The Island of Goree was once a key transit center on the western coast of Africa in slave trade.
The tiny island of Senegal, which is not far from Senegal's capital Dakar, dots the azure Atlantic coastline. It is the nearest point on the continent to the Americas.
The island has brightly-colored buildings and lush flora, make it hard to associate this picturesque island with the brutal history of the slave trade.
However, historical remnants reveal a darker past.
The island was successively occupied by the Portugal, the Netherlands, Britain, and France, who used it as a slave warehouse and eventually made it West Africa's largest slave trade center.
At least 20 million Africans were trafficked through this island to the Americas and other places, and 5 million Africans died on the island from the 15th century to the 19th century, statistics showed.
Due to its historic significance in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Goree was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978.
"Why was Goree one of the most important transit centers, because first of all, if you try to compare all the West African coast, you can see from here you could cross more closer to America. And the second [reason], as an island when they brought captees, they couldn't escape. Any European nations based here used to build up a kind of fortification. This was the French one. And they had all this to defend the island. It was so strategical, because from Goree that must help them to make control all along of the West African coast," said Laidi, a local guide.
Today, Goree stands as a poignant reminder of past atrocities and a symbol of the enduring spirit of liberation and justice.
Each year on Dec 2, which is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, the world reflects on these injustices and renews its commitment to ending slavery.
Senegal's Goree Island: from center of slave trade to symbol of freedom
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on the organization's member states to respect international law in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's latest remarks that he doesn't need international law.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, said at a press conference on Friday that the UN chief's reaction to Trump's remarks "is to redouble his message to all member states to respect the international law they themselves created".
In an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, Trump declared that his global power is constrained only by his "own morality", saying it's the only thing that can stop him.
When asked whether his administration needs to abide by international law, Trump said he would be the arbiter when such constraints applied to the United States.
"It depends what your definition of international law is," he said.
The New York Times report said Trump's assessment of his own freedom to use any instrument of military, economic or political power to cement American supremacy was the most blunt acknowledgment yet of his worldview. At its core is the concept that national strength, rather than laws, treaties and conventions, should be the deciding factor as powers collide.
The United States launched a large-scale military operation against Venezuela in the early hours of Jan 3, taking by force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
Maduro made his first court appearance on Jan 5 in New York, during which he pleaded not guilty to all U.S. charges.
Amid tensions with Venezuela, Trump has claimed the United States absolutely needs Greenland, saying he might try "hard ways" to take over the island, which has a strategically critical position and rich resources.
The latest U.S. moves have drawn worldwide condemnation for its violation of Venezuela's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and international law.
UN chief calls for respect for international law in response to Trump’s remarks
