12/15/22 12/15/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force must come to an end. the old methods of those who wield power simply don't work. in fact, they only aggravate the situation. we are now in a full-fledged

human rights crisis. amy: iran is intensifying its crackdown on protesters after nationwide demonstrations erupted in september. more than 14,000 people have been arrested. iran has executed at least two arrested during the protest. we will speak to that iranian women's rights activist sussan tahmasebi. then to the world cup. qatar is facing accusations tortured a world cup whistleblower abdullah ibhais who has been jailed since 2019. >> don'have to say anything about the case, but it is incumbent upon them specifically demand this man get a fair trial. and why have they not done that? every person deserves a fair trial.

amy: we will speak with the brother of abdullah ibhais as well as the cofounder of the man rights group fairsquare. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. newly installed peruvian president dina boluarte declared a nationwide state of emergency amid mounting unrest following last week's ouster and imprisonment of then-president pedro castillo. supporters say was a legislative coup. protests have spread since his arrest with at least six people killed in the southern andes region. boluarte's government sent troops to peru's second largest city arequipa wednesday. castillo supporters rallied in front of his jail in the capital lima.

>> today marks the seventh day of parliament area detenon. you should have been released at 1:30 butesterday a midnight the prosecutor asked for 18 months of detention. we need international help. please. amy: leaders in mexico, colombia, argentina, and bolivia have voiced support for castillo, calling him a victim of anti-democratic harassment in a joint statement. the u.s. federal reserve has raised interest rates by one-half a percentage point and signaled it may continue lifting rates through the first half of next year. on wednesday, fed chair jerome powell said the higher cost of borrowing would slow the economy and lower the rate of inflation. >> forceful steps to moderate demand so it comes into better alignment with supply. our overarching focus is using our tools to bring inflation back down to our 2% goal, keep

longer-term inflation expectations wellnchored, reducing inflation is real likely sustained period of low growth and softening of labor market conditions. amy: former u.s. labor secretary robert reich said the fed's move risked plunging the u.s. economy into recession and throwing millions of people out of work. he noted u.s. prices have outpaced wage gains over the last year, diminishing the real purchasing power of workers. reich added -- "this is absolutely not the time for more interest rate hikes that make it even harder for working people to keep the lights on." the biden administration says it will make at-home covid-19 tests available for free again this winter amid a steep rise in cases. beginning today, u.s. residents can once again order four covid tests per person through the u.s. postal service. the program was paused in september after congress failed

to approve a new round of covid relief funding requested by the white house. over the past two weeks, u.s. coronavirus hospitalizations have risen morthan 20% a deaths have surged by 65%, with more than 3000 people dying of covid each week. much of the latest surge has been caused by two omicron subvariants that have evolved to bypass immune defenses. researchers stress most people who are up-to-date on their vaccines are still highly protected against severe disease. russian officials said wednesday they have no plans to impose a ceasefire in ukraine over the christmas holiday after nearly 10 months of war. overnight, ukraine's military launched a massive artillery attack on the russian-controlled city of donetsk. ukraine also took credit for an drone attack on an air base about 50 miles inside of russian territory. elsewhere, at least two people

were killed by heavy russian artillery fire in kherson, where russian attacks on the power grid have left residents without electricity. the continue fighting came as the pentagon said it would more than double the number of ukrainian troops at its training program in germany. also on wednesday, a u.s. citizen was freed as part of a prisoner swap between russia and ukraine. suedi murekezi had been held since his arrest by russian forces in kherson in june. meanwhile, cnn is reporting russia refused to release u.s. prisoner paul whelan alongside brittney griner last week unless a former colonel from russia's domestic spy organization currently in german custody was also released. vadim krasikov is currently serving a life sentence in germany after he was convicted of assassinating a georgian citizen in broad daylight in berlin in 2019. his victim was a separatist

commander who fought against russian forces in the early 2000's. international federation of journalists as craneas the deadliest country for journalists over the past year. the ifj says 67 media workers were killed so far around the world in 2022 -- 20 more than the previous year. the group also cited haiti and mexico as some of the deadliest zones for reporting. here in the united states, republican arkansas senator tom cotton blocked the senate passage of a bipartisan bill designed to protect free press by not allowing the government to legally compel journalists to disclose their sources. democratic senator ron wyden, who co-sponsored the press act, highlighted the bill's inclusion of exceptions in cases immediate threats of violence or death, as well as its unanimous passage in the house.

