Finnish filmmaker John Hakalax interviews Somali pirates on ABC's 20/20
Marko Amnell
today's newspaper Helsingin
Sanomat that Finnish documentary
filmmakers John Hakalax and
Jussi Arhinmäki have interviewed
and filmed Somali pirates face to
face. Part of the footage was
shown on ABC's programme
20/20 on Friday. This was a bit
of a surprise because I know
John quite well -- he asked me
to do some writing and consulting
work on earlier projects. The
newspaper says the pirates
(surrounded by heavily armed
guards) told the filmmakers
that "overfishìng by foreign
ships and the pollution of the
the sea drove them to become
crlminals."
Did anyone see this reportage?
Is it on Youtube?
marko....@kolumbus.fi
I couldn't find the video but there
are some stills of what are apparently
Somali pirates jogging along a beach.
in white outfits. And there is this description:
http://a.abcnews.com/2020/Story?id=7361346&page=1
Meeting the Pirates
To try to understand who these pirates are, why they started, and what
motivates them, Finnish documentarian John Hakalax, along with
cameraman Jussi Arhimaki, gained unprecedented access into the war and
poverty-ravaged Somalia. With limited ability to get into the country,
Arhimaki traveled alone deep into the dragon's den, to meet these
pirates face to face.
"I made this documentary because I'm interested in people," Hakalax
said in an interview with ABC News. "When I heard we had the
possibility to do a documentary on the pirates of Somalia, I was
curious what kind of people they are."
With the protection of a childhood friend and guide, a Finnish-
Somalian with family connections to the pirates, and guarded daily by
a small army of hired guns, Arhimaki was well aware of the danger
involved.
"You have to have proper security, otherwise you will be in the back
of a truck quite fast." Arhimaki said. "You really don't want to go
anywhere without proper protection."
In a country where white men with expensive cameras symbolize money,
Arhimaki traveled through the Puntland region with an especially big
target on his back. The danger was not only the pirates he was going
to meet, but the warlords, gun runners and even the military manning
checkpoints on the roads.
"At the checkpoints, you never really knew, are these honest soldiers?
Or is somebody else paying them, or are you their payday? There's
always the constant threat to get shot at," he said. "You can hear
gunfire going off daily."
Even his friend was approached at times with a scary request.
"I was probably the only white guy for hundreds and hundreds of
kilometers," Arhimaki said. "People were all the time asking my
friend, 'Can you keep that white guy for us? We want to kidnap him.'
In a poor country, I'm referred to as money."
marko....@kolumbus.fi
> On Apr 19, 2:18 pm, Marko Amnell <marko.amn...@kolumbus.fi> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > I was just surprised to read in
> > today's newspaper Helsingin
> > Sanomat that Finnish documentary
> > filmmakers John Hakalax and
> > Jussi Arhinmäki have interviewed
> > and filmed Somali pirates face to
> > face. Part of the footage was
> > shown on ABC's programme
> > 20/20 on Friday. This was a bit
> > of a surprise because I know
> > John quite well -- he asked me
> > to do some writing and consulting
> > work on earlier projects. The
> > newspaper says the pirates
> > (surrounded by heavily armed
> > guards) told the filmmakers
> > that "overfishìng by foreign
> > ships and the pollution of the
> > the sea drove them to become
> > crlminals."
>
> > Did anyone see this reportage?
> > Is it on Youtube?
>
Here is a short video clip from
this reportage:
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7363090%20
Apparently, there was some controversy about
this clip:
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/04/quotfinnishquot_somali_pirate_makes_waves_689989.html
"Finnish" Somali Pirate Makes Waves
published yesterday 07:18 PM, updated yesterday 09:28 PM
The American newsmagazine “20/20” aired a show about Somali pirates
last Friday that included a film clip that appeared to show a pirate
taking instructions in Finnish from a cameraman.
The clip stems from a Finnish documentary about the lives of Somali
pirates living in the northern region of Puntland.
The featured footage pictures a running man armed with a machine gun.
In the clip it appears as if the man is following instructions in
Finnish from the camera crew.
The clip, which can be viewed on the internet, caused a sensation in
Finland on Sunday. However original footage sent by filmmakers John
Hakalax and Jussi Arhinmäki to YLE on Sunday evening confirmed that
the clip in question recorded Arhinmäki speaking to an interpreter -
not the pirate.
Staging scenes is a common practice in documentary filmmaking.
Don Phillipson
news:c3e7ca3d-299d-4748...@q16g2000yqg.googlegroups.com...
> newspaper says the pirates (surrounded by heavily armed
> guards) told the filmmakers that "overfishìng by foreign
> ships and the pollution of the the sea drove them to become
> crlminals."
>
> Did anyone see this reportage?
> Is it on Youtube?
Elizabeth A. Kennedy of Associated Press published this
theme last week e.g.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/us-food-aid-ship-escapes-somali-pirate-attack-1668982.html
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
marko....@kolumbus.fi
> "Marko Amnell" <marko.amn...@kolumbus.fi> wrote in message
>
> news:c3e7ca3d-299d-4748...@q16g2000yqg.googlegroups.com...
