Meet the investigators whose job it is to hold human rights abusers to account. Amnesty International’s reports make headlines all over the world. And behind every one? Months, sometimes years, of painstaking sleuthing by our researchers. It’s difficult - often dangerous - detective work in some of the most challenging and volatile places on earth. ‘Witness from Amnesty International’ takes you behind the scenes. Each episode follows the twists and turns of a different high-stakes human-rights investigation. Discover what it takes to uncover the truth – when there are people who would prefer the truth to stay buried. For more information, visit amnesty.org/witness. This show includes references to death and violence which some listeners may find distressing.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/witness/
episode 4: My Heart Is Burnt
Amnesty’s Donatella Rovera has an extraordinary job – she walks the bombed-out streets of the Syrian city of Raqqa, talking to witnesses and searching the rubble. Her aim? To piece together evidence of the lives lost during its bombardment by the US-led coalition in 2017. Case by case, she collects tiny scraps of information, hoping to get justice for the bereaved. In this episode, she describes the day-to-day difficulties and occasional victories that come with working in a place described as ‘the most destroyed city in modern times’.
“I go to places during the acute phase… in the middle of conflict… just after the conflict… places that are difficult to get to. Places where other people don’t want to go.”