in israel, benjamin netanyahu is one step closer to forming his new government after a preliminary vote tuesday night which would allow for the appointment of ministers who are convicted criminals. if fully approved, the legislation would allow netanyahu to make good on his pledge to ultra-orthodox leader aryeh deri to head the interior and health ministries despite being convicted of tax fraud. netanyahu was granted an extended deadline of december 21 to form his administration, set to be the most extreme far-right in israeli history. in nigeria, dozens of eyewitnesses say they saw soldiers in the nigerian army massacring children in its 13-year war against boko haram insurgents, with estimates that -- putting the number of dead in the thousands. an investigation by reuters found army commanders repeatedly ordered soldiers and armed guards to "delete" children because they were assumed to be

collaborating with militants in boko haram or its islamic state offshoot. this is a soldier interviewed by reuters. his face has been obscured and his voice replaced to protect his identity. >> times where we come to a place and find children and adults, we shoot them all. we don't differentiate and say this is a child and this is an adult because there altogether. at times if you kill the addled, the child will become a problem. amy: another reuters investigation found that since 2013, a secret nigerian military program coerced at least 10,000 women and girls to terminate their pregnancies after they were kidnapped and raped by members of boko haram. the united nations has called on nigerian authorities to fully investigate the charges. world health organization director-general tedros adhanom ghebreyesus said his uncle was killed by eritrean troops amid ongoing fighting in ethiopia's northern tigray region. he made the revelation at the end of a covid briefing

on wednesday. >> i spoke to my mother and she was devastated because he was the youngest from tir family. he was almost the same age as me. he was not alone, by the way. and the village when they killed him in his home, the same village, more than 50 people were killed. amy: last month, ethiopia's government and tigrayan representatives agreed to a peace deal after two years of war but eritrean forces were not part of that agreement. meta has been sued by two ethiopian researchers and a kenyan rights group for allowing facebook posts inciting violence in the tigray war to proliferate on the site. one of the plaintiffs says his father, an ethiopian academic, was the subject of racist attacks online before his murder in november 2021 and that facebook had refused to remove the violent posts.

this is kenyan lawyer mercy mutemi, who filed the lawsuit. >> not only does facebook allow such content to be on the plot from, they make money from such content. why are they allowed to do that? amy: t lawsuit is seeking $1.6 billion from meta to establish a fund for victims of online hate and violence. in other social media news, twitter has disbanded its trust and safety council, an external group made up of civil rights organizations, academics, and others that advised twitter on matters related to user safety, including mental health, human rights, suicide prevention, and child sexual exploitation. separately, twitter suspended the account of @elonjet, which tracked the movement of twitter owner elon musk's private jet.

musk previously vowed not to block the account. and in california, a san francisco police detective said wednday the man charged with assaulting house speaker nancy pelosi's husband also planned to target california governor gavin newsom, hunter biden, and actor tom hanks. the testimony came during the trial of david depape he is accused of breaking into pelosi's home and assaulting paul pelosi with a hammer in front of police. he faces up to 30 years in prison on a federal assault charge and after 20 additional years for attempted kidnapping. on wednesday, the prosecutors play video of the assault on paul pelosi along with a 911 call he made an police body camera footage. this is san francisco district attorney brooke jenkins. >> sends a strong message, this

case in general, just a fact of what happened in the clear message to the country that things have gone too far and we must tone down our rhetoric, especially political leaders. a -- especially at political leaders. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. we come back, we speak to an iranian activist about what is happening in iran. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: iranian activist mohsen shekari singing at the cafe he worked at with friends. last week, the 23-year-old shekari became the first person executed for taking park in nationwide anti-government protests sparked by the killing of mahsa amini. for those who are listening on the radio or just reading this, you can go to democracynow.org to see the video. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman, joined by my co-host nermeen shaikh. hi, nermeen.

nermeen: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. iran has been expelled from the united nations commission on the status of women after a campaign led by the united states. this comes as human rights groups are expressing growing alarm over iran's crackdown on protests that began in mid-september sparked by the death of the kurdish-iranian woman 22-year-old mahsa amini in the custody of iran's so-called morality police. the human rights news activist reports over 18,000 people have been arrested across iran since the protests began. toronto prosecutor general has said -- tehran's prosecutor general says at least 400 people have reportedly been sentenced up to 10 years in prison. 26-year-old iranian soccer player amir nasr-azadani has reportedly been sentenced to death for his involvement in the demonstrations.

