10/20/22 10/20/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> it is to really to protect what these protests are going to lead to. but one thing i can tell you for sure, nothing will ever be the same in iran after these protests. amy: protests have entered their

second month, spark by the death of 22-year-old mahsa amini in custody of the so, relative police. more than 100 have been arrested. some children have been sent to reeducation camps. this comes as a massive fire prison, kno for holdiran's evin polical prisons. today we look at the scope, scale, and sustainability of the protests in iran with dr. shirin ebadi. she was the first female judge in iran and awarded the nobel peace prize in 2000 three, the first iranian and first muslim woman to win the award. we will speak with her about the violence for the security forces to iranian officials who were the focus of protesters calls for regime change. >> what the people what is a democratic government. that is what they want. because for 43 years, they have

suffered. they no longer want to to tolerate the accuracy. they want a democracy. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the african union has scheduled peace talks for next week in south africa over the worsening crisis in ethiopia's tigray conflict. on wednesday, the world health organization's tedros adhanom ghebreyesus warned time is running out to resolve the war, which broke out nearly two years ago. >> this is a crisis and the world is not paying enough attention. i urged the international

community and the media to give this crisis the attention it deserves. there is a very narrow window now to prevent genocide. amy: he is from tigray. thousands have been killed in the brutal conflict. one analyst estimas the deat toll tbe as highs 800,000 people millions have been displaced and hundreds of thousands are facing famine. investigaon last ye found that a sides figing in the war d committed violations that might amount to war crimes. russian president vladimir putin has declared martial law in four regions of ukraine recently annexed by russia in violation of international law. the order will include new limits on public gatherings, the -- great for people to police, and will curtail the right of people to travel and communicate freely. in the occupied city of kherson, russian-installed leaders have

began evacuating 60,000 people as ukraine's military presses a counter-offensive aimed at retaking the city. in brussels, belgium, european union leaders have announced new sanctions on iran after russia launched a series of attacks on ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure using iranian-made drones. meanwhile, britain's top military official has shrugged off putin's threats to use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield, including in defense of recently-annexed parts of ukraine. admiral tony radakin spoke wednesday from london. >> he has few options left, hence the rhetoric and why this is worrying and deeply responsible, it is a sign of weakness, which is precisely why the international community needs to remain and united. amy: north korea's military has fired hundreds of artillery shells into waters off the nation's west coast in an action condemned by south korea as a

violation of a 2018 agreement between the two countries not to engage in provocative actions near their shared border. this follows a series of joint military drills by the u.s., japan, and south korea. on wednesday, u.s. and south korean forces practiced a joint river-crossing drill south of the capital of seoul involving helicopter gunships, tanks, artillery, and other heavy weaponry. in lebanon, an outbreak of cholera has sickened dozens and left at least five people dead. it's lebanon's first outbreak of the water-borne disease since 1993. this comes as lebanon continues to suffer a deep economic crisis, which has led to poor sanitation and crumbling infrastructure. the cholera outbreak appears to have spilled over from neighboring syria, where about two-thirds of water treatment plants have been damaged during the decade-long civil war. in iran, hundreds of people rallied at tehran's international airport wednesday evening to cheer the return of elnaz rekabi, a female rock climber who drew international

headlines when she joined a competition in south korea without wearing a head scarf. on sunday, the 33-year-old climber wore her hair in a ponytail, covered partially by a head band, in violation of iran's strict dress code, during a climb at the international federation of sport climbing's asian championships in seoul. there were conflicting reports in iranian media about whether rekabi will now face arrest. she said in an interview with a and iran-run news agency wednesday evening that she'd unintentionally forgotten her hijab. >> the struggle i have with wearing my shoes and preparing my gear maybe forget about the proper hijab should have had. amy: many of rekabi's supporters believe her statement was coerced. this comes as mass protests in iran have entered their second month, sparked by the death last month of 22-year-old mahsa amini while in the custody of iran's so-called morality police. after headlines, we'll spend the

