Executive Outcomes
- The War Business
Channel 4 Dispatches
38 mins
April 1998



10:02:00
BCU PULL FOCUS TO LENS MUSIC
OF SLIDE PROJECTOR 10:02:04
COMM:
From Africa to South America to the South Pacific, a new kind of mercenary is
STILL: GROUP OF MERCENARIES stalking the globe. But these are not the traditional dogs of war,
STILL: MERCENARIES POSING more an advance army for commercial
BEHIND MORTAR interests wanting to exploit the world’s mineral resources.
STILL: MERCENARIES BY PLANE

10:02:19
DAVID V/O:
Sure –

10:02:20
MERCENARY 1:
MCU MERCENARY 1, I/V SYNC - sometimes you might have to kill people because you can’t take a prisoner because it’s your risk or theirs. But everybody takes their own chance.

10:02:27
BCU SLIDES IN PROJECTOR
10:02:29
STILL: DEAD BODIES & CROWD
AROUND THEM 10:02:30
COMM:
Many in fact stand little chance,
DETAIL: DEAD BODY outgunned by mercenaries who are better trained, better armed and better equipped.

10:02:36
STILL: DEAD BODY &
MERCENARY I L F/G
10:02:38
PALAYIWA
MS PALAYIWA, I/V SYNC Of course they’re sophisticated. It’s very like a first class football team going in the fourth division, in most of these countries. And it’s very sad.

10:02:47
TOP SHOT: BCU SLIDES
IN PROJECTOR AS THEY CHANGE

10:02:49
COMM:
And as
STILL: MS BEREAVED WOMAN with every other armed conflict, it’s the civilians and the bystanders who
STILL: WOMAN IN HEADDRESS inevitably suffer.
PROTESTING
10:02:56
ANGOLAN VICTIM (subtitles)
MS ANGOLAN VICTIM Aeroplanes used to drop bombs and we had to run away and while you were running you had to jump over those dying in front of you.


10:03:08 MUSIC
COMPUTER GRAPHIC:
CHESS GAME, KNIGHT 10:03:10
DEFEATS KING & QUEEN COMM:
These mercenary companies are now multi-million pound businesses, with corporate videos, computer graphics, and all the trimmings of a well financed multinational.

10:03:21
BARLOW V/O
We offer a vast range of services and anything related –

10:03:24
BARLOW:
MCU BARLOW, I/V SYNC - from land warfare, air warfare, to naval warfare. So it really encompasses the whole spectrum of the military.
MUSIC
10:03:31
CU SLIDE PROJECTOR
10:03:32
COMM:
STILL: MERCENARIES POSING For many Western governments, these
BY SIGN people are seen as an essential part of the new world order,
STILL: MERCENARIES RESTING as developing countries desperately try now
IN BUSH to establish stability and
STILL: GROUP SHOT, BLACK & economic prosperity.
WHITE MERCENARIES

10:03:34
WOODS:
MS WOODS, I/V SYNC I think the reason we’re seeing this phenomenon return is er, it’s filling a gap, filling a need, a perceived need, a real need actually.

10:03:52
CU DRUM OF SLIDES IN
PROJECTOR
10:03:53
STILL: MERCENARY IN BOXER COMM:
SHORTS BLACKING UP But in their wake the new mercenaries bring
COLLEAGUE little but chaos, death
STILL: WS FIGHTER BOMBER and destruction.
ON RUNWAY
10:04:01
STILL: MERCENARIES SITTING
ON TANK
10:04:04
BREYTANBACH:
MS BREYTANBACH, I/V SYNC They always pretend they’re doing it for a cause, they’re trying to stabilise a government that – that is being threatened or – or whatever. But er, who are they to say which side is right?

10:04:15
EXT. DAY: GVs KING’S ROAD,
BOUTIQUES ETC 10:04:16
COMM:
King’s Road, Chelsea. Chic and expensive. But far from the fashionable boutiques, at the other end of the street, one of the world’s
WS LOTS ROAD, PLAZA richest and most sophisticated mercenary
BUILDING operations. Behind the plate
MS ‘PLAZA’ SIGN glass, a group of independent companies in Suite
L/A WS BUILDING 107, bound together by common interest and friendship. One company introduces the mercenaries,
WS ENTRANCE whilst others do deals to secure valuable mineral concessions.

10:04:39
MS SIGN ON WALL
10:04:41
HOWE:
MS HOWE, I/V SYNC A group that has its own private security force can get concessions, probably at a very cheap price, from a government that is desperate er, for any foreign exchange, and for protection. Er, in a sense it’s – it’s a wonderful economic and military package that a multinational firm can offer to a very beleaguered government.

B/W STILL: BUCKINGHAM 10:05:01 MUSIC
IN BAR, FADE IN COLOUR
10:04:02
COMM:
At the heart of this informal grouping, Tony Buckingham, keen yachtsman and former SAS soldier. He’s rich and he’s reclusive. He declines all requests for interviews,
EXT. DAY: SLO-MO H/A WS but did speak to a journalist at Cowes last
PEOPLE & BOATS IN MARINA year about some of his investments
LS BUCKINGHAM ON BOAT world-wide.

10:05:21
BUCKINGHAM V/O:
WS BUCKINGHAM Oh, they’re in places like Angola, er, Uganda, erm, Oman. We’re looking to go into – into Russia. We’re in Congo. And er, recently we’ve picked up a contract in Malawi.

10:05:37
INT. DAY: SLO-MO MS BARLOW
PAN R AS HE PASSES CAMERA 10:05:38
COMM:
The second member of the grouping is Eeben Barlow. A former member of white South Africa’s secret military
MCU BARLOW forces, he’s worked with Tony Buckingham since the early
ARCHIVE: EXECUTIVE 1990s. His company, Executive Outcomes,
OUTCOMES VIDEO DISPLAYING is one of the world’s largest mercenary
MERCENARIES & EQUIPMENT armies, with multi-million pound contracts.
IN ACTION Their own videos reveal a big ticket operation with hardware to match. They boast that they can put a small army anywhere on the globe in a matter of days.


10:06:05
BARLOW:
MCU BARLOW, I/V SYNC Some governments approach us with a very large proposal or request, in which we will then propose to take in up to five or six hundred men.

