under siege - through the jungle - on the beach

FrankFrank 2,373 Posts
edited February 2007 in Strut Central
Earlier this month, the general strike in Guinea has led into a full scale uprising. Last week, the Guinean government has declared the state of emergency and announced a curfew that had covered 3/4 of the day. The government has decided to show it's iron fist. President Conte introduced his new propaganda that the Fula people are behind this so called attempt to overthrow the government. That is complete bullshit. This was an uprising lead by a youth that is sick of growing up without any sort of perspective, living under horrendous conditions while everyone connected to the government drives around in Hummer Limousines and builds one Villa after the other. Now the government has decided to give its people a scapegoat instead of a perspective. There never were any ethnic conflicts in Guinea before. This might change now.Once the state of emergency was announced, the military started moving into one "quartier" of the city after the other Always beginning at dusk, the thunder of shots could be heard all over town. Theft, destruction of property, shooting injuries, beatings and rapes started being reported. There seems to be close to zero international press. The only two indepenent Radio Stations in Conakry were raided and destroyed.The americans have started evacuating last week. the French have a ship with 10 helicopters on hold and we got ordered to fly out of the country by the German embassy on Saturday. There are still flights by Air France but the waiting list is long, the only other European Airline to fly out of Guinea, SN have suspended all flights. We would not have been able to take the dogs along because they would need a proof of vaccination and an implanted chip to enter Europe.We decided to not leave them behind and packed the car.I'm typing this from an internet cafe in Freetown.We made it from Conakry over the border yesterday and it was probably the most adventurous day in my life. Scary, surreal and for sure something I don't want toexperience ever again. Lots of military road blocks, all in all 10 of them, or more, very much possible I forgot one or two.We had drugged our dogs with sleeping pills and valium so they kept quiet and didn't puke all over the car when driving down bumpy dirt roads at high speed. I wore a fake uniform with a clipped on photoshopped fantasy "head of security at German embassy"-ID. Inbetween seats was a stack with give-away T-shirts and bundles of prestacked cash for bribes were deposited in the ashtray. My wife was white as a wall for the entire trip. They seem to have let a whole otherbreed of soldiers out of the caves, scary motherfuckers with gold teeth, mirrored sunglasses, huge fucking guns,- forget about the usual AK47s or chinese burpguns, these were big, heavy MGs, the kind that come with tripods attached to the barrel. The most bizarre road block was in front of the last town before the Sierra Leone border. There is a wide river you have to cross over an old, damaged stone bridge. There were a couple of soldiers on one side and we had already reached the middle of the bridge, thinking that that was it when we noticed a helicopter on the oposite river bench and a larger group of soldiers on street at the other side of the bridge. The apparent man in charge was wearing civil clothes and was sitting in a plastic chair. He just looked mean and studied our papers without comment or even looking at us. I handed out some cash to the uniform closest to the car, tried to look as relaxed as possible and started a bit of small talk. Luckily, we were let through as on every other road block without having the vehicle searched or any other hassle. Probably also due to my wife constantly acting like she was on the phone, speaking either to some diplomats or military official, reporting our location and mentioning that "the road blocks are no problem and everybody was treating us nicely. Whenever one of the uniforms mentioned that at this particular location, there was no cell phone reception, I explained that we had some hi-tech satelite phone that would work everywhere...We had left at 9:00 in the morning and crossed over into Sierra Leone at noon. A few hours later, we had arrived at Hamilton beach, one hour out of Freetown. I was sitting in front of a rented beach hut with an ice cold Star beer in hand when out of a sudden, my knees started to tremble and wy eyes got wet.This morning, I already contacted my record buying agents in town and we ordered a crayfish dinner for the evening.

  Comments


  • FlomotionFlomotion 2,390 Posts
    All sounds horribly familiar. Keep safe, Frank.

  • aleitaleit 1,915 Posts
    frank-

    so glad to hear that you and your wife are safe.
    simon was telling me some of the details last night.
    this must have been a truly frightening experience.
    i can understand the dilemma of not wanting to leave behind your loved ones (the dogs) to die.
    take good care of yourself.
    and maybe put the records on hold for the day, my friend.

    peace,
    ari

  • jinx74jinx74 2,287 Posts
    be safe frank. i will say that you got some of the craziest stories/pictures of your time out there.

    later cuz...

  • SwayzeSwayze 14,705 Posts
    Terrible news.

    Glad to know you got out of there safe and sound.

    I'm forwarding your text now, in hope to raise awareness of the issue and get information circulating as soon as possible. Hope you don't mind.

  • nzshadownzshadow 5,518 Posts
    Holy shit...

    kind of puts into perspective the easy lives most of us lead.

    its good to hear you and the wife are ok (and the dogs too).

    next stop Amsterdam?