fief pro said it was shocked and sickened that nasr-azadani faces execution. on monday, iranian authorities executed 23-year-old majidreza rahnavard. he was hanged from a metal crane, with his hands and feet bound and a black bag over his head. he was convicted of killing two members of paramilitary forces in a secretive trial where he wasn't allowed to choose his own lawyer or challenge the evidence against him. when his mother visited him, she was reportedly not notified he'd be executed soon after. he is the second person executed in iran linked to the recent anti-government protests. four days before he was hanged, 23-year-oldohsen shekari was

killed. we are joined now by sussan tahmasebi. she is a women's rights activist and feminist from iran who is joining us from brussels, belgium. she is the director of femena, an organization that promotes gender equality and supports women human rights defenders. sussan tahmasebi also co-founded the iran civil society training and research center as well as the one million signatures campaign, a grassroots effort working to end gender-biased laws in iran. she herself was summoned to court in iran in 2007 due to her organizing a peaceful gathering against gender-discriminatory laws. sussan tahmasebi, welcome to democracy now! we are now reporting one execution after another of the anti-government protest. can you talk about what is

happening on the ground? >> thank you very much for paying attention to iran and what is happening inside iran. protests have been going on now for over three months. they were sparked by the death of mahsa amini, a young 22-year-old kurdish woman who was arrested by the morality police for not observing proper hijab and died in custody, beaten and a custody according to reports, moved to the hospital and died a few days later. otests erupted in response to that death because people were so angryt the senselessness of her death. i think many women could understand what she went here because they lived their lives in fear of being arrested by the molity polic i think people wer angry by the lack of accountability on the part of iranian autrities, impunity with which they killed iranians so easily. these protests are significant

because they are the longest sustained protest since the start of the revolution 43 years ago. but we have had many protests between. protesters have been killed during those protests as well in 2017, 2019, which was an extremely bloody protest. by some counts, 1500 people -- amnesty international has some 300 documentedeaths during protests. some say 1500 were killed. people were very angry. these protests over the last three months have been very violent as well. nearly 500 people have been killed, 40080i think is the last figure human rights activists network reported. 68 of them are children. who have been killed. the majority of those who have been killed -- at least 50% of those who have been killed are from ethnic minority regions.

in one day on black friday, 103 people were shot dead. these were peaceful protesters leaving fray prayers. most were shot in the back, running from bullets that police were shooting at them. the violence has reached a new level where protesters are being sentenced to death. they are being charged with waging war against god and sentenced to death in these sham trial's that don't take very long, where people are not reportedly allowed to have access to their lawye. it is extremely concerning. nermeen: you mentioned the brutal crackdown in particular against minorities in iran. could you explain why the crack have been especially bad in

these minority areas? those aren't the areas where protests have even been concentrated -- where are they? >> i should stay before explain this, these protests were not sectarian in nature. they are national protests and they involve women, a lot of young people, teenagers, those in their 20's, who are sick of the status quo. th want phenomenal change. they are asking for fundamental freedoms. also asking for regime change. but unfortunately, the iranian state decided to take a sectarian approach. if they treat the protests as if they're being fomented by separatist movements, then it becomes easier for them to crack down and use violence. unfortunately, i think the iranians were smarter than that to buy into that come into this

plan, the security plan. mahsa amini was kurdish so one of the first places where protests started was an her home city during her burial and many other kurdish cities. the political kurdish groups called for general strikes. so there kurdish area has played a significant role in sustaining these protests. many of the kurdish cities have continuously protested. they have also faced a lot of violence. several cities have faced a lot of violence. many of these cities have been turned into war zones where you see war artillery moved to the cities and people shutdown. roads have been closed off. people wanting to go to the cities to provide medical support to citizens or blood drives are prevented from going to those cities.

even if you live there and your tags are from a different city, are not allowed to go to the city. the kurdish areas, one of the main reasons -- another region is also faced significant crackdown. it was part of a ploy the iranian security agency to make this look like a separatist movement. in september 30 following the death of mahsa amini, friday prayer goers were very angry both because of what happened nationally but also because they were upset because of an alleged rape of a young 15-year-old girl by police. they started marching toward the police stati to ask for accountability. in just one hour, 103 of these prayer goers, protesters, whatever you want to call them,

peaceful, unarmed, were shot and killed. in one hour. most of them were shot in the back meaning they were running away from the police stations, running away from the bullets. subsequent protests have had work killings. about 50% of people killed were from these areas. despite the fact this is not a sectarian protest, the bulk of the violence is directed at these groups. nermeen: you mention come as we did, that now two prisoners, people charged with participation in the protests -- although that is not what they have been convicted of -- have now been publicly executed. this is in addition to what you e talking about protesters who have been killed during the protest. could you explain why you think iran is now publicly executing these prisoners?