10:06:12
SLO-MO MS SPICER
DESCENDING STEPS, WALKS 10:06:13
TO MCU COMM:
The third member of this grouping is Colonel Tim Spicer. Another former SAS soldier, he shares offices with Buckingham in Suite 107.

10:06:20
SPICER:
MS SPICER, I/V SYNC I mean, I don’t personally have any difficulty with the word ‘mercenary’. I just don’t like the image that it conjures up in most people’s mind.


10:06:26 MUSIC
EXT. DAY: MS HELICOPTER
IN FLIGHT
10:06:29
COMM:
Idex,
GVs WEAPONS BEING DISPLAYED the world’s biggest arms fair, in Abu Dhabi.
& DEMONSTRATED AT IDEX FAIR Gone are the days when the dogs of war were recruited in backstreet pubs, today’s new mercenary armies come on contract, alongside the latest technology for killing people.

10:06:44
MS SIGN ABOVE EXECUTIVE
OUTCOMES STAND 10:06:46
COMM:
LS MAN AT STAND Unaware that he was being secretly recorded, Eeben
WS BARLOW & COLLEAGUE Barlow pitches for business.
TALKING TO MAN AT STAND

COLLEAGUE:
If you play like that –

BARLOW:
Business is business.

MAN:
I agree.

BARLOW:
It’s like this: my enemy’s enemy is my friend, is also important. And there cane be times we can open the door for you maybe, into your country, you can open the door for us. There can be countries where your skills and our skills combined can do something. We will stay independent, but there’s no reason why we have to work against each other.

10:07:21 MUSIC
CU DIAMONDS SIFTED
FROM GRAVEL 10:07:23
COMM:
And this is what drives the new mercenaries: diamonds, oil and other rich mineral
CU PILE OF DIAMONDS assets.

10:07:31
COMM:
Angola
EXT. DAY: WS CHILDREN has mineral deposits and oil reserves
PLAYING ON BEACH & OIL RIG aplenty. It could be one of the richest
IN B/G countries in Africa, but after nearly 20 years
H/A LS DOCKS of civil war, it’s one of the poorest.

10:07:41
GVs URBAN POVERTY
10:07:43
COMM:
Five years ago, Tony Buckingham introduced Executive Outcomes to the government here. It was their first big contract, and the prototype model for the King’s Road operation.

10:07:56
LS ‘DAVID’ WALKS AWAY
FROM CAMERA 10:07:57
COMM:
David is one of the mercenaries who fought in Angola. A self
TRACK WITH DAVID’S FEET confessed adrenalin junkie, he’s been in one
ACROSS ROCKS TO H/A army or another since the age of 17. He
PANORAMIC VIEW wanted to remain
CU BINOCULARS TAKEN FROM anonymous, because the standard Executive
JACKET Outcomes contract carries a clause with a
CU DAVID LOOKING THRU £15,000 fine for anyone talking about their
BINOCULARS business.

10:08:15
‘DAVID’:
MCU DAVID FROM REAR, There was one occasion I did meet some of
I/V SYNC the hierarchy from the British side, which was Tony Buckingham and Simon Mann.

10:08:21
‘DAVID’ V/O:
C/AWAY: MS TABLE I’m aware of the fact they have –

10:08:23
‘DAVID’:
MCU DAVID A/B - a military background in the British special forces.

10:08:25
STILL: MERCENARIES
STANDING IN FRONT OF PLANE 10:08:26
PAN R COMM:
Buckingham’s involvement went further than an introduction. He and his best friend, Simon Mann, ran an airline, Capricorn, which flew Executive Outcomes mercenaries and equipment into Angola.

10:08:37
STILL: MS MANN, PAN TO BREYTENBACH:
TAILPLANE WITH CAPRICORN When Executive Outcomes started, they –
LOGO they were involved with an organisation called Capricorn Air.
DETAIL: CAPRICORN LOGO And then I discovered from a chap name of Buckingham, and er –




10:08:47
BREYTENBACH:
MS BREYTENBACH, I/V SYNC - there was another SAS guy also involved, and they worked very closely with er, with er, Eeben Barlow and Executive Outcomes. So that, to me, was the connection between er, between er, er, the British, Capricorn and – and Executive Outcomes.

10:09:03
STILL: BREYTENBACH
STANDING IN FRONT OF 10:09:04
ARMOURED CAR, Z/I TO MS COMM:
Jan Breytenbach is one of white South Africa’s military heroes. But having formed their special forces, their equivalent of the SAS, he is now a leading critic of Executive Outcomes.

10:09:04
BREYTENBACH:
MS BREYTENBACH, I/V SYNC As soon as you make war a business, it makes – it opens it up to all sorts of immoral things. War is never a business, you fight war for a cause, not for a bloody business.

10:09:26
ARCHIVE: GVs EQUIPMENT COMM:
BEING UNLOADED FROM But war is a business for the mercenaries
PLANES & MERCENARIES from Executive Outcomes. Once brought in
PARACHUTING by the Angolan government, their first target was not a military installation, but some oil equipment.

10:09:37
BARLOW:
MS BARLOW, I/V SYNC We went in in 1993 to secure the oilfield, so that they recover their equipment. That’s the oil company. That is Texaco, Fina Gulf, (Name) everyone.

10:09:47
‘DAVID’:
MCU ‘DAVID’, I/V SYNC The purpose behind it, apart from guarding their oil support base, was to recover a fairly technical computerised pumping station or floating pumping station. And that was the main thing. Apparently this thing is worth somewhere in the region of 80 million dollars.
10:10:04
ARCHIVE: ROCKET
LAUNCHERS BEING AIMED 10:10:08
& FIRED COMM:
Once the Executive Outcomes mercenaries had recovered the oil platforms for the government, the next stage was to recover the diamond mines, then in control of the rebel Unita forces led by Jonas Savimbi. The mercenaries, many of whom had previous fought with Unita, were devastating.

10:10:25
GVs WRECKAGE OF COMM:
SAVIMBI’S HOUSE This is all that remains of Savimbi’s house.

10:10:30
ARCHIVE: MERCENARY
‘VIDEO DIARY’
SHOWING MERCENARIES 10:10:32
IN ACTION, VILLAGE BEING COMM:
BURNED & MERCENARIES Dispatches has obtained this remarkable
POSING VICTORIOUSLY video diary made by one of the mercenaries,
BY DEAD BODY which shows that the reality of how they behave is very different from the company’s public relations gloss.

