somehow do not escalate for the scale of nuclear war. people should push governments

to negotiate instead of five. there are a lot of actions -- united states and europe. you can find a website online. codepink continues to petition biden comes for negotiation instead of escalation. april 28, announced there marching in june 2022 for the nato summit in italy. [indiscernible] europe for peace campaign issued an ultimatum to stop the war

immediately or people will organize caravans of nonviolent protesters from all over europe. as for protesting in ukraine, for example, -- amy: we have five seconds. >> i would like to say petition to allow men aged 18 to 60 without military experience to leave ukraine. america we have to leave it there. i thank you so much for being with us. yurii sheliazhenko, executive secretary of the ukrainian pacifist movement. alexy navalny has just been sentenced to an additional nine years in prison was to, amnesty international does consider them to be a prisoner of

conscientious and stripped him a prisoner of conscious status in 2021 and the restored it three months later. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] tñ■aa