rest of the hour with shirin ebadi, the iranian activist and lawyer and winner of the 2003 nobel peace prize. the first female judge in iran. president biden said wednesday he will release another 15 million barrels of oil from the u.s. strategic petroleum reserve. biden's move comes just weeks ahead of november's midterm elections when republicans hope to capitalize on soaring inflation rates and high energy prices. pres. biden: gas prices have fallen every day in the last week. let me repeat. gas prices come down and they continue to come down again. amy: in germany, nine climate activists with the group scientist rebellion have staged a nonviolent civil disobedience protest at the show room of a volkswagen factory in the city of wolfsburg. on wednesday, protesters glued scientific research papers to different models of porsches on display, and they used superglue

to attach themselves to the floor. protester gianluca grimalda said the auto industry is responsible for some 12% of germany's greenhouse gas emissions. his group wants germany to reinstate a program making public transit more affordable and they are demanding a speed limit on germany's autobahn highway system. >> we are here because we know there is a clear connection between the amount of co2 emissions and the increase in temperature. we have already seen now with only 1.2 temperature increase at the industrial level, we are observing famines, floods, droughts, and any other extreme weather events -- many other extreme weather events. we know we must stop co2 emissions. we know we must decarbonize. amy: the biden administration says the united states will provide cuba with $2 million in

emergency relief to help the island recover from hurricane ian. on wednesday, cuban foreign minister bruno rodriguez expressed gratitude for the funds but said the amount pales in comparison to the economic damage to cuba caused by the u.s. embargo, which rodriguez called a "permanent pandemic" and a "constant hurricane." >> between august 2021 and february 2022, the losses caused by the blockade were in the order of three point 806 billion dollars. it is a record amount. a record for such a short period. today the policy of president joseph bidens government toward cuba is regrettable. it is the same republican policy posted no changes have been introduced in that policy. the surgical design that pursues every income come every source of funding and supply in the country remains daily.

amy: oklahoma is scheduled to execute death row prisoner benjamin cole this morning after the supreme court denied a last-minute appeal wednesday. lawyers say cole, who was convicted of killing his nine-month-old daughter in 2002, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and is essentially in a catatonic state. oklahoma is planning on executing 25 people over a period of two years despite concerns over the state's track record of botched lethal injections. here in new york city, officials opened a large tent wednesday on an island in the middle of the east river to use as an emergency shelter for asylum seekers arriving on buses from the u.s.-mexico border. the tent will hold about 500 men and can expand to hold 1000, sleeping head-to-toe on thin cots. this is new york city emergency management commissioner zach iscol. >> there are not a lot of places you can put this type of infrastructure and do this type of work, caring for this many

people. this is a temporary facility. people -- this is a short-term solution for people to figure out what their next destination is going to be. amy: nearly 20,000 migrant asylum seekers have arrived in new york city since april, many from venezuela. some have been absorbed by the shelter system, while others end up on the streets. many have been taken into the homes of volunteers who are also organizing food and clothing drives for the new arrivals. rights advocates are still calling for better shelters. new york immigration coalition executive director murad awawdeh says the tent shelter is "a stain on our city's rich history of welcoming immigrants and morally reprehensible." he added, "to continue ignoring the calls from advocates and other city officials to utilize alternative and more appropriate housing options, and instead begin implementing this dangerous plan, mayor adams has compromised new york city's status as a beacon of hope."

in texas, immigrant justice advocates are raising alarm on what they say is the unlawful detention of at least seven migrants from mexico who were shot at by two white men three weeks ago. twin brothers michael and mark sheppard opened fire on the migrants and later claimed they mistook them for wild hogs while out on a hunting trip. one person was killed and another was injured. the others have been locked up by ice, despite a directive that says they should be released since they were victims of a crime and have cooperated with authorities. the shepherd brothers were initially freed on bond, but have since been taken back into custody and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. one of the men, michael sheppard, was the warden of the west texas detention center, which has been accused of violating prisoners' human rights. a federal judge has ordered donald trump's former lawyer john eastman to turn over 33 new documents to the house committee investigating the january 6 insurrection.