10:10:42
VIDEO COMM (subtitles)
We had great success today. We took 80 heads. We had very little loss on our side - apart from one or two who got wounded. I wish you could feel what I feel from the pressure of exploding bombs.

10:11:07
VILLAGE BEING BURNED VIDEO COMM (subtitles)
MERCENARIES UNDER GUNFIRE We’ve run into enemy fire. We’ve run into the enemy several times and now it’s very bad. It’s exploding all around us.

10:11:20
MERCENARIES POSING VIDEO COMM (subtitles)
VICTORIOUSLY BY DEAD BODY We’re standing on territory where our people recently fired some mortars. we surprised the enemy a little I think. There are a couple of dead and a couple very badly burned.



10:11:33
MERCENARIES SQUATTING VIDEO COMM(subtitles)
DOWN BY CORPS Do you know what I think took his head off? I think he was sitting behind the tree. His head was shot off but his chest and the rest is OK.

10:11:44
MERCENARY:
One down, plenty to go.

10:11:47
GVs MERCENARIES LOOTING VIDEO COMM(subtitles)
& GIVING THUMBS-UP SIGN ETC Today we have reached our objective. At this stage we are busy with our work of plundering. We are loading wine and beer.

10:12:03
EXT. DAY: PHOSPHORUS COMM:
BOMB ON GROUND One weapon used by Executive Outcomes in Angola was the phosphorus bomb, dropped onto
Z/I ON PHOSPHORUS Unita strongholds. But weapons like these
EXTRUDING FROM BOMB do not discriminate between soldiers and civilians.

10:12:14
ANGOLAN:
MS ANGOLAN VICTIM, I/V SYNC When they bombed therefore, it comes as big and then it divides itself in small bombs. And the way it look like, when they are burning, they burn like a big fire, in a big fire, and it burns doing a noise – shhhh, like that.

10:12:43
WS ANGOLAN VICTIMS

10:12:44
COMM:
They lucky ones escaped with burns like
CU BURNT LEG these. Others were less fortunate. One place the pilots hit was the
L/A WS TRACK THRU crowded Sao Pedro marketplace, an escape
CROWDED MARKET route used by Unita soldiers.
FADE TO
10:12:59
ANGOLAN VICTIM:
MS ANGOLAN VICTIM, I/V SYNC The people were bombing were in the aircraft, they were bombing these places like San Pedro market, where they were seeing a lot of people.

10:13:12
WS CROWDED MARKET


10:13:14
ANGOLAN VICTIM:
MS ANGOLAN VICTIM More than 500 people were dead in that day.

10:13:24
MERCENARY 2:
MS MERCENARY 2, I/V SYNC For the gullible, I would say, we – we – we legalised – we legalised our doings by saying we were – we were joining or helping a legal government.

10:13:35
MERCENARY 2:
CU MERCENARY 2, I/V SYNC Of course, if you drop a thousand pound bomb on a town, it won’t only be soldiers who will be killed.

10:13:42
ARCHIVE: MERCENARY MERCENARY 2 V/O:
‘VIDEO DIARY’ It was a very, very much clear purpose in
MERCENARY SITTING ON our presence in Angola to capture towns or –
ARMOURED CAR, TRACK IN TO
MCU
10:13:50
MERCENARY 2:
CU MERCENARY 2, I/V SYNC - or diamond fields or whatever valuable places to the government and hand them over to the government.

10:13:58 MUSIC
EXT. DAY: PANORAMIC SHOT
OF SUNSET OVER CITY 10:13:59
COMM:
And once these assets had been handed over, the government then granted valuable
WS SUNSET concessions to private companies. One lucky company was
WS BUCKINGHAM ON BOAT Branch Energy, its principal, Tony
AT COWES Buckingham. He signed mining agreements with the Angolan government potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars.


10:14:16
MERCENARY 2:
MS MERCENARY 2, I/V SYNC There were definitely ties up between the mineral rich areas and erm, and the government and the war. Erm, the mineral rich areas –


10:14:25
MERCENARY 2 V/O:
H/A LS STREET THRU VILLAGE - were paying for the war. The diamonds and the oil.

10:14:30 MUSIC

10:14:31
COMM:
But they weren’t the only ones pay. As in any other modern war, there was no shortage of civilian victims.

10:14:37
MCU ANGOLAN VICTIM, ANGOLAN VICTIM (subtitles)
I/V SYNC We could see them in the helicopters and they would shoot and laugh. If it was an aeroplane we wouldn’t see them but we could hear them speaking on the FM radios. The language was English.

10:14:54
C/AWAY: BURNT WOMAN

10:14:58
WS/3S MAN & 2 WOMEN WOMAN (subtitles):
Wherever they saw people they would drop bombs.

10:15:02
WS/4S 3 MEN & A WOMAN MAN (subtitles)
Z/I TO MS There were some that went into the market place - those would release nails - which hit everyone in the market until they were dead.

10:15:18
EXT. DAY: GVs KING’S ROAD,
BOUTIQUES & PLAZA 10:15:21
BUILDING COMM:
But back in London’s King’s Road, such allegations cause little worry to the grouping in Suite 107.

10:15:28
SPICER:
MS SPICER, I/V SYNC I mean, there may be allegations about Executive Outcomes’ behaviour in certain countries, but as far as I’m aware there is absolutely nothing to substantiate any of these comments at all.

10:15:37
INTERVIEWER:
I mean, these are, you know, eye witnesses who were there, and you know, their markets of civilians were bombed, when people in helicopter gunships shot civilians running across fields. I mean, eye witness accounts.

10:15:49
SPICER:
Well, I’m not going to get into a discussion about that, because I wasn’t there, and I can’t comment.

10:15:53
CU LETTER PICKED UP &
TAKEN FROM ENVELOPE 10:15:54
COMM:
But the mercenaries themselves echo these allegations. This letter, written by one to his wife, describes what happened after they captured some Unita soldiers.

10:16:03
MERCENARY WIFE V/O:
What they –

10:16:04
MERCENARY WIFE
WS WIFE READS LETTER - did to them to extract information from them reminds me of the form of books etc –

10:16:11
MERCENARY WIFE V/O:
MS PORTRAIT ON WALL - we have seen and read about re the atrocities the –





10:16:15
MERCANARY WIFE:
WS WIFE READS LETTER - nazis and Japs performed on the captured in World War 2. If only you can imagine it. It was worse.

