We Want to Know -Badna Na'ref

In 2010, the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) launched the project ‘Badna Na’ref’ (We want to know) aiming to increase political and societal will towards dealing with the legacy of the past, to ensure non-repetition and to recognise the right to know the truth. The first phase of Badna Na’ref focused on encouraging intergenerational debate about the legacy of violence in Lebanon. ICTJ targeted youth groups in 12 schools and provided them with training on oral history methodology. ICTJ prepared an interview questionnaire and trained students on how to use it to collect testimonies from members of their families about their experiences in the civil war. The second part of Badna Na’ref focused on the victims of disappearances and was led by Act for the Disappeared. It targeted university students who tried to find families and neighbours of victims of disappearances using the same methodology. The testimonies are available at ICTJ, Center for the Study of the Modern Arab World (CEMAM-USJ) and UMAM Documentation &Resarch’s archive for public use by researchers. Adocumentary directed by Carole Mansour about the experiences of students who worked on this project along testimonies about everyday life during the war, was produced and screened in several places including universities such as University Saint-Joseph, the American University of Beirut, the Lebanese American University and Haigazian University.