>
> > newspaper says the pirates (surrounded by heavily armed
> > guards) told the filmmakers that "overfishìng by foreign
> > ships and the pollution of the the sea drove them to become
> > crlminals."
>
> > Did anyone see this reportage?
> > Is it on Youtube?
>
> Elizabeth A. Kennedy of Associated Press published this
Right. She includes this bit in her article:
"Pirates say they are fighting illegal fishing and dumping
of toxic waste in Somali waters but now operate hundreds
of miles from there in a sprawling 1.1 million square-mile
danger zone."
In a related thread in rec.arts.books, there was
a quote from Johann Hari's article "You are being
lied to about pirates" (UK Independent, 5 January 2009):
"Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me:
'Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also
lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury
you name it.' Much of it can be traced back to European
hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to
the Italian mafia to 'dispose' of cheaply."
The allegation of large-scale involvement by the Italian
mafia in the dumping of toxic waste off Somali
waters sounds rather incredible. It might be true but I
wonder to what extent, if any, it has been investigated.
Hari does not provide a source for the allegation.
I'm sorry I missed John's documentary film, but I
stopped watching television years ago. I met John
Hakalax over ten years ago. He has a degree in
chemistry and when I met him was making
films about the history of science.
The short clip I posted a link to does give some
feel for the appearance and weaponry of the
Somali pirates, but there is no interview:
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7363090%20
The pirates' headgear and masked faces are impressive
and threatening but I suspect they are only hiding
their faces for this film and do not wear such
headgear when practicing piracy.
If you want to save the clip go to the folder
"temporary internet files" and find the right FLV
file (sort the contents by type of file to find it)
and copy and paste it into another folder.
Then you can play the clip full screen and see
the details better.
folders
marko....@kolumbus.fi
This wikipedia site answers some of the most basic
questions (which I was asking myself) about who
the Somali pirates are, how many there are, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_in_Somalia
Profile
Puntland area in SomaliaMost pirates are aged 20–35 years old and come
from the region of Puntland, a region in northeastern Somalia. The
East African Seafarers' Association estimates that there are at least
five pirate gangs and a total of 1,000 armed men.[30] According to a
BBC report, the pirates can be divided into three main categories:
Local fishermen, considered the brains of the pirates' operations due
to their skill and knowledge of the sea.
Ex-militiamen who used to fight for the local clan warlords, used as
the muscle.
Technical experts who operate high-tech equipment such as the GPS
devices.[19]
According to Globalsecurity.org, there are four main groups operating
off the Somali coast. The "National Volunteer Coast Guard" (NVCG),
commanded by Garaad Mohamed, is said to specialize in intercepting
small boats and fishing vessels around Kismayu on the southern coast.
The "Marka group", under the command of Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad
(also known as Yusuf Indha'adde), is made up of several scattered and
less organized groups operating around the town of Marka. The third
significant pirate group is composed of traditional Somali fishermen
operating around Puntland and referred to as the "Puntland Group". The
last set are the "Somali Marines" and reputed to be the most powerful
and sophisticated of the pirate groups with a military structure, a
fleet admiral, admiral, vice admiral and a head of financial
operations.[31]
marko....@kolumbus.fi
It seems the European Green Party has presented
some evidence of the dumping of toxic waste
in Somali waters by several European companies:
"Following the massive tsunami of December 2004, there have emerged
allegations that after the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in the
late 1980s, Somalia's long, remote shoreline was used as a dump site
for the disposal of toxic waste. The huge waves which battered
northern Somalia after the tsunami are believed to have stirred up
tonnes of nuclear and toxic waste that was illegally dumped in Somali
waters by several European firms. The European Green Party followed up
these revelations by presenting before the press and the European
Parliament in Strasbourg copies of contracts signed by two European
companies -- the Italian Swiss firm, Achair Partners, and an Italian
waste broker, Progresso -- and representatives of the warlords then in
power, to accept 10 million tonnes of toxic waste in exchange for $80
million (then about £60 million). According to a report by the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) assessment mission, there are far
higher than normal cases of respiratory infections, mouth ulcers and
bleeding, abdominal haemorrhages and unusual skin infections among
many inhabitants of the areas around the northeastern towns of Hobbio
and Benadir on the Indian Ocean coast -- diseases consistent with
radiation sickness. UNEP continues that the current situation along
the Somali coastline poses a very serious environmental hazard not
only in Somalia but also in the eastern Africa sub-region.[37][38] At
the same time, illegal trawlers began fishing Somalia's seas with an
estimated $300 million of tuna, shrimp, and lobster being taken each
year depleting stocks previously available to local fishermen. Through
interception with speedboats, Somali fishermen tried to either
dissuade the dumpers and trawlers or levy a "tax" on them as
compensation. In an interview, Sugule Ali, one of the pirate leaders
explained "We don't consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea
bandits (to be) those who illegally fish and dump in our seas." Peter
Lehr, a Somalia piracy expert at the University of St. Andrews says
"It's almost like a resource swap, Somalis collect up to $100 million
a year from pirate ransoms off their coasts and the Europeans and
Asians poach around $300 million a year in fish from Somali waters.""
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_in_Somalia
Still no evidence about the involvement of the
Italian mafia. Who is making this claim?