10:16:25
EXT. DAY: WS BOMBED
BUILDING, PAN L 10;16:26
COMM:
After Angola, Buckingham and Barlow moved on to their next target. Again
CU DIAMONDS the bait was diamonds.


FADE TO 10:16:32 MUSIC
EXT. DAY: WS HELICOPTER
IN FLIGHT 10:16:36
COMM:
If Angola had been the prototype for mercenaries and mining concessions,
AERIAL VIEW OF COUNTRY Sierra Leone was the working model. The
& BUILDINGS country has some of the world’s best diamond fields,
CU GUN ON HELICOPTER but was crippled by civil war. When Tony Buckingham introduced Executive Outcomes in the spring of 1995,
MS PILOT rebel forces were just 30 kilometres from the country’s capital, Freetown.

10:16:58
BARLOW V/O:
We had to –

10:16:59
BARLOW:
MCU BARLOW, I/V SYNC - start taking the battle from Freetown into the rebel lines, start winning decisive victories, let the rebels lose the initiative and the government forces gain momentum.

10:17:09
GVs MEN LYING ON GROUND
FIRING GUNS 10:17:11
COMM:
And, as in Angola, what gaining momentum actually
DIAMONDS SUPERED OVER meant was taking the diamond fields. Once
FEET & TRACK INTO VILLAGE again, mercenary activity marched in step with mineral concessions,
WS BUCKINGHAM ON BOAT and Buckingham was once again the
DIAMONDS SUPERED OVER beneficiary. Shortly after the mercenaries
SHOTS OF MERCENARIES IN arrived, his company, Branch Energy, signed
VILLAGE & IN ARMOURED agreements to mine for diamonds. The next
CAR ETC month, Executive Outcomes defeated the rebels, and Branch signed another valuable deal.

10:17:41
PALAYIWA:
CU PALAYIWA, I/V SYNC Diamonds are the curse of Sierra Leone.
They’re so easily available, you can literally dig them up with a shovel, and you can get them just with buckets, and I’m sure once they’ve pushed out the rebels from those – those er, areas, they started dig er – mining the diamonds.

10:18:02
GVs DIAMOND MINE &
ARMOURED CAR 10:18:04
COMM:
The relationship between the mercenaries and Tony Buckingham was described to Dispatches by an insider as a form of cooperative commerce, in which the interests of Executive Outcomes to make a profit from fighting coincide with the interests of Buckingham to make a profit
DIAMONDS SUPERED from mining. And it’s a lucrative arrangement. Buckingham floated his company,
WS BUCKINGHAM ON BOAT which includes the Sierra Leone and the
AT COWES Angolan operations, on the Vancouver Stock Exchange.
WS MERCENARY SHOWING MAP It was valued at 50 million pounds.
TO CHILDREN

10:18:32
WS CHILDREN LOOKING AT MERCENARY:
MAP Where are you now?

10:18:35
CU CHILDREN AHMAND TEJAN KABBAH V/O:
The military junta at that time –





10:18:38
AHMAD TEJAN KABBAH:
MS AHMAD TEJAN KABBAH, - was of the view that they needed
I/V SYNC outside assistance. They were desperate. In such situations, you really find yourself at a disadvantageous position and you may commit your country er, in an activity or an obligation er, which may not be in the best interests of the country.

10:19:05
EXT. DAY: WS KABBAH COMM:
BEING GREETED OFF PLANE After Kabbah was elected President, Buckingham’s company signed more mining deals and the government ran up more debts to Executive Outcomes. But when the government ran out of money, they cancelled the contract.

10:19:20
KABBAH V/O:
We had –

10:19:20
KABBAH:
CU KABBAH, I/V SYNC - to pay er, these people over a million dollars a month, and er, by the time I er, became President we owed them a lot of money, millions. And so what we had to pay every month er, plus er, what was er, had been accumulated er, was becoming a serious er, burden on our budget.

10:19:50
EXT. DAY: SLO-MO CU CHILD
POSING WITH SKULL 10:19:51
COMM:
But all this money did not bring long term security. Shortly after Executive Outcomes left Sierra Leone,
WS/2S CHILDREN POSING WITH civil war broke out again and the democratic
HANDS ON SKULL government was overthrown.
SLO-MO MS CHILD LOOKS UP, Incredibly, this provided a new and
RIFLE IN L F/G potentially profitable opportunity for Spicer.



10:20:05
EXECUTIVE OUTCOMES
VIDEO, LOGO SEQUENCE 10:20:06
& MONTAGE OF SHOTS OF COMM:
MERCENARIES IN ACTION The new mercenaries boast that they only work for legitimate governments on internal security matters. They will not, therefore, cross borders into another country. But Spicer put together a plan under which a small army of mercenary soldiers, based next door in Guinea, would invade Sierra Leone to restore President Kabbah to power.

10:20:26
INTERVIEWER:
MS SPICER, I/V SYNC It would have involved cross border activity, wouldn’t it?

10:20:28
SPICER:
Erm, hypothetically, if one was to support erm, the exiled government of Sierra Leone, er, and indeed all these cases have got to be looked at on their merit – one their individual merits, I would see absolutely nothing wrong in helping put back a democratic government that had been ousted by a combination of military coup and rebel activity. I wouldn’t have a difficulty with that at all.

EXT. DAY: WS MARKET 10:20:51 MUSIC
BUILDING
10:20:53
COMM:


KABBAH RESTORED TO POWER In fact Tim Spicer did help restore President Kabbah to power in March this year. Despite a UN arms embargo to Sierra Leone, Sandline allegedly sent $10 million of Bulgarian guns and ammunition to Kabbah’s militia. In May (1998), British customs announced it was launching a criminal investigation into this British-backed military intervention in a foreign country’s affairs.


10:21:15
END OF PART ONE

PART TWO

EXT. DAY: CU MAN SINGING 10:21:58 MUSIC

10:22:00
COMM:
Papua New Guinea,
WS FISHING BOATS a group of islands in the South Pacific with all the
GVs CHILDREN IN PLAYGROUND right ingredients for Tony Buckingham,
& PEOPLE IN MARKET Eeben Barlow and Tim Spicer. With gold, oil and copper, it’s potentially one of the richest countries in the South Pacific. It’s also had a
AERIAL VIEWS OF PANGUNA long running and unresolved civil war. The
MINE focus for the conflict was one of the world’s biggest copper mines at Panguna, unused for nine years because of a particularly dirty war with the Bougainville Revolutionary Army.

