As tensions in Syria worsen, we talk to a man who was jailed for opposing the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

In 2003 it did not take much to attract the attention of the authorities.

A former political prisoner tells his story.

The first international conference on the problems of the environment took place in 1972. Hear the story of the man, Maurice Strong, who made this important gathering possible.

Photo: Maurice Strong (right) shakes hands with Brazilian Indian Chief Kanhok Caiapo. AFP/Getty.

It's 30 years since the HIV virus was first identified by medical experts.

In the early days, carriers of the virus were stigmatised and treatment was in its infancy.

Alan Johnston talks to Ugandan-born Winnie Ssanyu Sseruma about her experiences of having HIV back in the 1980s.

A British soldier tells us of one extraordinary day on the beaches of 1940 Dunkirk during World War II.

We hear of how he managed to work his way through the chaos and constant danger, and escape to England.

Photo: Soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force lie on their backs on the beach at Dunkirk to shoot with their rifles at enemy aircraft, which are bombing the transport ships that have arrived to evacuate them, 20th June 1940:)

Eye witness accounts of the killing of hundreds of Jews in the streets of the Iraqi capital, Bagdhad.

Witness hears how the massacre in 1941 led to the uprooting of this ancient community.

It is almost 40 years since an attack at the airport outside Tel Aviv - more than 20 people were killed.

This programme contains some graphic descriptions of violence - listeners may find it distressing.

Photo: Ros Sloboda, a survivor of that day, tells her story.

It is 50 years since the assassination of Rafael Trujillo - Dominican Republic dictator.

Witness hears from three people who remember that day.

Photo: Antonio Imbert, one of men who shot Trujillo.

It is 13 years since Pakistan first tested a nuclear weapon.

Dr Samar Mubarakmand was a senior figure at the country's Atomic Energy Commission.

He was given the job of organising the test.

He talks to Witness.

It is half a century since the launch of the human rights group Amnesty International.

Over the years it has highlighted thousands of cases where people have been imprisoned without trial.

Maria was a teenager in jail in Uruguay when she was helped by one of its early letter-writing campaigns.

(Photo: Maria today)

In 1980, more than 100,000 Cubans left the island in a boatlift from Mariel harbour.

Witness speaks to the writer, Mirta Ojito, about how she fled from communism with her family.

Photo: Mirta (left) with her father and sister.