Fool's Paradise

What hope?

2009-12-15T00:26:00.001-08:00

This picture is running on the front page of the Times in South Africa today. It shows a 48 year old man, Mohamed Abukar Ibrahim, being buried to his waist by members of a paramilitary group, who then stoned him to death. He'd been convicted of committing adultery.

I'll spare you the other shots from this series, but they clearly show Ibrahim's fellow villagers gathered around. They had, it was said, been forced to watch his execution. It was a reminder that Shariah law must be obeyed.

While the picture is certainly shocking, the story itself is nothing new. Since the emergence of the militant "Al Shabaab" group, public executions have become common in Somalia. Shabaab are, as the Americans never tire of reminding us, "an Islamist group with links to Al Qaeda" - although quite what those links are is unclear.

What's different this time is that it was caught on camera. it's one thing to read about a stoning, but quite another to look into the eyes of the victim moments before his death.
AP deserve credit for obtaining these pictures which will, hopefully, focus more attention towards the plight of a country most people seem to have written off.

Just as troubling as the images themselves, though, is the detail, buried in the copy, that the masked fighters who are preparing the man for his death don't belong to Al Shabaab. They're part of a rival group, Hisb-Al Islam.
I found that fact to be profoundly depressing, and here's why:

I filed a story last month about the spread of militant Islam in Somalia.
We spent a week in the country filming with people who've been displaced by the ubiquitous violence, and then a week in Kenya speaking to Somali exiles, some of whom had been involved with Al Shabaab.
Many of our contacts spoke optimistically about a group of brave men fighting under the banner Hisb-Al Islam. They were not prepared to tolerate Shabaab's ultra-militant rule any more and had raised arms against them.
This was the future for Somalia, we were told. The group were on the verge of reclaiming Kismayo, one of the major cities, and their support was spreading with every victory.
It wasn't just street-talk, seasoned Somalia analysts, while more cautious, confirmed that Hisb-Al Islam provides at least a cause for some optimism.

Well, these pictures obliterate all that rather effectively. Mohammed Abukar Ibrahim's horrific death confirms what many must have suspected. That, given a whiff of power, Hisb-Al Islam would hammer home their authority using the Quran as a shield.

At least this time there are pictures. A tiny snapshot from a country left to fester for almost 20 years.
It's unpleasant subject matter for the breakfast table, but people need to be shocked by pictures like this.
Somalia has been written off by the outside world and if these images go even some way towards pricking the conscience of one of the many Governments who've let it's people down, then perhaps poor Ibrahim's death won't be completely in vain.

Posted via web from martin's posterous

Still got it!

2009-12-14T08:22:00.001-08:00

Download now or watch on posterous

mobile.m4v (11190 KB)

Right,

I'm really writing this as a means of testing whether or not "Posterous" is as clever as it claims to be.
If it is, I should be able to post this note and attached video to all sorts of different accounts via one email. Which is, to be fair, pretty smart.

I shot the video on my stills camera at a concert in Jo'Burg on Saturday night. It was a bit loud, so the audio distorted horribly - I've tried to edit some of the band's stuff over the pictures but do yourself a favour and get hold of their first album - caught in the loop - it's on i-tunes and it's tremendous.

The band are "Goldfish", a house/ jazz act from Cape Town who are beginning to make a big name for themselves internationally. Talented musicians as well as very slick DJs, they play double bass, sax and flute live without missing a beat.
They played Glastonbury this year, then festivals in Moscow and Miami before returning to SA. They're a couple of really unpretentious young guys who clearly love what they're doing. When they come home they are as likely to play small bars/clubs as the big venues they could easily fill. We saw them in a garden centre on the outskirts of the city(!). It was a bit like going to see Paul Oakenfold at Dobbies! And what's more, an hour or so after they'd finished their set, I found myself dancing beside them in the middle of the crowd.

Anyway, it was a tremendous night. We had feared we'd be the oldest swingers in town, but that wasn't the case. As ever at these events, no-one really cares how old you are or what you look like, as long as you're enjoying yourself. I think we left around 3 but it's all a bit blurry. Lots of things to cringe about the next morning, which is usually the sign of a good night out!