ARCHIVE: MASS FUNERAL 10:22:26 MUSIC
OF SOLDIERS, MOURNING
CROWDS ETC 10:22:34
COMM:
With an increasing number of casualties on the government side, and an election coming up, the government was desperate for a solution.

10:22:41
SPICER V/O:
We presented him –

10:22:42
SPICER:
MS SPICER, I/V SYNC - a number of military options, one of which involved a coup de main operation to seize the mine, because it was the enemy’s centre of gravity and was at the heart of the problem.

10:22:53
EXT. DAY: WS MERCENARIES COMM:
DRILLING So seventy highly trained
ARCHIVE MONTAGE: mercenaries arrived, with helicopter
HELICOPTER GUNSHIPS, gunships, rockets, mortars, high explosives,
ROCKETS, MORTARS ETC two thousand grenades and seven hundred
IN ACTION and fifty thousand rounds of ammunition.
ARCHIVE: BOUGAINVILLE All this to take on the Bougainville
REVOLUTIONARY ARMY WITH revolutionary army, the ragbag force which
MAKESHIFT WEAPONS controlled the Panguna mine,
MS ANTIQUATED RIFLES, TILT here proudly displaying their arsenal.
UP
10:23:15
COMM:
But the plan
ARCHIVE: TROOPS DISPERSING fell apart when the story was leaked. There
RIOTERS were riots in the streets, Spicer
GVs MERCENARIES BOARDING was arrested, the mercenaries were expelled,
PLANE and the army went public.

10:23:25
ENUME:
MCU ENUME, I/V SYNC You see, as Papua New Guineans, we’d been in there eight years and we know who the rebels are, we know who the civilians are. But now if we get someone from outside now, how will they distinguish and say this is a rebel element, this is a genuine civilian?

10:23:41
TOROPO:
MS TOROPO, I/V SYNC They were put in for massacres, there were
Z/I TO MCU weaponries that are now at our disposal which we never – we never had before.

10:23:48
ENUME:
MCU ENUME, I/V SYNC I could see that now there would be mass destruction, mass killing of people.

10:23:52
TOROPO:
CU TOROPO, I/V SYNC And how would I justify that?

10:23:55
RECONSTRUCTION: LS JUDGE COMM:
ENTERS COMMISSION OF Under pressure from the army, the
INQUIRY government set up a Commission of Inquiry. For the first time, the operations of Spicer, Buckingham and Executive Outcomes were forensically examined. Dispatches has reconstructed the result. It is devastating.
WS COUNSEL ETC SIT For a start, the urbane Mr Spicer when cross examined was surprisingly
MS JUDGE ignorant of the basic laws of his profession.
CU SPICER’S NAME WRITTEN According to the contract he signed, the
DOWN whole operation would be handled
WS COUNSEL QUESTIONS according to the Geneva Convention.
SPICER, PAN R TO ‘SPICER’
IN WITNESS BOX 10:24:27
COUNSEL:
Which Geneva Convention is referred to here in this agreement?

‘SPICER’:
Well, I’m afraid I do not know the answer to that specifically. You mean by clause or by – the Geneva Convention can mean –

10:24:38
COUNSEL:
Not
O/S WS COUNSEL the Geneva Convention. I would assume there were many Geneva Conventions.

10:24:43
‘SPICER’:
WS ‘SPICER’ Well, as I understand the Geneva Convention, it is a law of armed conflict.

10:24:48
COUNSEL:
O/S WS COUNSEL That is, the treatment of prisoners of war and things like that.

10:24:51
‘SPICER’:
WS ‘SPICER’ Absolutely.

10:24:52
COUNSEL:
O/S WS COUNSEL Treatment of civilians?

10:24:54
‘SPICER’:
CU PAPUAN IN AUDIENCE Treatment of civilians, treatment of prisoners –

10:24:56
‘SPICER’:
WS ‘SPICER’ A/B - conduct of operations, that sort of thing.

10:24:59
COUNSEL:
MS COUNSEL Now, are you also aware that there is a convention dealing with prohibiting the use of mercenaries?

10:25:06
‘SPICER’:
WS ‘SPICER’ I’m not familiar with that at all.

COUNSEL:
Are you aware that there is a convention
MS COUNSEL dealing with the restriction on the prohibition of financing and raising of illegal armies?

10:25:15
‘SPICER’
WS ‘SPICER’ I have no knowledge of that.

10:25:17
COUNSEL:
MS COUNSEL Well, what would be your definition of a mercenary?

10:25:20
‘SPICER’:
WS ‘SPICER’ My definition of a mercenary, I suppose, is somebody of one nationality that fights for another.

10:25:28
COUNSEL:
MS COUNSEL For gain, for payment.

10:25:31
‘SPICER’:
WS ‘SPICER’ For gain, yes.

10:25:53
COUNSEL:
MS COUNSEL Do you consider that part of the mandate you are providing under the contract could fall into that definition?

10:25:39
‘SPICER’:
WS ‘SPICER’ Well, yes.
FADE TO
10:25:41
CU PAPERS SHUFFLED COMM:
The inquiry also revealed
TOP SHOT: INQUIRY CHAMBER for the first time the intimate relationship between Spicer’s company, Sandline,
WS LAWYER HANDED PAPER Buckingham and Executive Outcomes. The mercenaries Spicer
EXECUTIVE OUTCOMES brought in were, as usual, the South Africans
COMPUTER GRAPHIC LOGO from Executive Outcomes, and their
& VIDEO OF MERCENARIES corporate video was a crucial part of the first
IN ACTION sales pitch made by Spicer and Tony Buckingham.

10:26:05
RECONSTRUCTION CONT. COUNSEL:
WS COUNSEL What did you explain to them concerning Executive Outcomes?

10:24:08
‘SPICER’:
We explained that
WS ‘SPICER’ Sandline was sort of erm, well, effectively a consultancy service and was able to call on a number of different, not sort of corporately related but friendly organisations
MS JUDGE REACTS that we had worked with in the past to assist in a number of military disciplines. And
WS ‘SPICER’ we explained that whilst we were not one and the same company, we were very closely related.
END OF RECONSTRUCTION
10:26:32
AERIAL VIEW OF PANGUNA MUSIC
MINE, TYPEWRITER KEYS 10:26:33
SUPERED COMM:
Spicer’s first proposal was too expensive for the government, so he suggested if they could stump up the first 14 million dollars, he could help find the rest.

