Revisited

"Where are they?" That’s the question shouted every year on June 21 in Guatemala, on the National Day of Enforced Disappearances. During the country’s civil war, from 1960 to 1996, 45,000 people went missing. Each year, more mass graves are discovered, new victims are identified and their remains are returned to their families. Twenty years after the end of the conflict, people are beginning to speak out and justice has begun to do its work at last. Our correspondents report. >> On France24.com: 'Justice is not revenge': Rigoberta Menchu on her fight for indigenous rights

In May 1966, as part of the Cultural Revolution, China's communist leader Mao Zedong declared war on bourgeois ideology. Through show trials, humiliation and mass murder, the Red Guards imposed a reign of terror in the name of Maoism. It took the death of Mao himself to end a decade of political fanaticism that claimed millions of lives. Fifty years on, the survivors remain traumatised. From 1966 to 1976, China was gripped by a horrific form of political terror. The Cultural Revolution tore families apart and killed millions, all in the name of Maoism. Anyone who dared criticize Chairman Mao was arrested. For the majority of people in China who lived through it, the period remains taboo. Most of Mao’s atrocities remain hidden, but the father of the Cultural Revolution is still worshipped.

Mao Zedong was born in Shaoshan, a small village in the southern province of Hunan. There, he is still honored as a hero. For many, Shaoshan is not just a place of historical curiosity, but more of a place of worship and a 15-metre statue of Mao still stands there. Despite the millions of victims created during the Cultural Revolution, the Great Helmsman's official status is still not up for debate. According to the official historical review undertaken by the Communist Party, Mao Zedong was 70% right and only 30% wrong. To this day in China, this official leadership report card has not been debated.

The Cultural Revolution may have ended 40 years ago, but many people in China still feel some nostalgia towards that time, as can be seen by a visit to Panjiayuan, a Beijing antique market. Many of the symbols of those years are still on sale at the market, including the most famous one: the little Red Book. The market is full of curiosities from the Cultural Revolution showing an idyllic image of a united country, where everyone worked for the greater good. None of the propaganda found there contains any mention of the violence. On the contrary, the Cultural Revolution is often portrayed as a type of Golden Age.

The market in the heart of Beijing is supposed to celebrate the past. But today, a new face has emerged: that of Xi Jinping. The latest Helmsman of the Communist Party of China became president in 2013. Many consider him China's most powerful leader since Mao himself.

Click on the video player above to watch FRANCE 24's full report.

For over 20 years, the people of northern Uganda suffered at the hands of the Lord's Resistance Army as its leader Joseph Kony fought to install a government based on the Ten Commandments. Tens of thousands of people were killed, many more injured, and between 60,000 to 100,000 children abducted - forced to become sex slaves or child soldiers. In the town of Gulu, which suffered particularly at the hands of the Lord's Resistance Army, people are still deeply scarred by the atrocities. Ten years after the militias left, the rehabilitation of children who were abducted and forced to become sex slaves and child soldiers is still under way. Local associations are working to overcome the psychological scars and help the young generation move on. Our correspondents report.

>> On France24.com: Early warning system protects CAR villages from rebel attacks

On 16-17 September, 1982, the Palestinian Sabra and Shatila refugee camps west of Beirut were the scene of one of the most horrific massacres Lebanon has ever seen. Thirty-four-years later, our reporter visits the camps, which now host a third generation of refugee children. He also meets with a group of young friends who were born at the Shatila camp at the height of the civil war. They have opened a school within the camp to help the children living there find their way to a better future. For some witnesses of the massacre, it is the smell of dead bodies that will remain etched in their memory forever. For others, it is the images of mutilated bodies and piled-up corpses. Our reporter brings us back to the dire scenes witnessed in mid-September 1982 when the world discovered the horrors of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. He also takes a look at what’s become of the camps more than three decades on, and what is being done for the refugee children living there now.

Three years ago, the city of Istanbul reached boiling point. Plans to destroy Gezi Park, one of the last green spaces in the city, and turn it into a shopping complex, triggered a popular revolt. The protests, which were initially environmental, turned into large anti-government demonstrations. Unprepared, the authorities responded with force. Our reporter returned to Istanbul to find out what remains of the Gezi movement as President Erdogan strengthens his grip on power.