it has been a long while since public execution was carried out, even though iran is among the countries with the highest rates of imposing the death penalty, second only to china. >> well, this sense to mesges. one is it instills fear among protesters that this could be your fat it is not that you just go to prison,ut you can get killed. the second is to send a message to the security forces who have carried out the bulk of these crackdowns that we are with you and if there are people who are accused of killing or engaging in violent behavior against the skny forces, -- against these forces, we will make them suffer and pay. i have to say only the second protester who was hanged publicly. the first one was not hanged publicly.

both of them were 23 years old. one was charged with charging down the street, pventing trfic from moving. did not cause any harm to anybody. this is according to what he was charged with, which was a source of concern and question for human rights observers or those observing the judicial process. nevertheless, he was not charged with killing or creating any sort of bodily injury or harm to anyone but still he was charged as somebody who was waging war against god. there has been a lot of criticism ofhis, including from religious leaders or legal experts who say even according to their own laws, this is wrong. nevertheless, both of them were arrested, tried, sentenced, and executed in a matter of a few weeks. the head of the judiciary about

a week ago mentioned very proudly that they have conducted these trials very quickly. we see they have conducted these trials very quickly because they don't meet any standard of fair trial practice. most importantly is most of these prisoners and people standing for trial, these protesters, don't have access to a lawyer of their choice. at best they are given a court-appointed lawyer. these court-appointed lawyers are people who most of them had worked with the judiciary and they're not going to serve the best interest of their clients. they will serve the best interest of the state and the judiciary. many of them we think are pressured, tortured psychologically or physically, and forced into false confession. it is really very concerning. there is no due process and it is certainly not justice. amy: i wanted to ask you also

about the 26-year-old iranian soccer player amir nasr-azadani who has reportedly been sentenced to death for his involvement in the demonstrations. the global soccer players' union, fifpro, tweeted on monday "fifpro is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer amir nasr-azadani faces execution in iran after campaigning for women's rights and basic freedom in his country. we stand in solidarity with amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment." if you could talk about him and also the entire iranian soccer team -- i don't know if it was everyone of them -- who refused to sing the iranian national anthem at the fifa world cup in qatar. >> i have a list of 10 people who have been sentenceto execution.

amir is not on that list. i am following the list of follow-up iran, which is a group of volunteer activists who are documenting either through contact with lawyers, family members, human rights activist within the country what is happening to prisoners inside the country. they have managed to document 10 sentences that have been -- 10 execution sentences that have an issue but it doesn't mean he is not or doesn't face potential execution. there are scores other people who are facing charges of enmity with god and also waging war against god. both of which carry the death sentence. this could be for acts of violence -- charges of acts of violence or shutting down streets or assumptions about the fact they had violent intent.

it doesn't necessarily mean they committed a crime, unfortunately. there is very little trust in the judicial system. i don't have his name on there and i think it is important for us to make sure that we talk about the deaths -- especially the death sentences where there are verified. but it doesn't mean he might not be facing the death sentence. but i can't speak to it because i don't have that information and i don't have that information from this particular source i am following on the executions. i think -- you asked about the soccer players. yes, many athletes have expressed solidarity with the iranian people and they face repercussions when they go back to their countries. this is a trend. the islamic republic is cracking down on these protests very

violently. it is doing things -- it finds it difficult to fend. trying to prevent them from speaking up about it. it is arresting people. putting them under pressure. but it is also providing a lot of false narratives as to what it has done and how it is done. if they kill people, they bring actors on tv or they force the family members of people who have been killed to come on tv to deny the facts. i think they know what they are doing. it is very wrong. but unfortunately, they continue to do it. amy: speaking of sport -- not just sports news, the iranian rock climber who climbed in south korea without her hijab comes home, supposedly to a welcome, but we recently heard her home was destroyed. what do you understand about that and also what has happene to her? >> there was a lot of