10:26:43
VOICE OVER:
These funds could come from private sources, and it may be possible to raise them against oil and mineral concessions and production rights.

10:26:51
COMM:
There was no progress. So two months later, Spicer faxed the Prime Minister direct.


10:26:56
VOICE OVER:
My Chairman and Chief Executive, Tony Buckingham and I, would like to have the opportunity to brief you in person.

10:27:02
MS UNION JACK FLAPPING
IN WIND AGAINST SUNSET 10:27:03
COMM:
In all, Spicer and Buckingham worked on and off for nine
GVs SUNSET OVER HILLS ETC months, including at least two trips to Papua New Guinea, before the contract was signed. But today it’s a different story. Dispatches
LS BUCKINGHAM ON BOAT has learned that Tony Buckingham was paid
AT COWES a commission on the Papua New Guinea contract.
WS BUCKINGHAM Yet in an interview with a journalist last year he was asked:

10:27:21
INTERVIEWER V/O:
You weren’t involved in New Guinea?

BUCKINGHAM V/O:
Not directly, no. I don’t have any comment on that. That’s completely separate.

10:27:32
SPICER:
MS SPICER, I/V SYNC Tony Buckingham’s got very little to do with Sandline, other than the fact that he is a friend of mine.

10:27:36
SPICER V/O:
EXT. DAY: LS YACHTS RACING Sandline emerged out of something that was a fairly erm,
WS BUCKINGHAM & CREW ON loose and flexible organisation, it didn’t
YACHT really have a corporate structure.



10:27:43
SPICER:
MS SPICER, I/V SYNC His relationship with Sandline is just one of encouragement because he thought this was a very valid direction in which to move.

10:27:49
EXT. DAY: MS SCULPTURE
SEEN THRU WINDOW OF 10:27:50
PLAZA BUILDING COMM:
And exactly how this loose and flexible organisation was
GVs ENTRANCE moving was revealed in a fax from Buckingham, dangling the carrot
WS TILT UP WITH LIFT RISING of wealthy institutions with large sums of money to invest.

10:28:01
L/A WS OPEN UPPER WINDOW VOICE OVER:
A further condition for their involvement would be the provision of our help with the operational security,
L/S WS BUILDING but I don’t think that you will have a problem with that.

10:28:08
RECONSTRUCTION: TRACK
L PAST AUDIENCE TO ROW 10:28:09
OF LAWYERS COMM:
Spicer signed a 36 million dollar contract and then hired Executive Outcomes. Having lured the government into this crippling financial commitment, he had set them on a course of financial deception. The government had to pay Sandline without the World Bank, a major creditor, finding out. They came up with a scheme to launder
CU PAPERS SHUFFLED the money through a company called North Fly Highway
BCU LAWYER Development.

10:28:32
COUNSEL:
Mr Spicer,
WS COUNSEL do you remember when I asked you have you knowledge of the North Fly Highway Development Company you expressed no knowledge?


10:28:40
‘SPICER’
WS ‘SPICER’ IN WITNESS BOX Well, I know it exists, because I’ve seen its name on paper. But I do not know anything about it. Yes.

10:28:45
WS COUNSEL, PAN R AS HE
HANDS ‘SPICER’ DOCUMENT 10:28:53
COUNSEL:
If you would look at this document please.

10:28:57
COUNSEL:
O/S WS COUNSEL Firstly, is that a copy of an invoice signed by you?

‘SPICER’:
That is correct, yes.

COUNSEL:
What is the amount of it?

10:29:07
‘SPICER’
WS ‘SPICER’ 18 million US dollars.

COUNSEL:
And who is it directed to?

‘SPICER’:
North Fly Highway Development Company Ltd.

10:29:15
COUNSEL:
WS COUNSEL This document was prepared by you prior to the contract being entered into, was it not?

10:29:20
‘SPICER’:
WS ‘SPICER’ I do not recall seeing this.

10:29:21
MCU JUDGE ‘SPICER’:
In fact, I accept that this is my signature,
MS COUNSEL, PAN WITH HIM TO but I would have to consult with other
WS ‘SPICER’ IN BOX people who were present to find out how this came about and what this is about.

10:29:31
COUNSEL:
O/S WS COUNSEL Well, you have signed it.

10:29:34
‘SPICER’:
Yes, I accept that this is my signature, or that it looks like my signature. I do not recall seeing this invoice at all.

10:29:42
WS COUNSEL, PAN L AS HE
PACES CHAMBER 10:29:50
COUNSEL:
Mr Spicer, how many invoices did you send around that time of year for 18 million US dollars?

10:30:01
‘SPICER’:
WS ‘SPICER’ As far as I remember, I gave them one invoice.

10:30:04
COUNSEL:
O/S WS COUNSEL Is this it?

10:30:08
‘SPICER’:
No, it’s the other one.
END OF RECONSTRUCTION
10:30:10
EXT. DAY: WS BOY SWIMMING,
COASTAL VILLAGE IN B/G 10:30:11
COMM:
The first 18 million dollars was paid before the
MS FISH CARRIED BY FISHERMAN contract was even signed, the money coming from
MS WOMAN CARRYING BABY, savage budget cuts in health, education and
TILT UP TO LS VILLAGE transport. But the government was till 18 million dollars short. Throughout,
WS CHILDREN ON Buckingham was working on ways to help
ROLLERBLADES the government pay for the mercenaries by exploiting their mining interests,
INT. DAY: MS JUDGE MAKING and the judge concluded that one included
NOTES the prospect of Sandline, or a company associated with its
BCU PEN WRITING principals, obtaining an interest in the mine and Sandline providing ongoing security services.

10:30:42
SPICER V/O:
There was discussion of mineral concessions throughout the negotiation period.

10:30:47
SPICER:
MS SPICER, I/V SYNC It was unrelated to the straight Sandline contract and seemed to be a sensible thing to do to help a government who had spent millions on this war.

