00’00
South African Neall Ellis calls it his office.An office that just happens to be a Russian-built helicopter gunship.00’15ELLIS - THOUGHT TRACK T8 (02;47) ‘reliable aircraft - strong. Ideally suited for African conditions” (02:51 ///T8 (02:21) “these are 80mm rockets obviously of Russian manufacture (02:23) /// (02;35) I think they were used very effectively in the Chechyen campaign we’ve certainly used them quite effectively”(02;40)00’37He’s fought in Angola, Zaire, Bosnia….and now Sierra Leone - worked for the big names in freelance soldiering : “Executive Outcomes” and “Sandline”.To the outside world he’s a mercenary - to those in the business this former South African Air Force Colonel is a private military contractor.00’58ELLIS - THOUGHT TRACK08:36 “the job I think is the same but the image has changed - now it’s suits and briefcases///ELLIS - SYNCH.08:54 ,/// the image of mercenaries as drunken guys going around shooting up the place you know, having a fine time, has gone - the people you find now generally speaking are well trained, professional soldiers special forces trained, and they are good soldiers (09;09).01’28He recruits from around the world - the mechanics are Ethiopian. Fijian Fred the door gunner is ex British SAS.And there’s Christophe - an enigmatic Frenchman who insists he’s here on holidays.01’53They’re paid by the Sierra Leone government, desperate to end a 9 year civil war against the rebel Revolutionary United Front - RUF - described as Africa’s Khymer Rouge.01’07The only thing the rebels fear are these men - and this gunship. If they catch the crew they’ve vowed to cut out their hearts and eat them.02’17ELLIS - THOUGHT TRACK (03:05) they are very frightened of this aircraft whenever we get overhead - they used to shoot at us quite a bit(03’11)/// (03;14) but small arms fire they’ve stopped shooting at us - they just duck for cover they run they scatter around the place (03;19)

Today’s combat mission: a surprise counterattack on rebels who this morning overran government troops in this village.
SUBTITLED ENGLISH.02’42T10 RADIO CHATTER-SUBTITLED15:30 “this village was attacked this morning, this is where I last saw the troops, they’ve been attacked - they’ve been pushed back” 15:32//15;35 “O.K.. These rebels are not so clued - they are very nearby - Look at all their shit lying around and …all the burning houses (15;48)03’01The RUF lie hidden under the trees - if they move - they’ll be spotted and killed - it’s that simple.
SUBTITLED ENGLISH03’10T10 RADIO CHATTER-SUBTITLED22:28 Doorgunner:“Are you going to fire?Pilot:I see them - I’m not sure if they are civilians or not - there are not supposed to be any civilians here - its all supposed to be a rebel area this is where they are supposed to be staying” 22:40
UPSOT
03’34There’s no Hollywood bravado - just a cold clinical efficiency to it all.

03’47A United Nations convention bans the use of mercenaries.Yet they’ve come to the rescue of embattled UN peace keepers here on more than one occasion.To many people this is a morally reprehensible vocation .04’05But in Sierra Leone, and many other parts of Africa there’s no peace to keep - The UN is powerless to stop the bloodshed.04’17Increasingly the whole concept of peacekeeping is being questioned.Now there are calls for the UN to privatise. To hire these men to do the dirty job of enforcing peace.
UPSOT GUNFIRE/ROCKETS

1. Sierra Leone + Liberia 04’38MAP
2. Freetown.

MUSIC SANTANA...”Africa Bamba”
05’07It’s a piece of the Caribbean in Africa - that should be paradise...Freetown - founded in the 19th century by freed slaves from the Americas. Today it’s a city traumatised by a war that can turn more quickly than the weather. Missing a radio security update can cost you your life.Santana drifts across town with the monsoonal rain - the signature tune for an Englishman who has made Sierra Leone his home.
04’45(39:27) “this is security talk coming to from radio Democracy FM 98.13, ...Graham...” (39:31)

04’52Graham McKinley, the former British defence attache here, has lived in Freetown for 10 years.On his weekly radio show - he says he tells it like it is..06’02MCKINLEY UPSOT IN STUDIO.(T2 40;20) “....they should protect the civilian population. Respect human rights.....”
MCKINLEY GRAB.(T1 59:50) ”So RUF the game is up/// (53) (59), come back on side and lets have some peace in this beautiful country.” (01:03)The war, he says is about one issue -rebel attempts to control the country’s vast supply of diamonds.

