Journal | Guernica 37
TRRC Cases Presents The Gambia
Following the conclusion of public hearings by The Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (“TRRC”) on 28 May this year, and in light of the anticipated publication of its final report, which is expected to include recommendations for prosecution, amnesties and reparations, The Gambia faces another crossroads in its transition to democracy after the end of Yahya Jammeh’s brutal 22-year reign of oppression. Now, it must now deal with the hard question of ‘what should come next,’ and how the TRRC’s recommendations should be addressed.
Date 9th August 2021
One Sock at a Time
Date 3rd November 2020
The conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic has raged for close to ten years. During that time the outside world has largely been a spectator to the suffering of the Syrian people who have been subjected to some of the worst forms of ill-treatment imaginable. More than half a million have been killed, tens of thousands remain detained in secret prisons where torture is practised on an industrial and truly frightening level, civilian neighbourhoods have been subjected to aerial bombardment and ground force attacks, attacks using chemical...
A Costly Academic Exercise or Justice in Motion?
Date 3rd November 2020
The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on Tuesday delivered its verdict on the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others in a massive car bombing on 14 February 2005....
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon
Date 19th August 2020
The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on Tuesday delivered its 2,600 page verdict on the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others in a massive car bombing on 14 February 2005 in Beirut. A single event that characterized political violence in Lebanon, but at the same tome shook the world...
Explosion in Beirut Amid Increasing Political Turmoil
Date 19th August 2020
Last week’s explosion in Beirut’s port caused a wave of destruction across the city, killing some 200 people, injuring over 6000 more and forcing at least 200,000 people from their homes. The impact affects Lebanon’s economic crisis, food security and the future of the political system itself...
83rd Anniversary of the Bombing of Gernika
Date 27th April 2020
Today marks the 83rd anniversary of the bombing of the town of Gernika by the fascist forces of the dictator Francisco Franco, the first time in modern history that civilians were deliberately targeted in an act of war, the majority of whom were women and children. The use of power and violence that was rained down on Gernika was soon exponentially increased by the Nazis...
Truth and Justice: An Important Day for all Syrians and for all Victims
Date 27th April 2020
In a country that is thousands of miles away from their war-torn homeland, the defendant and his victims came face to face, again. The first time was not in a Court of Law in Germany, but in a dungeon in one of Syria’s notorious intelligence branches. Back then, the victims of torture were the ones who were detained, and their torturer moved freely...
Guernica Blog Series: The Impact of Covid-19 on Detainees
Date 27th April 2020
As the global pandemic of COVID-19 spreads rapidly across the world, it has become clear that vulnerable people such as those in prison or detention are at a greater risk of contracting the virus. Earlier this month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, called for governments to take measures to reduce overcrowding in prisons to prevent “catastrophic” COVID-19 infection rates...