  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    I think we all owe Frank a beer when he gets back in return for all these amazing stories. Glad you made it out safely, from your story it sounds like you were prepared and knew exactly what to do, which I certainly wouldn't have. This is book-worthy material, I'd love to see a book that's about african funk records but told through the lens of your journey, photos and all. Seriously, it's worth considering. Hope your next few days are a bit more relaxed.

  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    Once the state of emergency was announced, the military started moving into one "quartier" of the city after the other Always beginning at dusk, the thunder of shots could be heard all over town. Theft, destruction of property, shooting injuries, beatings and rapes started being reported. There seems to be close to zero international press. The only two indepenent Radio Stations in Conakry were raided and destroyed.

    The international press can only report on things that they can verify. With everyone leaving, there can be no verification. It is up to the international non-press, i.e. Frank at an internet cafe in Freetown, to get the word out about Guinea. This kind of attention takes a very long time to spread into the mainstream outlets.

    Reuters did report about the struggle to get information about Guinea today. I took this from the NYTimes.com. You can read it here if the formatting in the quoted text below is too tough on your eyes. Does anyone know why it does that to the paragraph breaks in the quote box?

    Media Freedom Becomes Casualty of Guinea Crackdown[/b]

    By REUTERS
    Published: February 19, 2007
    Filed at 7:50 a.m. ET


    CONAKRY (Reuters) - Up to a week ago, Guinea's private radio stations were broadcasting dramatic first-hand accounts of violent street clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces.


    But since President Lansana Conte decreed martial law on Feb 12, non-government broadcasters are either off the air or playing innocuous music as media freedom becomes another casualty of the military crackdown in the West African nation.


    The martial law decree gave the military powers to control the press and state broadcaster RTG has transmitted warnings from the army chief that looters and troublemakers will be shot.


    No newspapers are being published[/b] and although at least one foreign-based Guinean news Web site continues to put out news, Internet cafes in the riot-hit capital have been closed. Foreign journalists have sometimes found it difficult to move freely.


    Conte relaxed a martial law curfew late on Sunday, but opposition leaders and human rights groups say hundreds of people have been arrested by police and soldiers in a brutal crackdown to crush a popular rebellion against his 23-year rule.


    At least 120 people, almost all civilians, have been killed since mid-January in labor stoppages and street protests called by unions who say Conte, a reclusive diabetic in his 70s, is unfit to rule the world's No. 1 bauxite exporter.


    Human rights groups accuse security forces of shooting, raping and beating civilians, including journalists.


    When private radio Liberty FM started up last year, its name symbolized hopes for greater media freedom in Guinea.


    These hopes were shattered a week ago when presidential guards ransacked its studios and arrested two staff members.


    Minutes after the station had broadcast live calls from two protesters last Monday for Conte to step down, soldiers in red berets burst into its offices, destroyed equipment and detained its top journalist and a technician.


    ``TERROR IN THE MEDIA''[/b]


    It had taken considerable pressure from international donors, notably the European Union, for Guinea to finally issue licenses to private broadcasters last year -- one of the last countries in Africa to do so.


    Even before martial law, Guinea ranked 109 in the 168-nation 2006 Press Freedom Index published by press freedom watchdogs Reporters Without Borders.


    ``With the Liberty FM incidents, we saw a suppression of the gains we have taken time to win,'' said Souleymane Diallo, owner of The Lynx satirical newspaper and representative in Guinea for Reporters Without Borders.


    The International Federation of Journalists also condemned ''this terror in the media instituted by the state of siege.''


    The two detained Liberty FM journalists were released on Wednesday after being interrogated by presidential guards.


    ``They wanted to know who financed us and what our relation was with the union leaders,'' said chief correspondent Mohamed Tondon Camara. He said his colleague, technician David Camara, was beaten around the head and burned with cigarettes.


    ``This state of emergency is a catastrophe. We have to submit our newspaper to a censor and that is humiliating,'' Diallo said.


    After the raid on Liberty FM, other broadcasters feared the same treatment. Journalists at Soleil FM fled their offices after hearing they too were about to be raided.


    A journalist at the third local news channel, Familia FM, said it was broadcasting nothing but sporadic music.


    Guinea's army chief, Kerfalla Camara, has since ordered his men to protect private media offices but this has done little to encourage journalists.


    ``I've got the paper, I've got electricity and water but I don't have the technicians to publish my paper,'' said Diallo.``Even if it was printed, the paper sellers wouldn't have the courage to display it.''

    The situation looks very very bleak. We're all glad you're alive and well.

    I hope that more people remain that way.

    Praying,
    JRoot
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