06’21GRAHAM MCKINLEYT2 (03;58) these people have nothing and they believe a little handful of diamonds is going to enrich their lives - and it has enriched a lot of people but it’s an extraordinary pervasive corruption - it’s difficult to explain how the diamond is the cause of all of this - but it is the diamond - it is nothing else” (04;20)
06’48Out on the digs it’s backbreaking work...these labourers only get paid when they find diamonds - but they receive a pittance compared to the wealth amassed by owners and traders.07’04After launching their war in ‘91 the RUF quickly seized these lucrative holdings - and threatened the big foreign owned diamond mines.07’199 years of anarchy and terror followed. The nation destroyed by war and ever-changing political alliances that confounded first a Nigerian-led West African intervention force, then the peace keepers of the United Nations.The only success story amid the wreckage of military failure - a group of foreign mercenaries hired by the government in ’95.Super:PROMOTIONAL VIDEO.07’49E.O. VIDEO(39;00) “hi I’m Gavin and I work for Executive Outcomes and I’ve been working for them for a long time now - they sent us to this beautiful place to work” (39;12).
08’00This mercenary force of white and black South Africans took less than a month to push the rebels out of the Kono diamond area.
08’10MCKINLEYT2 24:12 “Executive Outcome cleared Kono in 95/ 96..96 actually with 56 men. And they held it with 110.”

08’20Allegations emerged that the Executive Outcomes deal centred on receiving diamond mining concessions as payment - an arrangement denied by the group.

08’30GRAHAM MCKINLEYT2 26:23 “Branch Energy and Executive Outcome were linked together. Branch Energy was a diamond mining company and Executive Outcome was the military arm” 26;29

08’39On the verge of military defeat, the rebels gained a surprising victory.Playing on international concerns over the morality of the mercenary diamond deal - - they signed a peace agreement on the condition that Executive Outcomes would leave the country.In 1997 the South Africans were sent packing.09’00NEALL ELLIS (07:32) “ it was pressure from the International Community using a private military organisation. I think the World Bank had some input on that. They had just about achieved their aim, when they were forced to leave”. 07:40
09’15GRAHAM MCKINLEY (T2 43:44) “without a doubt Executive Outcome saved this country at a time when nobody else was prepared to do it. When they withdrew the situation became worse, and it deteriorated into the situation that it is in now.” (43:54)

09’38The insanity reached an all time low in January last year when the rebels briefly seized Freetown - slaughtering 6 thousand people - before being driven out by the desperate Nigerians.
09’55Hundreds - perhaps thousands of others had limbs hacked off with machetes - the trademark punishment of the RUF.Out of this madness - the United Nations brokered another peace deal that incredibly, placed RUF leader Foday Sankoh in the Government as Minister for Mines.

10’22A UN peacekeeping force - UNAMSIL - was sent in to supervise the peace process.But in May this year it all fell apart. In a huge blow to UN’s credibility the rebels took 500 peacek eepers hostage.Outraged protesters marched on Sankoh’s Freetown home. The rebel leader’s bodyguards opened fire killing more than a dozen. UP SOT SHOOTING.10’55GRAB SankohThe people of this country Sierra Leone, they have been crying for war and their cries have been answered by GOD almighty. Sankoh was later arrested, and the rebels were reportedly at the gates of the city once more.With the UN mission in chaos - Britain - the former colonial power here - landed paratroopers to defend the city and evacuate foreigners.
11’30upsound of British soldier:‘Full inspection of arms when I pass you. Dirty screen, dirty screen,dirty screen …….
11’41They stayed for nearly two months until a shaken UN could call in reinforcements.

11’47GRAHAM MCKINLEY.(T2 17;08) “I think the failure of UNAMSIL at the start of this operation really put the frighteners on United Nations if you like, made them realise that they’ve got to do something serious” (17;17)
12’03When it comes to UN peacekeeping in Africa these days, the first world provides the money and angst - the third world provides the soldiers.No first world country wants to commit troops to an African quagmire.The result in Sierra Leone? 13 thousand poorly trained, poorly equipped peace keepers - mainly from African states - many of whom refuse to obey orders.And that criticism from the man who commands them - Indian General Vijay Kumar Jetley.

