blunder

Live murder or online flights of fancy?

Team Observers — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:42:10 +0200

According to certain Web users, this violent scene takes place at the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia. They claim it shows Saudi border patrol guards shooting at a van of Yemeni smugglers until it bursts into flames, while a group of onlookers laugh at the scene.

The video, which began circulating on the Web on August 27, is described by many bloggers as proof that Saudi police care nothing about the lives of Yemeni smugglers. But that may not be the real story behind the video…

Our Observer in Saudi Arabia, Mohammad Al-Saeedi, says the video probably filmed a military training session, with guards shooting at an empty van. Several details on the video give credit to this hypothesis: first, what smuggler in his right mind would deliberately stop his car in front of a fortified border patrol camp? A loud cannon blast at the 21st second of the video appears to signal the beginning of the military exercise. Although you do see the car stop and start again, you also hear that gunshots stop at the 39th second, then someone asks if the rope was hit. According to our Observer, this refers to the rope that was used to keep the driverless car on course. The rope may have been hit a stray bullet. The presence of several soldiers and border police (in red berets) standing by and watching also seems to give credence to the hypothesis of a supervised training session. Finally, no one ducks or runs for cover when the van approaches. Given that smugglers are usually heavily armed, this would have been strangely careless of onlookers had they believed the vehicle to might contain smugglers.

If you have any additional information concerning the video, please contact our team here.

Palestinian man killed by teargas canister

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:03:12 +0200

Photo: Lazar Simeonov

A Palestinian man died on Friday after he was hit in the chest by a teargas canister launched by an Israeli soldier. The scene was filmed by a protester.

The demonstration took place in Bilin, a Palestinian village that lies next to the security wall put in place by Israel. Israeli forces say they fired tear gas after protesters started throwing stones. The man, who was knocked down and died soon after, was 30-year-old Basem Ibrahim Abu Rahma. His brother, Ashraf Abu Rahma, was also the victim of an Israeli bavure in July 2008.

Scandal in China: mental patient abuse caught on CCTV

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:54:35 +0100

The family of the woman in this image got hold of the surveillance footage after she died in a mental institution. The extent of the abuse they found, is inconceivable.

Wang Xiuying went into distress after the marriage of her two sons took place within three days. She suffered a breakdown on 7 December, smashing furniture and screaming. Her sons decided to take her to a metal hospital in Laiwu (Shandong province). The hospital managers admitted the patient, but refused to allow any family visits. After eight days of internment, Wang Xiuying's husband was informed that his wife had been transferred to Laiwu public hospital. When he arrived there he found her dead, and realised that she had already been deceased for some time. The patient's family demanded CCTV footage from the psychiatric hospital, which they supplied, dated December 9 to 15. Amongst the footage, the victim's son discovered evidence of extreme abuse taken out by the nurses. He posted screen grabs of the video on a discussion forum, along with his account of events (see below). Webusers, outraged by the affair, sent the images to the local press, who then went to interview the family. The local authorities say they've launched an investigation into the affair.

The hospital surveillance footage. Please be aware that these images may be upsetting.

Source: regional TV channel Qilu.

Shocking police blunder caught on phone camera

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:39:28 +0100

A few hours after midnight on New Year's Eve, a 22-year-old African American was detained by transport police on a subway platform in Oakland, California. The man, who was unarmed, was pinned to the ground and fatally shot in the back. Filmed by several witnesses, evidence of the outrageous scene is now online and circulating the blogosphere. Could the images spark social unrest?

This video shows what happened quite clearly. At 36 seconds into the film, the officer fires the shot.

You don't see the actual shot in this next video, but it gives a good idea of what the atmosphere was like when it took place. As the tension mounts passers-by start to crowd around, and it's evident that the police officers are becoming stressed. We hear the gunshot at 2'56. As panic erupts, the girl filming the scene shouts "Oh my fucking god. They just shot him!"

The scene took place at around 2am on 1 January in Fruitvale metro station, Oakland. The victim, Oscar Grant, held a criminal record. The bullet fired by the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) police officer shot through Grant's body, hit the ground, and ricocheted back once more. He died shortly after being transported to hospital.

The police were involved in several disturbances on New Year's Eve, including the questioning of armed individuals. The BART authorities explained that the officers we see in the video had just broken up a fight which had brought a metro train to a standstill. They say that the shot was accidental. One of the theories put forward by the American press is that the officer believed he was using a Taser gun and not a firearm with bullets. The victim's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the BART police service, and on Monday a protest was organised in front of the BART head office.

Oakland suffers from a particularly high crime rate and tense race relations. Some 30-35% of the population is African American. Such an incident - caught on amateur film, which means a viral effect is certain - could add fuel onto an already simmering fire.

UPDATE (6 Jan. 08 - 6pm): we contacted our Observer in the Oakland area, Wayne Phillips, who told us that despite the incident coming as a shock, he doesn't believe the videos will cause active protest.

UPDATE (9 Jan. 08 4.30pm): Contrary to our Observer's optimistic analysis, demonstrations over Grant's death became violent on Wednesday night when hundreds of protestors took to the streets to condemn the shooting. Riot police faced the crowds with tear gas and arrested at least 14 people after shop windows were smashed and cars set alight. There are plenty of amateur photos of the events posted on Flickr, for example here.

Facing deportation for researching al Qaeda

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:45:02 +0200

The book is on sale on Amazon.com

A university administrator in the UK is facing deportation after printing out an al Qaeda training manual for a student studying Islamic extremism. Here, his friends say that the Algerian national, who has lived in England for 13 years, has been targeted because he's Muslim.

The Nottingham University worker, Hicham Yezza, 30, was asked to print out the document by a masters degree student researching Islamic extremism. A university worker reported the incident to the police and both Hicham and the student, Rizwaan Sabir, 22, were arrested on campus on May 14 under the Terrorism Act 2000. After six days in detention the pair were released without charge. However, immediately after, Hicham was rearrested and served with a deportation order because of a problem with his application for UK residency. Despite huge criticism from politicians and the British press, who believe that the order is a smokescreen for the original police blunder, Hicham could be deported back to Algeria as early as Sunday if the order is not repealed.