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Outlook: On the frontline against chemical warfare

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Hamish de Bretton-Gordon with the Peshmerga in Kurdistan

27/10/2020 GMT

On the frontline against chemical warfare

BBC World Service - Outlook, On the frontline against chemical warfare

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon braves bombs and bullets investigating chemical weapon attacks

Chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon has smuggled himself across borders, braved bombs, bullets and even the Islamic State group investigating chemical weapons.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a British chemical weapons expert whose work in Syria has attracted global attention. But working in a warzone is dangerous and not only has Hamish had to smuggle himself into countries, he's faced bombs, bullets and even the Islamic State group in order to investigate and document chemical warfare. Hamish has written a book called Chemical Warrior: Saving Lives on the Front Line of Modern Warfare.

If you visited the controversial Atlantis commune in Southern Colombia back in the 1990s, you’d have probably heard some disturbing noises. The group practised primal screaming, a form of psychotherapy which seeks to address childhood pain. The commune had started in London, founded by a therapist called Jenny James. They’d made the move to South America to be closer to nature, and they’d settled on a forested area of Colombia controlled by left wing Farc guerrillas. At first Atlantis coexisted with the Farc, but as the Colombian civil war intensified the guerrillas became more hostile, and when violence broke out it pulled the commune apart. Outlook’s Faye Planer went to visit the commune’s remaining members. 

Any comments please email us on outlook@bbc.com

Picture: Hamish de Bretton-Gordon
Credit: Hamish de Bretton-Gordon

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