Kosovo got more attention than Sierra-Leone - Sorious Samura

Vanguard Daily (Lagos)
May 22, 2000

Lagos - He was no doubt the centre of attention at the recent World Press Freedom Day celebration held at the UN Headquarters, New York and why not. His documentary film, Cry Freetown, has not only captured the imagination of the world on the seemingly unending tragedy of war ravaged Sierra Leone but has also won several awards that include the prestigious Free Press Award by Freedom Forum.

Sorious Samura, a Sierra Leonean free lance journalist risked his life in the thick of the war to capture this graphic horror of killing and maiming that formed part of the on going 3 year old war in that English speaking country. Sorious now on self exile in England believes that except the West does something fast to help Africa, they would continue to receive pressure from Africa for a share of their supposed peace and stability. Dark and soft spoken father of three, Sorious spoke to Jemi Ekunkunbor who was in New York. Excerpts

Why did you decide to make this film?

You know when the fighting got to Freetown, I saw a lot of people being hacked to death, being raped, being maimed and there was no media presence there. The western media wasn t present there at all. So I thought this is your country, these are your people and this story needs to be told. It was based on this that I decided to go out in the street because then I was in hiding. I realised how intense, how serious the whole war was going and the desperation of people at that time. I thought I should go out and present something to the world and get support for the people of Sierra Leone. That was how I made the decision to go out and film.

How was the local media functioning at that time?

There was nobody. Nobody came out and I won t blame them. These guys had a list of journalists. They were going from house to house looking for journalists specifically. Every one was running for dear life and no body dared come out and you wouldn t blame them. Fortunately, when I came out, with the blessing of God, I came across one or two who didn t carry that kind of list. I think it was just the hand of God that creates a miracle. But nobody would come out at that time.

Did you have any insurance covering you?

You must be kidding! You know this is Africa. It is Sierra Leone. You know the set up. You know the situation. I am a free lance journalist. I look after myself. I run my own affairs. I came to the UK spent my life savings, bought all my equipment, spent about #10,000 and went back there. So where would I get money to insure myself. You know the insurance system. This film is not about money at all. If you get killed that is the end of it. At that time, women and children were sitting there helpless dying. The picture that I saw from the place I was hiding were just too unbearable. So I thought I would go out and do something about it. It never crossed my mind that I should get paid if something happens and my camera is damaged or I get shot or whatever. It is not about money at all.

As a journalist in the thick of the war, what were the things that you did to keep yourself alive?

I always say to colleagues covering wars that first of all, you have got to know the people you are dealing with before you attempt to cover these conflicts. I was able to predict what these guys are capable of doing. The moment the rebels caught me, I started pretending as if I was on their side. Survival. You have to do whatever. That was how I managed to survive until when ECOMOG was concentrating their attack in our area, I escaped. The same thing happened when I joined ECOMOG. There were some instances when they were not quite happy with me and allow me to go on filming. I also had to pretend as if I was not filming some of these incidence so that you don t get some body to just snatch the camera from you. It was difficult. If you play against them, you will be a dead man. If you don t play against them, you stand probably being shot by enemies. So it was a difficult situation. I was between the devil and the deep blue sea.

How would you describe some of the pictures you saw and showed in your film?

I would simply say that only 15% of the pictures I managed to capture was used in this documentary. It is a mild list. But notwithstanding, the fact remains that I still don t think that the worst war film writer would dare to write such horrific, graphic images of war. There are a few shots that I always anticipate each time this film is being shown and I don t bother to watch them. I still can t stand watching them even though I was the one who filmed them at that time. That is how graphic these pictures are. These people were animals because it is only animals who would do this sort of thing to their own people. I still have some pictures that I won t let people see.

Having had such first hand experience of killing and maiming meted out to your people, how were you able to remain objective in your report?

It was very difficult. I always ask myself whether the camera helped to play a role in the brutality that these guys unleashed, be it ECOMOG, be it rebel. When some of them probably see the camera, they go wide. I am not so sure of that but nonetheless, first of all, I had to prove to myself that I was there not because I wanted to prosecute anybody, but because I wanted to bring out the plight of the masses. They were my target. The suffering people. It was about them. It wasn t about the ECOMOG or the rebels. It was about these people. It was their story that I wanted to tell. So there has been one or two cases when I see them brutalizing people, when you feel like doing something about it. But I always keep pinching myself and reminding myself that my role there is to capture the evidence because the possibility would have existed that I would get in the way and be killed by these guys. Difficult as it was though, I managed to keep reminding myself that my job there is to be neutral.

When was the film first shown?

It was first shown early January in the UK by channel 4 and by first week in February this year, it was shown on CNN. It was later shown by SABC in South Africa and after which it was shown all over the place. Recently, it was shown on Ghana State Television.

How has Sierra Leone reacted to this film?

Mixed feelings. Some people are for, some are against. Some say I didn t treat ECOMOG fairly. Some were happy that I got the story out. Some feel that I didn t do justice to ECOMOG. Some felt it was well presented. You would always have that kind of reaction because with everything, you cannot please everybody. But my bottom line is, if anybody looks at that film, you will see that all I did was to describe the pictures that are available. Sadly enough, I didn t get much on the rebels but what I had is what I talked about. Now a lot of Sierra Leoneans are now seeing the bigger pictures that I was aiming for when I was doing the documentary because a lot of support has gone into the country since I did this documentary. It is just because these rebels are not sincere at all. I mean we all are now aware of the abduction and kidnapping of these ECOMOG UN soldiers. It shows the direction in which we are going. There is no hope as such. But I am still optimistic. I just keep my fingers crossed. A lot of Sierra Leoneans are used to living in hope. So we just keep our fingers crossed.