MAJ-GEN. VIJAY KUMAR JETLEYUNAMSIL COMMANDER.12’41GENERAL VIJAY KUMAR JETLEY(T3 16:37) “what I really need are troops who can deliver, you see we have a job here, the moment the international community understands that, and to do the job you need particular type of troops, and what do I mean by that I mean troops who are going to deliver, not who are going to question or who are going to dither, (16:52)///(17:44) “and it cannot be that I start getting questioned: why me here and why not so and so there - I think that’s very childish, very immature and I don’t think that’s required.
13’14The UNAMSIL commander wears a relieved look these days.In a rare victory for the UN, his troops have just rescued the last of the peace keepers taken hostage back in May.

13’27Stung by constant criticism of his command, he takes the extraordinary step of publicly airing his doubts over the entire concept of UN peacekeeping.
13’38GENERAL VIJAY KUMAR JETLEY.(24:43) I think it is time to take stock of the manner in which we conduct peacekeeping operations”24:49 ///25:38 “firstly, the mental preparedness to do this is lacking with most countries who contribute. There’s a misconception and perhaps I’m not being cynical, there’s a misconception in the minds of certain people that peacekeeping means being very well turned out, wearing a nice blue helmet or cap and being in a white vehicle with a blue flag fluttering around and you are marching up and down - and that’s peacekeeping - that’s not”



14’17This nice neat UN world doesn’t extend beyond Freetown. Out in the countryside the peace keepers control little more than the ground they stand on - this is the safest way to travel.We’re in the belly of the beast - for a ride in the worlds biggest helicopter to Daru - the UN’s most remote outpost - just 20 kilometres from the border with Liberia.14’52Below - the pocked landscape of the diamond fields - controlled by the rebels who each year smuggle up to 100 million dollars worth of stones out through Liberia in return for weapons.
(UPSOT - Helo landing)

15’15Their white UN vehicles now camouflaged, the 800 Indian U.N. troops at Daru have abandoned any pretence of peacekeeping.15’24Just days earlier these men rescued 230 colleagues held hostage - then fought an 80 kilometre running battle with the RUF all the way back to this base.Beyond lies the jungle - which belongs to increasing numbers of rebels.
UPSOT PREPARING FOR PATROL15’48INDIAN COLONEL(T6 16:56) “on the eastern side they’re as close as about 2 kilometres, and on the western side behind us, about 3-4 kilometres away” (17;06)

PTC
16’10(26:42) “We’ve just left the Indian battalion compound, and we’re heading out on patrol with a group of Indian Gurkhas . Somewhere out here in the jungle, there’s between two and three thousand RUF , there are reports that they are now massing out here somewhere. The job of these guys is to ascertain just exactly where they are and what their intentions are - hopefully today not hostile.” (27:03)

16’38The Gurkhas - though few in number are the best troops in the UN contingent. Fresh from fighting insurgents in Indian Kashmir, they know only too well how vulnerable they are out here with rebels indistinguishable from local people. The tension is increased by reports that army officers from neighbouring Liberia have been seen advising the rebels. Without the support of Liberian president Charles Taylor the war could not continue. The patrol moves to within a kilometre of the RUF positions - and still no sign of the rebels.To everyone’s relief we turn back.
17’27INDIAN OFFICER.36;10 Q.” I notice the blue helmets have now been painted green and brown why is that?36’13 you see the blue helmet designates a peace keeper, it is a very conspicuous thing.Q. and you’ve gone beyond that now?A. yeah we have gone beyond that and you can understand, as the situation demands”.


17’55Back at the base camp a group of rebels has just surrendered their weapons to the UN.Kidnapped as 13 year olds - they were conscripted in the RUF as child soldiers.7 years on - at the risk of being killed by their own side - they’ve made their escape.18’18SURRENDERED REBEL38:13 “I love my country - so I just sit down and think work my mind that fighting is no good - so I just come to give up myself - I don’t want to fight again” 38;2518’38Disarming and demobilising fighters of all factions is a key part of the UN mandate.While an international tribunal has just been created to try the RUF leadership - the rank and file get an amnesty.18’54UN OFFICER TO REBEL43;36 “ The Government of Sierra Leone has granted you amnesty - amnesty means that all - excuse me to say - the sins against the government of Sierra Leone that is fighting alongside RUF, and killing and all those things, he has forgiven you” 43:54
(UPSOT MUSIC/DANCING IN CAMP)19’20They’ll join hundreds of other surrendered rebels, renegade soldiers and their families - who form a welcoming committee for us - at the gates of the demobilisation camp. All say they’re sick of fighting - but many still support the RUF.19’41EX REBEL IN CAMP.(12;41) “I was spending with them 8 years.Q. 8 years? It’s a long time.A. “ It’s a long time - I know what RUF has been fighting for, because RUF they are not fighting for power, also was not looking for money, but were looking for our liberation, our freedom” (13;01)