u.s. district judge david carter says one of the requested emails shows trump knew the voter fraud numbers his team alleged in the georgia election results were not true, yet signed off on their use in a voter fraud lawsuit anyway. judge carter said the documents are not protected by attorney-client privilege since they relate to a possible crime. this comes after special master judge dearie expressed doubts earlier this week that materials seized by the fbi at mar-a-lago were privileged and could be withheld from a justice department investigation. meanwhile, donald trump was deposed wednesday in the defamation lawsuit brought by former magazine columnist e. jean carroll, who has accused the former president of raping her in the 1990's. trump has denied the accusation. last week a federal judge rejected his bid to again delay his deposition.

a judge on wednesday sentenced former ucla student christian secor to 42 months in prison for breaching the u.s. capitol during the january 6 insurrection. secor carried a flag inside the capitol representing the white supremacist group america first and sat in the chair that had just been vacated by former vice president mike pence. secor also founded an america first group while at ucla. in related news, students at georgetown university confronted mike pence during a speech he gave wednesday. >> mr. vice president, my question for you is, why haven't you extended that bravery to publicly denouncing the violence of january 6 as was condoned by president trump? in order to scourge republican party of trump's antidemocratic, anti-freedom lies that you know to not be true?

vice pres. pence: january 6 was a tragic day. but thanks to the courage of law enforcement at the capitol and federal law enforcement, the violence was quelled. and we reconvened the congress the very same day and we completed our duty under the constitution of the united states and the laws of this country. amy: some students walked out of the speech. when asked if he would support trump as a presidential candidate in 2024, mike pence answered, "might be somebody else i prefer more." and actor anna may wong will become the first asian american to be featured on u.s. currency. the newly designed quarters will enter circulation next week. wong was a child of chinese immigrants, born in los angeles in 1905. she acted in over 60 films before her death in 1961. she also was the first american actor of asian descent to play a lead on a tv show. a biographical film of anna may wong is currently in the works. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, as protests in iran into their second month sparked by the death of 22-year-old mahsa amini in the custody of iran's so-called morality police, we will speak with the iranian activist, lawyer, the first female judge in iran, dr. shirin ebadi, the winner of the nobel peace prize in 2003. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today we look at the scope, scale, and sustainability of the protests in iran which have now entered their second month after being sparked in september by the death of 22-year-old mahsa amini while in the custody of iran's morality police. more than 1000 protesters have been arrested, some children

have been sent to so-called reeducation camps. united nations said tuesday at least 23 children have been killed in the protests, 111 years old. the guardian reports another schoolgirl was killed by iranian police after she was beaten when she refused to sing a pro-regime song during a raid on her school. meanwhile, dozens rallied at tehran's international airport where they cheered the return of a female rock climb drew international headlines when she joined a competition in south korea without wearing a head scarf. on sunday, the 33-year-old climber wore her hair in a ponytail, covered partially by a head band, in violation of iran's strict dress code, during a climb at the international federation of sport climbing's asian championships in seoul. there were conflicting reports in iranian media about whether rekabi will now face arrest. she said in an interview with a state-run news agency wednesday

evening that she'd unintentionally forgotten her hijab. >> the struggle i had with wearing my shoes, preparing my gear, maybe forget about the proper hijab and i went to the wall and ascended. this comes as a massive fire engulfed parts of tehran's infamous evin prison saturday, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens more. witnesses reported hearing explosions and gunfire coming from the prison, known for holding political prisoners. democracy now!'s nermeen shaikh and i spoke about all of this and more with an in-depth interview with iranian activist and lawyer dr. shirin ebadi, once held at the evin prison. dr. shirin ebadi was the first female judge in iran. all female judges were dismissed previously. in 1999, she was imprisoned for nearly a month defending

prisoners of conscience. she was awarded the nobel peace prize in 2003 post of first iranian and first muslim woman to win the award. she is the prize money to set up the defenders of human rights center. she worked as a human rights lawyer in iran for decades, focusing in particular on the rights of women, children, and political prisoners. she has lived in exile since 2009. evi began by asking her about te protest. >> the scale of these recent protests are so wide, even schoolchildren have joined the line of protesters. even schoolchildren do not want to accept the educational system in iran.