It is nicknamed the "Shiite Vatican City." Throughout the year, the city of Najaf in southern Iraq attracts millions of pilgrims who come to pay their respects at the tomb of Imam Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed. The Iraqi holy city is also famous for being the starting point of the insurgency against the US-led invasion in 2004. Our reporter returned to Najaf, whose militias are now at war against the Islamic State group. Some 1,300 years ago, it was just an embankment in Iraq. An unmarked grave discovered by chance by a caliph during a hunting party in an oasis... The grave of the first imam of the Shiites, Imam Ali, was found. Today, one of the largest cities in Iraq is built around his tomb: Najaf, population one million. Each year, millions of pilgrims from around the world flock to the old town, around the Imam Ali shrine, a gold-plated mosque.

Yet for a long time, Najaf was forgotten, abandoned. Iraq's former dictator, Saddam Hussein, banned pilgrimages there, on top of murdering thousands of Shiites, including more than 9,000 religious leaders. When his regime fell, Najaf took up arms. This is where the insurgency against the US forces began.

In 2004, tens of thousands of Shiite fighters led by the young cleric Moqtada al-Sadr set up their stronghold in the Imam Ali shrine. The Americans surrounded the city and the battle of Najaf made history.

An expanding city

After weeks of bombings, a truce was negotiated. The rebels, exhausted by the fighting, escaped the blockade and formed the Mahdi Army, a Shiite armed group which became the US army’s worst nightmare.

Twelve years later, what strikes a visitor arriving in Najaf are the cranes and building sites that dot the expanding city. The crowds of visitors are remarkable. Millions of Shiite pilgrims come from around the world to pray at the tomb of their first imam. For those accustomed to the rest of Iraq, the virtual absence of checkpoints is also a welcome surprise. Here, the war seems far away.

But it is at the city cemetery that reality catches up. With five million Shiites buried on the land, it is the largest Muslim cemetery in the world. And the fresh graves of fighters line up as far as the eye can see. They were killed by their new enemy, the Islamic State group. In 2014, an imam from Najaf, Ali Sistani, issued a fatwa calling on Shiites to form militias and fight the Sunni jihadists. Tens of thousands of Najaf men answered his call.

This is the story of a city with two faces, holy and rebel. Twelve years after one of the bloodiest episodes in its history, it is gradually rising from the ashes.

Ceremonies were held last Sunday in Nepal in memory of the victims of the earthquake that devastated the Himalayan country a year ago. On April 25, 2015, Nepal was shaken to its core when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck high up in the Himalayas. Around 9,000 people died and hundreds of thousands were left homeless. Thousands of homes and buildings across the country were toppled. One year later, our reporters went back to Nepal to see how the country is recovering. As we walk through dusty Kathmandu, signs of the havoc wrecked by the powerful earthquake are easy to find. The streets may have been cleared of debris, but in several parts of the city it is easy to come across piles of bricks where a house used to stand, or to find buildings with cracks and gaping holes.

The earthquake's destruction is even more evident when you head to the countryside. In Sindhupalchowk District, two to three hours north-east of Kathmandu, makeshift shacks and tent houses are everywhere. Thousands of people still have no homes. Many have spent the harsh Himalayan winter in these flimsy shelters, with no warm clothes. They told us how they had given up on receiving the aid money promised to them by the government.

With the winter behind them, these people are now preparing for the onslaught of the monsoons, either out in the open, or in their ramshackle temporary homes.

It was the same story up in the mountains. Many of the areas we passed through had been spared the worst or the earthquake's devastation, but for those who had lost their houses, reconstruction had only just begun, mostly with the help of foreign organisations. As we trekked for three days in north-eastern Nepal on the route to Everest, we became aware of another effect of the earthquake – a drop in tourism to Nepal. It's the spring climbing season, and guides, hotel owners and porters all told us that, although the consequences are hard to quantify, there has been a distinct drop in the number of tourists this year.

To add to Nepal’s woes, life in the country was almost paralysed for about six months last year after the minority Madhesi community group blocked southern trade routes with India. The protest was triggered by the adoption of a new constitution in September 2015.

The landlocked country suffered from fuel, food and medicine shortages for months. Emergency aid needed for immediate reconstruction and rehabilitation could not get through either, affecting the most vulnerable. In November of last year, the UNICEF estimated that over three million children under the age of five were in danger of death and disease.