(UPSOT MUSIC)
20’07Into this somewhat surreal scene marches the nemesis of the RUF - a group of the local pro-government militia. They’re tribal hunters - called Kamajors.They rely on their elaborate dress and black magic when they go head hunting for rebels.

20’25KAMJORS GRAB54:30 “(tribal language) that he has on the hand - if he shows it to any type of weapon obviously that weapon will not fire any longerQ. Has he seen this work? Has he actually seen this work?(heated translation) A. many times! Because it is the dress he takes to the bush to go and fight’ (54:51) ///
(01:24) “A knife like this is easy to cut their heads off. First of all he will shout at the enemy - then force him - he will become weak.Q. then you cut their heads off?A. Yes! (01:33)

UPSOT SL ARMY RECRUITS MARCHING SONG.
21’06For those in the camps - this is the meal ticket to a better life -Signing up to be part of Britain’s strategy to fight this war by proxy.Having little faith in the U.N.’s ability to resolve the conflict - the British have decided to help Sierra Leone’s army to beat the rebels.
UPSOT SL RECRUITS JIVING
21’32A British army training team is turning out 1000 new recruits every six weeks..

BRITISH INSTRUCTOR(T8 59:49) “I’m looking for the big guys OK? The guys who can think”
UPSOT MARCHING SONG.BRITISH INSTRUCTOR00”04“this is the weapon that will win any war OK?” 00”08UPSOT MARCHING SONG.BRITISH INSTRUCTOR(00”14) “we use it in the British army OK cause we know its a good weapon this is why youse have it - we’ll put it into practise” (00:20)

22’10Only those with previous combat experience need apply - and it doesn’t really matter which side they fought for.
CAPT. FERGUS SMITHBRITISH ARMY22’15GRAB. CAPTAIN FERGUS SMITH(15:09) Q. “would you recruit a soldier, as some have done, turned renegade or joined the RUF, then surrendered and come in?///(15:19) A. “We wouldn’t have a problem with that because the end product is the same. When we screen people the necessary criteria is their military experience. Where they gained that experience is not relevant because what we turn them into is exactly the same as the man standing next to him and the man next to him. They are accountable well trained soldiers that will remain loyal to the government, because the government is correctly supporting him” (15;45)

22’56Across Freetown lies another camp - but one without hope.It’s home for a couple of hundred war victims and their families.Occasionally they’ll attempt a sad display of self sufficiency. Contrary to popular belief, 60% of the amputees in this camp were attacked by machete wielding soldiers - not rebels.In this war, large numbers of soldiers have deserted, joining the rebels or forming a third, renegade force that often matches the RUF in the brutality stakes.CORINNE DUFKA - HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH.23’36HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH.(51:40) “One of the common traits within this war has been the trait of betrayal. The civilians have been betrayed by their armies again and again and instead of protecting them are abusing them and extorting from them and using them as a means of enriching themselves (51;56)23’57Human Rights Watch, fears the cycle of violence is set to continue - as some of the most notorious offenders from the Sierra Leone Army, or SLA, have already been recruited into the British training program.
CORINNE DUFKA - HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH.24’14HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH.(51:15) “there’s effectively no screening, as far as we can see that’s going on. I’m already hearing cases, just the other day I heard a case of a SLA lieutenant who was involved in an extortion ring and there was another suspect case of SLA’s looting villages so you have the same behaviour as the rebels, within the new Sierra Leone army and they’re supposed to be protecting the civilians (51;37)


(T8 59:24) recruits hands in air singing waving/towels around head.SUBTITLED ENGLISH.

With the British now busily retraining the army - the UN has changed tack - engineering an international ban on the sale of illicit diamonds - an attempt to starve the rebels of funds.But Graham McKinley says the war will not end until the rebel-held diamond fields are retaken.
25’39GRAHAM MCKINLEY“the diamond mining areas which are the main bread bin of this country that’s where their main resources are. At the moment they are in the hands of the RUF. Now if the United Nations is unable to clear that or the Sierra Leone military whose job it should be, are unable to clear that, then I think the time may come to invite a private military company in to do so” (25;53)

two shot Ellis with reporterHind gunship in background.