speculation about what happened with her after that very brave act of defiance in the competition in seoul. people did not know where she was so there was a lot of speculation about where she was. when she came to iran and the airport, she was escorted away from the crowd that had come to cheer her and support her. we heard news her family was under a lot of pressure, that she was under a lot of pressure. i believe it is probably very true that -- also what we hear is athletes before they leave the country, they have to put up a sum of money to leave the country. i don't know how true it is. it becomes a leverage point agnst thethletes, what they say, how they behave, forcing them to come back in a circumstances like these. nermeen: what has been -- a part of course from these horrific executions and arrests and

deaths, there have been some reports that the iranian government is somehow responding also positively to the protests. a run attorney general having announced both parliament and the judiciary are reviewing the hijab laws. some people reporting the so-called morality police are less visible now on the streets. do you think any of this is important? >> actually, i don't think any of it is true. i think people were expecting and it would have been logical for them to really review these horrific policies, these very violent policies of enforcing women -- enforcing a particular dress code on women, policing women's bodies. there was some news i think there was a press conference by a judiciary official who

mentioned something about how this was an issue that has to do with the police not the judiciary. people took that as if the morality police was going to be dismantled. but then we immediately heard other accounts from other sources within the iranian government that denied that. unfortunately, the iranian state has dismantled every possible opportunity and mechanism to create reform or to respond to the demands of the iranian people. iranians voted multiple times for over two decades for some process of reform or some hope of reform, but the state has not given into those demands and has not allow for any form of reform. i think this is the result. what we're seeing now is the result.

these hardliners have a very different vision for the future of iran and future of iranians that iranians themselves. there seems to be no process of negotiation, unfortunately. they are not engaging in any kind of negotiation and they are not backing down at all. i think it is unfortunate. something has to give. i think iranians are continuing to stay in the streets. they are still very angry. we will have to see how things turn out. amy: i wanted to ask you about iran being ousted from the united nations commission on the status of women, the move initiated by the u.s., in response to tehran's crackdown on the recent protests. 20 9-8 was the vote with 60 nations standing. this is linda thomas-greenfield. >> these women and activists have appealed to us, the united nations, for support. they made the request to us loud

and clear. the reason why is raightforward. the commission is the premier u.n. body for promoting gender equality and empowering women. he cannot do its important work it is being undermined from within. iran's membership at this moment is an ugly stain on the commission's credibility. amy: that is talking about iran. talk about the response to the u.s. pushing so hard for this. we are also covering the africa summit that has taken place for three days in washington, d.c.. biden just addressed them yesterday. at the concern of the u.s. talking down to other countries and being seen as a western push.

when you look at what happened, iran clearly coming from the grassroots, but what this means with the u.s. so clearly pushing for the removal. >> i want to say the removal of iran is a positive signal to the iranian people, that the u.n. is going to hold iran accountable for not only violations of what is going on during these protests, but violations against women's rights, long-standing discrimination against women -- or at least is going to try to hold iran accountable. d that sense it is a very positive thing and i hope it needs the n. will ke a stand against any country because there are multiple countries that actually consistently violate not only the rights of citizens but also the rights of women, that they have deep discrimination and vetted within their laws and within policies. they should have no place on the

commission on the status of women, which is supposed to be the place where women's empowerment happens. i have to say they meet yearly and it is a great place for civil society and government enters to come together and network and strategize that women's rights but also larly ineffective body because it is overrun largely by these anti-rights actors, some are countries like iran, russia, that really have a disdain for women's advances in women's rights. they see women in a particular. patriarchal frame. they have been pushing back. at the endf this two week session where these people come together, there is a resolution that is not a binding resolution. every year they are fighting over the language because they're are afraid of losing

ground in the language. if they lose ground on the language, they're going to lose real rights with the human rights council. i hope this is not only a measure against iran, which i welcome that because it since a strong message to iran, but i hope it is a message to all anti-rights actors within the u.n. system that push back on women's rights. those people or those groups who believe in a women's advancement are going to come in and take over this body and not allow anti-rights actors to be pushing her anti-women's agenda in places like the commission on the status of women. i think the u.s. leading it, i think some people have problems with it. we are hearing from back channels, there was some nervousns about rope coming on board. but europe didn't come on board. we see the global -- europe did come on board. we hope the global south will