10:30:59
EXT. DAY: GVs TOTEM POLES COMM:
IN PLAYGROUND When the contract was cancelled, the mercenaries did not get their second 18 million dollars, and Tony Buckingham did not get a piece of the mining rights.
RECONSTRUCTION: H/A WS The court tried to discover who Sandline
COURTROOM was, and where the first 18 million had gone.

10:31:13
COUNSEL:
You are a director of Sandline?

10:31:15
‘SPICER’:
H/A LS ‘SPICER’ IN WITNESS Yes.
BOX
COUNSEL:
How long have you been a director?

10:31:18
‘SPICER’
Since it started, the middle of
MCU JOURNALIST TAKING last year.
NOTES
COUNSEL:
And you actively work in the company?

10:31:23
‘SPICER’:
H/A LS ‘SPICER’ Yes.

COUNSEL:
Involved in very significant deals on
WS LAWYERS behalf of the company?

‘SPICER’:
Correct.

10:31:29
COUNSEL:
And you do not know
CU COUNSEL and cannot identify one shareholder of that company?

10:31:34
‘SPICER’:
CU ‘SPICER’ That is correct.

COUNSEL:
It is an unusual situation that you should be a director of a company
CU COUNSEL and not know who any of the shareholders are.

10:31:44
‘SPICER’:
Well I do not believe –
CU ‘SPICER’ I do not really understand how our company stucture works.
C/AWAY: MAN LISTENING I am a military man, and I would rather
CU ‘SPICER’ leave that to our commercial director.
END OF RECONSTRUCTION
10:31:56
EXT. NIGHT: H/A PANORAMIC
VIEWS OF HONG KONG 10:31:57
COMM:
The mysterious owners of Sandline are hidden in a tax haven. But Dispatches has discovered an important link. The 18 million dollars first instalment to Sandline was paid into the Hong Kong and Shanghai (MUSIC)
Bank, account number
GVs FERRY IN HARBOUR 600774426. This account used to be jointly held by Executive Outcomes, Tony Buckingham, and his friend Simon Mann.

10:32:26
COMM:
But by the time the PNG money was paid in, the only signatories were a minor
LS BUCKINGHAM STANDING bank official and Tony Buckingham, the
ON BOAT AT COWES, PAN R man who says he was not directly involved
WITH HIM in the Papua New Guinea contract.
FADE TO BLACK

FADE UP TO 10:32:39
EXT. DAY: LS HOUSES OF
PARLIAMENT 10:32:40
COMM:
Three weeks after
BCU FACE OF BIG BEN Buckingham banked the money, British
MS SURFACE OF THAMES politicians suddenly woke up to what was happening.
LS PARLIAMENT SEEN ACROSS They were almost the last to know.
RIVER
10:32:51
MS UNION JACK ON POLE HANLEY V/O:
We er, immediately decided to summon in the Papua New Guinea –

10:32:54
HANLEY:
MS HANLEY, I/V SYNC - High Commissioner, Sukina Bono(?), and ask him to come in so that he would be left in no uncertain terms that we were er, looking with great displeasure on such a way of spending their money. Since, after all, if they receive aid from us and if we believe in good governance, then we did not believe that spending the money in this way, which was rumoured to be extremely expensive, would be of benefit to the Papua New Guinean people as a whole.

10:33:20
EXT. DAY: TILT UP FROM
MOTORCYCLIST TO WS 10:33:21
PLAZA BUILDING COMM:
This directly contradicts the claim from the King’s Road mercenaries that they only act in accordance with the wishes of Western governments.

10:33:28
SPICER:
CU SPICER, I/V SYNC We do not wish to interfere with what I would call, you know, the sort of foreign pol – the – the general thrust of foreign policy of Western governments erm, because in general, you know, we – we’re supportive of their – their efforts.

10:33:45
HANLEY:
MS HANLEY, I/V SYNC It’s never been the British government’s policy er, to encourage people to go to a military solution when there is what we believe to be good chances of a negotiated settlement.

10:33:54
SPICER:
CU SPICER, I/V SYNC I think that in those circumstances the sort of thing we had in mind was useful. I don’t think it cuts across…

INTERVIEWER:
But except in this instance, the Minister did not think it was useful. You know, Jeremy Hanley immediately called – it’s a very unusual thing, he calls the High Commissioner across and says, ‘this has got to stop, this is not the way to go about this, and the aid that we give your country will be at risk if you do it.’ I mean, I can’t see how that could be construed as –

10:34:20
SPICER:
Well, again, I – and I don’t know what took place, and – and I wouldn’t really wish to comment on what was said and not – or not said, in that particular incident.

10:34:29
EXT. DAY: H/A PANORAMIC COMM:
SHOT OF CITY, PAN L But if Spicer’s policy so upset the British government, how on earth could he have got away with it for so long? Spicer and Buckingham had been negotiating the deal for a whole year. The British intelligence
EXT. NIGHT: TILT UP FROM service MI6, based here on the South Bank
RIVER TO WS M16 BUILDING of the Thames, routinely monitors all overseas phones and faxes, and knew
FADE TO LS BUILDING exactly what they were up to, day by day.
FADE TO
10:34:50
ROBISON:
MS ROBISON, I/V SYNC You might as well walk into the office and place it on their desk for them and tell them what’s happening, because if you’re doing it on an open line it’s extremely easy for the intelligence services to tap it, to pick it out of the airwaves, do anything, you know. You know, they really would have known exactly what was happening, blow by blow.

10:35:08
INTERVIEWER:
MCU HANLEY, I/V SYNC In retrospect, it looks as though you were fantastically badly briefed weren’t you?

10:35:11
HANLEY:
Well, it’s easy to be wise after the event. Erm, one doesn’t necessarily know everything. It’s well known that government Ministers only know what they’re told.

10:35:21
ROBISON:
MCU ROBISON, I/V SYNC Why didn’t they tell the Minister more? Er, given the fact they obviously knew more. Erm, the – the officials, both in PNG, and therefore in Whitehall, knew a substantial amount of information at that point. It’s very hard – I can only guess as to why the Minister wasn’t told more, and it would seem that something was happening between British intelligence and possibly American intelligence, or between British intelligence and Australian intelligence, to do with private security operations in PNG.

10:35:52
INTERVIEWER:
Which they approved of, but were aware that the Minister might not approve of?

10:35:56
ROBISON:
Approved of, in inverted commas. Found useful, convenient, erm, words like that spring to mind.