26’39GEN. VIJAY KUMAR JETLEY.(30:16) “ Well yes I think so. I think in some countries perhaps a smaller, well equipped, well trained mercenary force would probably be the answer.”
26’49It’s an extraordinary statement for a senior UN commander to make.But as he inspects yet another huge cache of captured weapons General Jetley knows that as long as the rebels have access to diamonds they will also have an endless supply of arms.However, he does see one major problem in unleashing the dogs of war.The says the mercenaries would also be attracted by the diamonds and he fears they could perpetuate the conflict to keep the money rolling in.
27’26GEN. VIJAY KUMAR JETLEY“But being a United Nations man myself I feel that these sorts of arrangements are not healthy///“Lets not forget, there are no good Samaritans any more, there’s no altruism anywhere - these are words in the dictionary - everybody comes for some money and the more you get the better it is” (31:07)

If the private military contractors are called, there is the big question of accountability.ENGLISH - SUBTITLE 27’50For every contractor such as Neall Ellis who insists he’ll only work for a legitimate government, there are a dozen soldiers of fortune who’ll fight for the highest bidder.HELICOPTER INTERCOM28:32 “What’s that underneath the trees there Fred?...Trees, underneath the trees there.”Down there somewhere training the rebels, are Ukrainians, Israelis, even one or two of Ellis’s old comrades from South Africa.
SUBTITLE - ENGLISH.GUNSHIP INTERCOM.23:49 “I’m rolling up for the first strike...It will be the last row of buildings along this road - you can see on the right” 23:58(FIRES ROCKETS)

28’30And on the ground there are allegations the soldiers-for-hire disregard civilian casualties - that attacks by this gunship are often indiscriminate.
CORRINE DUFKA - HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH.28’40HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH57:10 we are realistic in terms of accepting that unfortunately there are going to be civilian casualties within military installations or close by, that’s part of the reality of war, but what we have a problem with is when they target and rocket marketplaces., public places, where there is a high concentration of civilians and this is what has been happening (57:28)

NEALL ELLIS
28’58T8 (13:45) Q. How do you identify a target, what is a target for you when you are on a patrol?13:50 “normally a vehicle, if the vehicle in enemy areas, predominantly enemy strongholds and we go to those areas and vehicles are targets, and of course people. You know if we see RUF, you can tell the difference between a rebel and a civilian, you get the feel, you can tell the difference, and normally rebels are carrying guns - civilians aren’t carrying guns. If a civilian is carrying a gun, he is a rebel, so he is a target (14;17)
29’38For Ellis and his crew this war has become very personal.They’ve stuck it out for 5 years - kept fighting when nearly everyone else had fled. At one point without an employer, they weren’t even paid for a year.Now flying for the Sierra Leone army, Ellis has the discreet support of the British - who’ve placed an Air Force liaison officer on his team - and make sure his pay cheques keep coming.

30’04NEALL ELLIS - THOUGHT TRACK (T8 08;00)I enjoy the job, and obviously we were earning some money to keep ourselves going, but the other point is I want to stay here - I love this country - and the people are nice - and I believe there is a lot of potential here so I’m intending to make this my country, where I’m going to stay where I am going to retire (08:16)
30’28This is another reason he keeps flying.Memuna is 3 years old. 18 months ago a drug-crazed rebel hacked off her arm - a random attack to instil terror in the local community.People continue to be butchered or mutilated every day because the international community has been unable to stop a murderous rabble.CORRINE DUFKA - HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH.30’55HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH(02:26) “certainly something has to be done because if the past is any indication. What the cost in human life and the cost in suffering of the civilian population in this country - any continued rebel activity is just going to contribute to this vast pain the Sierra Leoneons are suffering” (02;47)

31’27(UPSOT music UB 40)and so the war drags on…the UN on the beach - contemplating what went wrong.The British warship offshore - engaging in a bit of good old fashioned gunboat diplomacy. ...While the gunship sets off on another mission. Mercenaries or military contractors, it doesn’t really matter what they’re called, but for Sierra Leone, they may be the best last chance.
32’06
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