With much of the government’s attention devoted to calming the tensions along the southern border, the reconstruction process suffered a major setback.

Today, many Nepalese do not feel anger, but rather a sense of resignation. People are resigned to the fact that they will have to fend for themselves. Some fear they will never see any of the millions of dollars the international community donated to Nepal after the quake.

We met three survivors in three different parts of the country. They told us their stories, describing what they experienced a year ago and what their lives look like today. Their stories and the stories of other people we met along the way helped us understand just how challenging the rebuilding process will be for Nepal.

Click on the player above to watch FRANCE 24’s full report on Nepal one year after the earthquake.

For the French army, Dien Bien Phu is a painful symbol. During this battle (March 13-May 7 1954), the bloodiest since World War II, thousands of French soldiers were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. This terrible French defeat brought the First Indochina War to a standstill and marked the beginning of decolonisation. On the Vietnamese side, Dien Bien Phu means victory. Our reporter went back to this town so symbolically linked with history. More than 60 years later, the battlefield of Dien Bien Phu has given way to a major city. Veterans of Dien Bien Phu are slowly dying out and young Vietnamese seem to care little about the past, despite government efforts to glorify those heroic times. Our reporters went to meet them.

In the 1950s, those who designed and built the man-made capital of Brasilia had dreamed of a city capable of offering a better life to its people. What remains of these ideals? Built for 500,000 inhabitants, it is now home to three million. Brasilia is bursting at the seams and is now the capital of a country shaken by social change and a deep crisis of confidence in its political class. Built in just a thousand days, Brasilia was the brainchild of President Juscelino Kubitschek. The city was supposed to attract economic development to the centre of the country, far from the coastal cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

But more than that, Brasilia represented a new social order, a socialist political project based on egalitarian ideas. A utopia which would give access to housing, job creation, a good standard of living and social integration. The towering monuments of architect Oscar Niemeyer have divided opinion. Brasilia gives a whole new meaning to modernity.

Today, the capital is growing three times faster than any other city in Brazil. It was originally designed for 500,000 people. By 2030 the population is expected to reach 5.6 million, 15 times more than that originally envisaged by urban planner Lucio Costa. What remains today of the values and egalitarian vision of its builders?

On 16th December 2014, Pakistan suffered its worst terror atrocity in the country’s history. Over 150 people were killed, including 134 children, in a massacre carried out by the Taliban at a military-run school in Peshawar. Our correspondents went to Peshawar to meet parents still struggling with grief and residents trying to carry on with their lives despite frequent terrorist threats. On 16th December 2014, Pakistan suffered its worst terror atrocity in the country’s history, when more than 130 students were killed in a massacre carried out by the Pakistani Taliban at a military-run school in the city of Peshawar.

Immediately after the attack, the Pakistani government called for a national action plan, in which it gave the military unprecedented powers. Other steps taken included the resumption of the death penalty which had been suspended since 2008. Some unknown facilitators of the school attack were hanged. In addition, the Pakistani broadcast media was told to stop giving any airtime to militants or their story.

>> On France24.com, watch our debate "Peshawar massacre one year on: Pakistan's response to the Taliban"

But more than a year after the attack, parents who lost their children describe these measures as simply cosmetic. They feel that there has been no transparency into the investigations and that there is a serious lack of accountability, particularly with regards to the Pakistan Army which was responsible for keeping their children safe. They have insisted on action against the military officials who did not perform their duties but these demands have fallen on deaf ears. The parents also feel that the Pakistan Army has focused mainly on PR exercises. By using the media, it has crafted a narrative where things look different, but nothing has really changed.

But such open criticism comes at a cost. Many of the parents have been threatened, and divisions have been engineered within their ranks to weaken their resolve. The media has resorted to self-censorship and has not provided them with a platform to voice their concerns.

Our correspondents revisit the city to meet such parents. They also document security in schools around the city following the attack, and unique measures such as teachers carrying weapons.

And have things really changed for the better or as the parents complain – is it just business as usual?

Facts seem to confirm the parents’ feelings. Just last month, another university near Peshawar city was attacked by the Pakistani Taliban. As they threaten more attacks against schools, the future of Pakistan’s younger generation is in jeopardy, while the state is busy crafting a message of all is well…