the scale of the protests, the recent ones, of course, go much further and wider than the previous ones. the main difference between these protests in the previous ones is that in the previous protests, the people use to congregate in areas -- places around cities and towns and but now they have become wiser, the protesters. they make sure there protests are all over the country in various areas and sporadic. so it makes it very difficult for antiriot forces to be present in every corner of the country. and it is very regrettable that in order to crackdown on these protesters, the regime is even

trying to persuade children by ving them money to and join the government forces and stand against the protesters. meanwhile, many protesters have been arrested, including schoolchildren and one of the schoolchildren was killed when the school was raided. and also the regime is exploiting orphans in of the country and turning them more or less into child soldiers for the regime. nermeen: dr. ebadi, could you

elaborate? what do you mean the regime is turning children into child soldiers? >> look, the iranian government is signatory to the convention of the rights of the child. as you know, the convention says it is forbidden to use children in wars, in conflicts, but the iranian government used these children as child soldiers in the iran-iraq war. even now it is using children for the same purpose. in the situation of children in iran is absolutely dire. children under the age of 18 are executed.

and it is one of the very few countries in the world where there is still the death penalty for young people under the age of 18. and they also constantly arrest and imprison juveniles. and when you look at the footage from the protest, you can see these children who are clearly under the age of 18. and it is very clear that they either pay these children or they tried every way possible to persuade these children to join them because they don't have enough soldiers in their antiriots. nermeen: could you explain how the changing demographics in the country have altered in the

years since the revolution, half the population of iran was born now after the 1979 revolution and so have known no other government than the governments that came into power following that and also the literacy rates among women, the way they have increased exponentially, since the revolution prior to 1979, women's literacy was below 30% and now it is over 80%, more than half of students at universities are now women. how does this figure into the protests happening today and the fact we see, as you were talking about earlier, so many young people participating and these protests are really being led by women, young women? >> yes, absolutely. over 50% of students in our

universities are female. likewise, many of our professors at university are female. we have highly educated women in the country. and it is natural that educated women are aware -- they are aware of their rights and they cannot tolerate the discrimination they are being subjected to. and they have been subjected to since the 1979 revolution. and it is for that very reason that in every protest -- i'm not just talking about the recent protests -- but in every protest is the revolution, it is the women who have been at the forefront. i would like to elaborate and give you a few examples of some of the laws that were adopted after the 1979 revolution so you

can understand why women are protesting. in addition to forced hibjab, te life of a woman is only considered worth half of that of a man. for instance, if my brother and i are in a car crash and the damage the court awards to my brother is twice as much as that awarded to me. and also the testimony of two women in iran is tantamount to the testimony of one man in a court of law. or if a married woman wants to travel, she will not be allowed to do so without the written permission of her husband. we have so many discriminatory

laws against women. so it is very natural that such educated women will not put up with such discriminatory laws, all of which, i repeat, were adopted after the 1979 revolution. that is why this advancement is chiefly among women. amy: dr. ebadi, there was a fire that broke out at the notorious evin prison this weekend. at least eight people died. this is a place where political prisoners have been held for years. i believe you yourself were held there. you certain he represented prisoners who had been held there. can you talk about what you understand happened and the significance of this prison? >> the precise reason for the fire is still not clear.

according to the government, the prisoners started the fire. however, the conditions in the prison are not such to allow prisoners to do such a thing. they have a room where they do needlework and they claim the fire started there. usually at 5:00, they close the needlework factory. so they would not have been -- they said the fire started there, so how could the fire have started there when the door was shut at 5:00 p.m. as it is every day? also, the first report broadcast on state media after this incident was that eight people

killed were trying to escape prison. and as they were trying to escape, they stepped on mines around the prison. so what you heard was not the sound of -- well, it was the sound of explosions resulting from the mines they had stepped on. and it is really tragic to hear that because the government in a way is admitting that inside the city, inside the prison, they have planted mines. and this is a serious offense. the iranian government should be made answerable. they aot