step up and support iranians quest for freedom and hold iran accountable for the violation of rights. nermeen: before we end, could you talk about what you think of global response should be from the global south but also from the eu and the u.s.? you previously have been extremely critical, for instance, about sanctions on iran saying they harm women in particular. but earlier this month, the senate foreign relations committee approved the bipartisan resolution reaffirming u.s. support for iranian protesters and calling on the biden administration to impose additional sanctions on iranian officials and entities, the eu and britain have taken similar steps. many iranians in the diaspora are supporting these steps, even those who previously opposed the sanctions. what are you hearing about what

protesters in iran are calling for from the international community? >> i think the international community needs to act in a coordinated manner to press iran througwhatever means it can to stop the executions. we now have 10 people who have been sentenced to execution that we know for sure, possibly more than that. and many, many more who potentially could face execution. but i think this needs to be top priority throughhatever diplomatic channels or whatever pressures to stop the executions of peaceful proteers and to respect the rights further to release the protesters, release the scores and scores of human rights defenders including maybe 170 human rights defenders that we have documented who have been imprisoned since the start of the protests. in terms of sanctions, yes, i have consistently been opposed

to economic sanctions because i think they are broad, they are discriminate, they target and harm ordinary citizens, especially the marginalized community's the most. i am not opposed to targeted sanctions on individuals for human rights violations. i think we should see more of that. but in termsf entities that are being sanctioned, there ould be a hard -- it needs to be see if that sanctions wld harm iranians, harm their access to internet foexample oharm thr ability to continue with their protest or freedoms in someay. canada did sanctions against the irgc which is fine because before u.s. did sanctions against irgc that included 11,000 ordinary peoplwho had to serve military service. there had not been harmed. i thinthe harm analysis is

really important. amy: sussan tahmasebi, thank you for being with us women's rights , activist and feminist from iran, director of femena, an organization that promotes gender equality and supports women human rights defenders. coming up, qatar is facing accusations it is torturing prison world club whistleblower. we will speak with his brother. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. i am joined by nermeen shaikh. as france and argentina prepare to face sunday in the world cup finals in qatar, we end today's show looking at the case of imprisoned world cup whistleblower abdullah ibhais. he is the former communications director for qatar's 2022 world cup organizers, the supreme committee for delivery and legacy. he has been imprisoned in qatar since november 2019. his family says he's been held in solitary confinement and tortured in a qatari prison during the opening weeks of the world cup. in 2021, abdullah ibhais was sentenced to five years in prison on what his family says are trumped-up charges after he interviewed migrant workers who'd gone on strike over months of unpaid wages, including workers building stadiums for

the games. abdullah ibhais' family recently said we are joined now by abdullah's brother ziad ibhais and nick mcgeehan, co-director and co-founder of the human rights organization fairsquare where he advocates for migrant workers. he was previously a senior researcher at human rights watch. nick is in nice, france. ziad joins us from amman, jordan. welcome to democracy now! tell us about what happened to her brother aullah. talk about his interviewing workers, videoing, and what haened. >> thank you, andy. it happened august 2019. took to the streets of doha.

this is not choice people would go for. they were sperate. they were four mons unpaid and they have nothing to sustain them. so they wento the streets. of course the concern of the supreme committee and they started talking about that. abdullah wanted to check so he went to the strike seen. he met with workers. he found there was no electricity in the camp. it was in summer, august. he found them without food, without drinking water and four months not paid. almost 200 workers in the

stadium. he went back to his superiors and send these videos. according to them, confirm the situation was not fake. he was asked by the supreme committee secretary general to deny that these people were working in the stadiums of the world cup. abdullah said we can never deny this. it is better for us to admit it, fix it, and then to say we have fixed the suation, have paid these wages to the workers. wever, they insisted on what he called apin on it and sing this has nothing to do with e supreme committee. after that, one month later, an internal investigation started against abdullah and then it was

handed to the authorities. this investigation raise very serious allegations against abdullah that he was conspiring with theaudi partner qatar at thhands of what used to call the blockade state. taking a bribe from a dutc company. this raised a concern and abdullah was taken to state secure to police. he was denied the right to a lawyer. all the interrogation was to make them sign and already made confession. they told him, we know what you did. the only way to keep your safety is to sign this. he was taken to prison without laer. he experiencedhysical violence and torture. he was told, we will send you to state secure to prison.