Your critics have said you were one sided in that...

Simple. I have always said to people who ask those kind of question that there were other Journalists there at that time. Did they come out? Why didn t they come out? I got out there. I only described what I managed to film at the time. Unfortunately, the rebels couldn t give me a chance to film their actions. They let me film things after it was done, but while they were committing atrocity, no way! I was warned and you don t take chances with the rebels. Sadly enough, people never quite listened to the narrations and got what I said about ECOMOG in the film because the pictures are too strong. So people went away with the images and ended up hating ECOMOG and now ECOMOG has done some good work in Sierra Leone.

How has the making of Cry Freetown affected your life?

My life has changed completely since I did this film. I have never had time to like even go back to my country and I wouldn t want to go back.

Has there been a threat to your life?

Not directly but statement has been made openly and the Nigerian force commander who visited Sierra Leone made a direct statement about me and the press carried some of his comments. Some of the comments I would say were inciteful which has given me extra reason to be cautious because he is a top gun. If he wants to say things that will leave his men kicking, their blood rushing, then I have to be careful. So it is a bit of a risky one but then, whatever he said is his opinion. I am not even sure whether he watched the film because I gave everybody the opportunity to watch the film before it was shown. President Ahmed Tijan Kabbah watched the film, Dr. Julius Spencer, the Minister of Information watched the film, the late General Maxwell Kobi watched the film and they were all okay with it. I think the impact that it created when it was shown by CNN turned the table around.

How do you feel about the two awards that you have won?

Quite honestly, they are three because I got the Free Press given by Freedom Forum during the CNN journalist award. I got another one from CNN as well. It was held in South Africa last year. To tell you the honest truth, awards mean nothing to me. The bottom line is if I hadn t staked my life, the western media wouldn t care and I don t fancy being tapped on my back. The point is, I want to make the difference not just for Sierra Leone, but for the continent. I have said it time and time again to the western media that I want them to take away the awards but let them allow us space and air time to tell our own stories, the African stories from our own perspective and then, I don t mind if I don t have any award because I would be happy with that because I know the African problems and I know what I think the real issues are so I would rather we told our own story than we have westerners coming to tell our own story based on lip service whatever people would tell them without getting into the details but I would rather give away the award for air time for the real issues.

What are the real obstacles that you faced in course of producing this film?

A lot of them. I mean a lot of western media kept insisting that they need to censor the footage, it is too strong they need to sanitize it. It is too strong for their viewers. Their viewers can t take it and so on and so forth. All sorts of excuses were given and I kept arguing that you can t decide for this people. These are real things that happened. A man shooting a boy. It was real. Let them see and understand what is going on in the other parts of the world and see how they can invest or how their taxes is being invested or why it should be invested to help a continent they colonized that they gave the so called democracy and democracy was being attacked. Who said to them that democracy was going to work in Africa? But they forced it on us and they never gave us the kind of guide to defend that democracy and when the democracy was being attacked, they all left. So at the end of the day, I wanted their tax payer to see the monster that their past government created and now it is us that the monster is attacking. They have left.

Have the West shown any interest after seeing the film?

Oh yes! A few weeks after the film came out, the UN intensified its troops to Sierra Leone. A few other mechanisms were put in place but no the less which ever way you put it, it is not enough. Kosovo got ten times what we got and our crises is a lot more serious than Kosovo. I say this with a lot of respect for the people of Kosovo but this is the real fact. So I still think the UN has got to allow us more proper representative in the UN and then maybe, we would be able to help make the proper decisions.

How would you advise journalist in Africa?

It is a difficult one because we are talking about survival, we are talking about working under strenuous conditions we are talking about lack of proper training we are talking about lack of logistics. There are quite a lot of problems there that needs to be addressed before you turn around and point your finger at the African journalist. Because under all these difficult circumstances, some of them managed to stay humble. It is difficult. But I would say to them, I have proved it. It is a long walk. If you attempt to tell the truth, if you attempt to just do your work as a journalist and don t cross the line, if you walk on that, it would be a matter of time. It is not everybody who is lucky but, what is most important in this industry is your respect. At least you would have that if nothing else. If we succeed in our own small corner, to influence any positive change in Africa, I think I would regard those as our goals. So I would just say to them let us try to work along those lines and strive hard to make Africa and the rest of the world a better place for all of us to live especially our children.

How are you coping now that you have to live outside your country?

Very difficult. Well my kids were born in the UK. They have always lived there. But I don t have time for them now because it is like I am always in and out. But I juggle in between to cope with the pressures. But the saddest bit is that I am not so sure what would happen if I go back to Sierra Leone and that is the only place I would call home.

Are you working on anything now?

I am working on four documentaries that should be ready at the end of this year for CNN as well. They are also very controversial topics.

Did CNN commission all your projects?

Well, I won t comment on that. (laughs)