It’s not uncommon for States to do away with bothersome individuals and ensure their grip on the people by threatening them of sudden disappearance. Enforced disappearances are a grave violation of human rights, especially when widespread and carried out systematically. They are considered a crime against humanity... read/see more at TRIAL International
Yahya Jammeh ruled The Gambia with an iron fist for twenty two years after taking control of the country with a coup in July1994. With Jammeh’s exile after electoral defeat in 2016, a Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) was set up to look into his regime’s abuses. The TRRC along with victims families and local media at Yundum army Barracks where the bodies of seven murdered soldiers were exhumed. The soldiers were murdered by soldiers loyal to Jammeh for being allegedly part of a counter coup in November 1994. Witnesses say eleven soldiers were buried at the barracks, so far only seven have been found. Along with the bone fragments, electrical cables were also found that were used to bind the victims hands. The only clothing found were underwear, corroborating witness testimonies that the men were stripped almost naked before being shot. Jason Florio/Helen Jones-Florio
Elizabeth Avedon blog: Helen Jones-Florio Doors and Storefronts, The Gambia + Malta
Elizabeth Avedon Blog: Helen Jones-Florio Doors and Storefronts, The Gambia + Malta. Many thanks to Elizebeth for featuring my work – my passion for doors, and storefronts, from my #GambiaDoors and #DisappearingMalta ongoing series. See more on her blog:
Speaking of Portals reminded me of Helen Jones-Florio’s impressive photographs of vintage doors and storefronts taken in The Gambia and Malta. Helen Jones-Florio is based between London and The Gambia, West Africa with her multi-award-winning photojournalist and filmmaker partner, Jason Florio.Elizabeth Avedon
Helen Jones-Florio is a photography producer, writer and videographer. She has been traveling to West Africa for almost 20 years – and working in the region with Jason Florio since 2008. She has produced photography assignments around Africa, the USA and Europe. She is the co-founder, with Jason Florio, of the ‘Photos Tell Stories’photography workshops, and has created and produced extensive content for their expedition and photography workshop blogs.
Afghan Notes – Jason Florio, August 2000: The Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us on arrival to Kabul that we could take pictures of anything as long as it’s not a living being – all images of humans and animals had been outlawed by them. Later that day we headed into an area of Kabul, home to the Hazara ethnic group, who were particularly persecuted by the Taliban. Next to a mortared mosque, a Hazara man tried to sell us a 1970’s travel guide to Afghanistan with stained pages and a broken spine for $20, but after we declined he invited us into his home. His three young sisters came to join us and Brazilian journalist, Pepe Escobar, and Pakastani journalist, Khawar Rizvi, made an interview with them while I made photographs. The irony and symbolism of the broken clock and the (outlawed) poster of innocent fluffy kittens were not lost on us. The next day we were arrested by the feared Vice and Virtue police for taking pictures of a football match… read/see more images on Jason Florio’s blog
