Witness History Folgen

On September 29th 1957 there was a major accident at a secret nuclear facility in the Soviet Union. Dozens of workers died and a huge cloud of radioactivity spread across the surrounding countryside. But news of the disaster was only made public decades later. Dina Newman has spoken to Zhores Medvedev, the first scientist to disclose what happened to the international community.Photo: The Mayak nuclear reprocessing plant in 2010. Credit: European Pressphoto Agency.

In 1971 inmates at Attica maximum security facility in New York State rioted and seized control of the jail, taking guards hostage. When negotiations failed, the authorities stormed the prison, dropping tear gas from helicopters and firing hundreds of live rounds. At least 39 people were killed, including nine of the hostages. Former prisoner, Carlos Roche, spoke to Rebecca Kesby and described the chaos. This programme was first broadcast in 2013.(Photo: Rioting Inmates at the Attica maximum security facility, New York State Credit: AP)

In the dying years of the Apartheid regime, the white minority government in South Africa was desperate to keep control as people took to the streets demanding change. A state of emergency was declared allowing the police and security forces sweeping new powers, which some individuals executed with extreme brutality. Rebecca Kesby spoke to Rev Dr Allan Boesak who was a political activist and church leader - he was one of those calling for an end to the unfair Apartheid system. (Photo: A young South African boy in Duduza township, Jul 1985 (Gideon Mendel, AFP)