Posted via email from martin's posterous

.... idle hands

2009-07-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a bad week. I promise never to moan about workload again.
The job I do is a funny one, it's either non-stop or nothing at all ("feast or famine" doesn't seem an appropriate phrase when covering Africa!), and this week has definitely fallen into the latter category.
I'm at my worst when left idle. There's plenty I could be doing, the kids' bikes need fixed, I need a new suit for an upcoming trip to the 'States and I promised myself I'd learn some Spanish ahead of our trip to Argentina this Christmas. But I've done none of the above. Apart from the odd school run, I've stared at a computer screen for five days, re-reading details about the one story we're hoping to start work on next week.
African communications are doing nothing to ease my frustration. I emailed a contact about the story on Tuesday, as I write (four days later), he still hasn't replied. My hourly attempts to raise him have a 100% failure rate. Apparently there's no power where he is at the moment so his mobile is dead. On the few occasions I have managed to get a call through to his home number, the line has been so bad I've spent a minute or two shouting, then given up.
I never thought I'd say it, but I really miss "on the day" news. The stories which start with a call from the newsdesk at 7am and are filmed, filed and forgotten by the end of that day. True, you rarely get the time to apply the polish you'd like to those pieces, but boy do the hours pass more quickly!
I'm sure a big story will come along soon and run me ragged, but I promise I won't complain if it does.
I don't expect any sympathy... as work problems go, having too much free time is not a bad one. I'm simply writing this to remind myself that my stint out here hasn't all been adventures and derring-do. It's also another great diversion from fixing those bloody bikes!

crap shoot

2009-07-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

Over a beer this evening I was invited to a truly wonderful social engagement.
It's due to take place next Monday at a gun club in Harare, Zimababwe. You need a place where the rule of law has corroded pretty thoroughly to lay on an event like this:
Basically, it's a free-for-all for office bound people with pent up frustration. They bring the piece (or pieces) of office equipment which have made their lives misery over recent years, place them at the bottom of the firing range, and blow the shit out of them.
Old fax machines, bad coffee makers, desk phones, pictures of the boss, whatever.
They can let rip with any weapon they want. A shy, middle aged woman I know (5ft 2 in her heels) claims to have borrowed an AK47, with which she intends to obliterate a desktop computer. She tells me it has slowed down over the years to a snails pace and pushed her blood pressure through the roof.
This, at last, is some kind of catharsis in a country where stress has become the routine.
It all sounds a bit too Jeremy Clarkson, perhaps, but you can see the thrill.
They all know each other too.
On Monday morning they'll meet, blast their electronic enemies into the ether, then walk off through a cloud of cordite and get back to the grind. With just a trace of a spring in their communal step.
Oh, and my friend Andrew has christened the event the "crap shoot". Great name!
Scoff all you want, but don't tell me there's not a part of you that would love to be there!

right... I'm back... again.

2009-07-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

I've convinced myself, once again, that I have to keep this blog up to date. I'm a dreadful twat when it comes to whims like this but I'll really try this time.
It's occurred to me more than once recently that I come by loads of pieces of info or anecdotes that would never make it into a personal diary but really are worth remembering, so this is the place I'll store them. If you want to read them, be my guest.
Let's see how long it lasts this time!
Anyway, today I found myself involved in one of those extraordinary conversations that only Africa can deliver. I thought I'd keep it here for posterity, interpret it as you will.
I'm in Zimbabwe at the moment, working on a story, and found myself in a rural village interviewing one of the victims of last year's political violence.
In short, here's what happened:
Our subject's brother was a councillor for the opposition MDC party, a prime target for President Robert Mugabe's "war veterans" (a militia of young thugs licensed to murder, rape and maim at will). The family all lived together in the same "kraal", or collection of huts. One morning last June, my interviewee was woken by noises outside his home. He opened the door to be confronted by a mob of more than a hundred angry men. They were armed with rocks, clubs and guns and clearly had a taste for blood.
When the first rock hit the door, my man ran back inside and opened his gun cabinet... he woke his brother and the pair shot from the windows to fend off the mob.
They shot over the crowd, hoping to disperse them, but failed and before long they were out of ammo. They were dragged from the hut and, along with their sister and mother, were beaten unconscious.
Elliot, as we'll call him, remembers "coming to" at the feet of the mob's leader. He was dragged to his feet and shot in the leg and then the arm. His brother was shot alongside him. The gang put the family, along with two neighbours in the back of a van and drove them 50kms from their home before dumping them at the roadside. Those still conscious were forced to drink paraquat (weed killer) and the group were left for dead.
Three died, but my friend, his mother and his sister survived, God alone knows how.
Anyway.... he told me this whole, harrowing story on camera, after which I was feeling pretty much how I imagine you're feeling now. Slightly numb, a little nauseous, helpless, angry and inadequate. So I started on the smalltalk to move the conversation on.
I told him about my family. "How many kids do you have?", he asked me.
"Two", I replied.
"Where do you live?", was his next question - genuinely interested, not just out of politeness.
"Johannesburg", I told him.
"Oh, I don't think I'd like to live there", he said "isn't it terribly violent?"

