On April 9, 1948 a series of important events occurred in Bogota, Colombia. On that day, one of the meetings establishing the Organization of American States took place in the city. While diplomats were meeting to establish a regional organization to ensure future peace, Jorge Eliecer Gaitan—a populist running for president, was assassinated. His murder would inaugurate nearly seventy years of violence engulfing Colombia.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been commended for a landmark conviction that found the former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba, guilty of war crimes. It marks the first time that the ICC has convicted someone for rape as a war crime and the first ICC conviction based on “command responsibility”.

Jessica Rohan: What was your level of awareness about Syria prior to meeting the cab driver from Damascus?