EXT. DAY: GVs 10:36:04 MUSIC
WASHINGTON
COMM:
And indeed, Dispatches has evidence that in private other Western government officials do support the use of this new breed of mercenary. Last year the American Defence Intelligence Agency convened a classified meeting
WS HOTEL, PAN R & Z/I ON at this Washington hotel to discuss
WINDOWS mercenary activity. The guest list included many key American policy makers, as well representatives of several
GVs TRAFFIC IN STREET African countries. Among the guests, Tim Spicer and Eeben Barlow, along with academic Herb Howe.

10:36:36
HOWE:
MS HOWE, I/V SYNC People in the British government and in the American government have mixed feelings about the private security forces. Erm, they’re not under the control of the government, but I think they’re very strongly under the – the government’s influence.

10:36:49
ARCHIVE: MERCENARIES HOWE V/O:
LIFTING PACKS & MAN WITH They will go in as combat operators and
ROCKET LAUNCHER effectively do things which Western governments –

10:36:54
HOWE:
MS HOWE, I/V SYNC - want to have done, but are very reluctant to do themselves.

10:36:59 MUSIC
CU SLIDE PROJECTOR LENS
AS SLIDE CHANGES
10:37:01
STILL: WS MERCENARIES BY COMM:
PLANE The appeal to the West is superficially alluring. When the international community
STILL: PILOT IN COCKPIT is unwilling to interfere in a country’s affairs, a mercenary army can do
B/W STILL: DEAD BODIY the job, promising speedy peace and stability, albeit at a high
B/W STILL: DECAYED BODY cost.

10:37:18
SPICER:
CU SPICER, I/V SYNC It has to come down to whether you want security or not. If you don’t have security, you don’t attract foreign investment, your economy doesn’t – and your – your economy and your infan – infrastructure doesn’t develop and therefore you can’t progress.

10:37:31
EXT. DAY: L/A WS UNITED COMM:
NATIONS BUILDING In fact, the evidence does not support this salesman’s pitch.
LS FLAGS ON POLES At the United Nations last year, the special rapporteur presented
L/A WS UN BUILDING a report on the dangers of mercenaries. He singled out
CU FLAGS ON POLES Executive Outcomes and argued they did not bring stability.

10:37:45
WS PEOPLE CROSSING STREET
10:37:47
BALLASTEROS (subtitles)
Executive Outcomes was supposed to have provided Sierra Leone with effective protection and security. Obviously these claimes were nothing but propaganda, because the deep lying problems remained untouched.

10:37:49
LS BALLESTEROS MAKING
STATEMENT TO UN


10:38:05
GVs DELEGATES CHATTING COMM:
& EMPTY SEATS FOR PAPUA But despite Ballesteros’s hostility to the
NEW GUINEA & SIERRA LEONE growth of the mercenary companies, he
ETC received little support at the UN meeting.
The representatives from Papua New Guinea
and Sierra Leone were absent during his speech, and in the discussion afterwards
MCU BALLESTEROS not one delegate referred to the mercenary problem. Not even the Americans or the Africans.

10:38:28
MCU BALLESTEROS, I/V SYNC BALLESTEROS (subtitles)
Let me tell you I am used to this silence after ten years of being the Special Rapporteur. I
H/A MS DELEGATES CHATTING know that sometimes this silence is based on confusion and at other times on trying to avoid saying what needs to be said before the international community.

10:38:51
INT. DAY: WS PAN R PAST COMM:
EMPTY SEATS IN UN CHAMBER But the international community is still deeply divided. Many international bodies did not turn up to hear Ballesteros’s address, including the IMF and the World Bank.

10:39:02
HOWE:
MS HOWE, I/V SYNC I think publicly a number of the international lending agencies would be very critical of Executive Outcomes. I would guess, however, that a number of people in these er, in the World Bank and perhaps the IMF er, found a lot of merit in Executive Outcomes, in that it created a certain amount of stability, however temporary, within a country that allowed for more economic development to occur and for the infrastructure not to be destroyed.

10:39:31
INTERVIEWER:
MS BALLESTEROS, I/V SYNC There are some indications that countries in the West think this is a new model for international security.

BALLESTEROS (subtitles)
There were many countries in the Western world that thought that Hitler was good for peace. These collective misconceptions - it’s not the first time that this has happened in Western countries.

10:39:44
EXT. DAY: WS PAN L WITH
CHILDREN PLAYING WITH
CART IN STREET

10:39:52 MUSIC
COMM:
But
WS WOMAN POUNDING CORN until the West comes round to Ballesteros’s view,
WS CHILD CARRYING CHAIR the new mercenaries, aided by the allies in Western
MS MAN ON CRUTCHES intelligence services, will continue to find willing customers
WS PEOPLE ON STEPS keen for short term stability at almost any price.

10:40:07
HOWE:
CU HOWE, I/V SYNC If the West is not going to send in its own forces, if Africa cannot or will not have the military capability, then who else can come in?

10:40:18
SPICER:
MS SPICER, I/V SYNC I think that we will continue to develop, given that the world is an extremely dangerous and volatile place.
MUSIC
10:40:25
ARCHIVE: WS BODY BAG
LOADED ONTO PLANE 10:40:26
COMM:
Angola, last year. A United Nations peace keeper is sent home in a body bag. The mercenaries have gone, but the civil war
MS TRACK R PAST UN PEACE continues, a lasting peace as distant as ever.
KEEPERS In Sierra Leone, the mercenaries have ousted the rebels twice over, but today the fighting is as fierce as ever.
WS BODY BAG LIFTED FROM The
STRETCHER mining companies and the
MS UN PEACE KEEPERS mercenaries are now much richer,
WS EMPTY STRETCHER the countries themselves as bitter and as
REMOVED divided as before.
WS BODY BAG IN CARGO HOLD But there is one big difference now – they
FADE TO B/W are an awful lot poorer.
FADE TO BLACK
10:41:04
END CREDITS
Researchers
Sam Gould
John Liebenberg

Camera
Mark Stucke
Jon Lane

Production Assistants
Eugene Godden
Pauline Lawrence Johnson

Production Manager
Martin Long

Editor / Sound
Keely Purdue

Reporter
Christopher Hird

Director
Mark Stucke
Richard Belfield

Producer
Mark Stucke

A Journeyman Film

in association with Fulcrum Productions

for Channel 4, 1998.