Like I said, only in Africa!

2009

2009-01-07T06:29:00.000-08:00

So, 3 days back at work and already 2009 looks set to be another frustrating year.
So far I'm banging my head off the desk trying to communicate with my people in Zimbabwe... picking my way through the maze of red tape surrounding an African Union Summit in Ethiopia... trying to get a straight answer from the South African government about Zimbabwe crisis talks rumoured to be happening here next week... and cancelling a rare but long planned trip back to the UK because it clashes with another potential story in the diary.

The Christmas break is but a distant memory and - excited as I was at the prospect of getting back to work - I'm already getting a clear but unwelcome reminder of why i needed it so badly.

This might not be the busiest bureau in the ITN operation, but there are easier continents to cover, believe me!

Looking ahead, it seems to me the coming year should be interesting and busy but not, perhaps, as geographically varied as the 30 months I've spent here so far.
Sure, the Zimbabwe story will rumble on... but, pessimistically, that's all I fear it will do.
Elections are due here in South Africa before the end of May and for the first time the ANC's vast majority faces a challenge in the shape of it's breakaway faction, COPE.
There's also the FIFA Confederations Cup to look forward to... not normally interesting in itself, but it will be a fascinating dry run for the World Cup in 2010... cue predictable requests from newsdesks for tales of crime, chaos and disorganisation.

Elsewhere, I'd love to predict big moves in Congo, Darfur and Somalia - but unless someone comes up with a hell of a poultice, there's no stopping those weeping sores. Depressingly, I suspect the Congo/Rwanda tensions may boil over into something altogether more nasty before too long.

Still, on a happier note they've just held run-off elections in Ghana and guess what - the government lost, walked away and handed power to the opposition. Democracy in Africa. Maybe 2009 won't be so bad after all!

Sorry!

2008-12-28T06:29:00.000-08:00

Hello Again!

Right, I'm back.
First things first, if you're one of the handful of people who were aware of my previous blog, I owe you an apology. It was a lamentable affair. The posts were infrequent, rambling and largely uninteresting. Thankfully hardly anyone bothered to read them, so no real harm done.
I'll endeavour to be a little less pathetic this time - but no promises!
Once again, I'm doing this out of fairly selfish interests... as a means of letting those closest to me know what I'm up to without having to spend ages on the phone (apologies to anyone who actually believes I enjoy speaking to them!) and as a keepsake for years to come.
So I'll be blogging a whole melange of rubbish... updates on where I am, what I'm doing and any other random thoughts that happen to occur to me.
As for the title, it comes from a throwaway remark I made at dinner with friends recently. After far too many glasses of wine, I described life here in South Africa as "a fools paradise". It provoked a fairly heated debate around the table... some guests agreed with me, while others (the more patriotic South Africans in the group) were deeply offended. Anyway, it was a personal opinion which pleased some, upset others and prompted people to think and discuss... pretty much what a blog's designed to achieve. So I thought I'd go with it.
Right, if you're still reading this, welcome! Keep checking in... and don't be shy with any feedback, it's all gratefully received - good and bad!