they know how to get a coession out of you. he signed this confession. after that, 35 days later, he was released on bail. the casetayed one year and touched. he was denied any information to the case. he did not know what he was accused of. we did not know what was the case against him. after that, went to court. refused to look into abdullah's retraction. they refused to investigate. they refused to force the supre committee to present the evidence. the supreme committee claims they had recordings and videos of abdullah coniring with the saudis but never presented them in court. it was never seen or checked. the court maintained --

not suprted by any physical evidence. the court that took the case whicchose to take the case on november 7 as the world cup opening was approaching, abdullah or his lawyers did not attend. we were not informed there was a hearing. abdullah was only able to defend himself for five minutes. five minutes to present his case. and all the time he was silent. basically, this w a political decision that abdullah should be silenced and remain in prison. nermeen: nick mcgeehan, could you explain how fifa is directly implicated in what has happened to abdullah? and also how this case was brought to your attention, the attention of your organization

fairsquare? >> fifa is heavily implicated. submitted this report to the qatari authorities. make the evidence and analysis of the case documents and judgments he was subjected to a deeply unfair trial. there is no other evidence except the confession we have discussed. depressed fifa to give abdullah a fair trial. not to release him, but give him a fair trial. [indiscernible] abdullah emailed people about the case i believe september

2021. it wasn't just the allegations yet to make, but the fact -- [indiscernible] nermeen: what are you demanding from the qatari government? have you received any response at all? >> no. they do a lot of reading behind the scenes. -- briefings behind the scenes. there's been no direct communication here.

when you ask anyone for evidence against him, there is none. amy: what evidence do you have that abdullah is being tortured? ziad, we did you last big to him? what has been the response of the countries involved with fifa soccer? responding to what is happening to him right there in qatar? >> i last spoke to abdlah december 5. he told me he was put in solitary confinement on november is the world cup approached. the confinement was all dark and conditning was directed

against him. he was deprived 96 hours continuously. it happened after -- even before the last verdict. he is serving his time in prison -- directly after he was taken out of political confinement, his case the next day was sent to the court without notice. sot is clear there is intention to deprive abdullah for presenting a defense, to deprive him of being in court and his lawyer from being in court. these things speak for themselves. we tried to reach out to many countries for to spitting -- participating in the world cup. most did not take abdull's seriously.

there was concern about his case or migrant workers, to my understanding, the concern was the tournament has to take place. we got no replies except from some like australia and noay. thesere the only answers we got fr countri. other than that, it was two norwegian journalists who came to see abdullah on november 15, 2021. this through the government of norway into the case. after the two journalists, they were dorted from theountry, actually. the norway government come some qatari ambassador in norway.

amy: i want to play clip of a short documentary released by human rights watch featuring migrant workers and their families from nepal demanding compensation for abuses and sudden deaths while building preparing for this year's world cup in qatar. this is a former migrant worker. >> when i went to qatar, there wasn't even a single building. now there are towers everywhere. we built those towers. in the heat, we worked with face covers. we were drenched in sweat. we poured water sweat from our shoes. even in that heat, we worked hard. my son did not recognize me when i first came from qatar to nepal. my son used to play football so i went to watch them play for a little bit. i met my son only five times in the 14 years i was away. he's to cry and feel bad i had to stay away from children or

work. amy: multicountry investigation by the guardian reported between 2010 and 2020 almost 6500 migrant workers from india, pakistan, nepal, bangladesh and sri lanka have died in qatar. nick, i wanted to ask you, as you look over all of this issue and as the fifa soccer is going to end on sunday no matter who wins, what you think well, of the attention paid to workers rights in qatar? is qatar changing its policies, not to mention, other nations? >> on the one hand, there is awareness of the problem. when i started, nobody really knew about it. it was not an issue. qatar has become a lightning rod to focus on this issue and criticism of this issue, and that has led to some changes

within fifa, at least. there have been reforms. but sadly, that has not really been complemented by the necessary political will to make it effective. asher peace identified, -- as your peace identified, families have lost family members, things have not been explained to them. i look at tremendous human harms people as the families of the man in your peace. it makes it hard to draw optimism -- july america we only have 10 seconds. i want to ask as he jordanian government intervene on your brother's behalf? >> no. they just vited them once in prison that nothing. amy: would you expect him to be released? >> i hope you will be released soon because with the pressure -- abdullah is becoming a burden

and in prison for a political decision. we hope it will be soon. amy: thank you for being with us, ziad ibhais's brother imprisoned for exposing worker

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