Film Analysis: Dealing With A Dictator
Dealing With a Dictator. Directed by Mark Kelley. 2016. Nevsun Resources Ltd, a Canadian mining company, has been accused of modern slavery after partnering up with Eritrea. Their collaboration with an unlikable dictatorship may be rewarding, but allegations about promoting terrorism emerged. This documentary explores the consequences of such partnerships. The documentary starts off with “Sometimes the truth can hide faraway places, that’s why sometimes the truth is hard to find”, Mark Kelley travels to Eutopia to find out more about its neighbor, Eritrea. The Fifth State questions how could the Canadians tap into such a monster mineral deposit Eritrea was. Kelley interviews a 15 year old refugee girl from the hundreds of refugees from Eritrea
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escaping the horrible conditions and treatment they claimed to have experienced. She was asked how she left Eritrea and if she left with family, she only responds that she left with a friend. They would call ruthless regime Eritrea’s new leader and dictator, Isaias Afewerki, after winning Eritrea’s independence in 1993. Journalist Mikaela, who allegedly has written extensively about Eritrea, states that Isaias was a very charismatic figure but that he also showed megalomaniac tendencies. Kelley now interviews Todd Romaine, Vice President of Nevsun Resources Ltd., Kelley wonders if the risk of doing business with a country that didn’t allow democracy was worth the reward. By running a mine in Eritrea would come at a cost; the dictatorship wanted 40% off the bat. Romaine states that Eritrea wanted to make sure they were part of the board that made decisions. Kelley then asks if Nevsun had a choice when they said they wanted 40% without a take-it-or-leave-it deal, when Romaine didn’t directly answer the question, Kelley impulsively asked again “But did you have a choice?”, Romaine answers that he did not recall but if it meant stability then it was favorable with those conditions. In February 2011, the gold started to thrive and so too did the money. Now Nevsun was making hundreds of millions of dollars, but success came with a price of troubling stories from the mine. Parlimentary Committee on International Human Rights questions Cliff Davis, CEO of Nevsun, on his involvement with a country that’s been described as a North Korea of Africa, “There are no human right violations”, Cliff Davis says in response. Romaine claims that the mine has been used as a tool for positive development, after the Bisha mine a lot of contribution has been made to the European Economy and government to create new hospitals and schools. Right after Romaine’s response, the narrator recalls “That may well be but remember that country is run by a dictatorship that also had a 40% stake in running the mine”.
Kelly also added Jeremy, an exiled Eritrean human rights activist, into the documentary. Jeremy has talked to former workers who fled the country and says that many were forced into the job. In January 2013, New York based Human Rights released a report called “Hear No Evil” blaming Nevsun for failing to stop the use of force labor at the mine. Romaine claimed that Nevsun didn’t do the hiring process but it was provided by an Eritrean state-run company called Sagan Construction. After all the accusations, the UN released a 484 page report on human rights abuses in Eritrea, including the issue of forced labor to build the Canadian mine. Kelley questions Romaine if he is sure force labor was never used in the development or operation of the mine. Romaine affirms that lots of investigation has been made inside territory at the Bisha mine. After Kelley recalling the allegations being made on the public record from people who say were force labor working in his mine, he questions Romaine if he thinks the people are lying. Romaine reads a report from the UN, regarding the alleged
use of conscripted Eritrean workers by Sagan to build a nonexistent tunnel for future mining operations. Romaine fires up Kelley when later he establishes that the Bisha mine is an open pit mine and that there has never been tunnels in 2008, and there is still no tunnels in 2016. Immediately, Kelley confronts Romaine if the UN got it wrong or if the UN is lying. Romaine responds that the UN had a very biased approach which only included testimony outside the country. The narrator states that the UN couldn’t talk to anyone inside Eritrea thus got it wrong was because the Eritrean government wouldn’t allow the UN into the country. Later, Kelley meets with the two men that sued Nevsun. One of them was too nervous to allow to record the interview, but he stands by his statement file in a BC court, they couldn’t independently verify his claims. Alleges that he was effectively under Eritrean military control. The second man from the lawsuit agrees to speak but doesn’t want to show his face on camera. He was a former soldier, but he was told to hide it while working at the mine. Now with the lawsuit he fears for his life. Kelley asks if he thinks someone from Eritrea or even the government will try to kill him, he answers yes. Nevsun’s partner was seen as a bad neighbor supporting rebel militia groups bent on destabilizing countries like Kenya. It was said that Eritrea’s dictatorship had a relationship with Al-Shabaab, responsible of a terrorist attack on Westgate mall in Nairobi. People were claiming that Nevsun was now doing business with the Eritrean government regime that was accused of sponsoring Al-Shabaab. Canadian Matt Ridings spent years investigating who was arming Al-Shabaab, until his team found evidence pointing to the Eritrean dictatorship. Claiming they were supporters of a group guilty of suicide bombings, murder or civilians, and assassinations of foreigners. Kelley and his team traveled to Nairobi to meet with Abdinur Soyan, former gunner of Al-Shabaab. Soyan claims that his job was to get the weapons from the Eritrean regime and smuggle them to the rebel groups in East Africa. Romaine states that he cannot comment on government policy after being questioned if he would be concerned about being partners with someone who might be funding Al-Shabaab. This documentary had a very weak argument, for example; the lack of evidence Mark Kelley was presenting. We don’t need too much knowledge of Eritrea to notice the glaring flaws of his documentary. When Kelley first interviews the young girl refugee, he shows very little content. Now, we don’t know if all these refugee are in fact from Eritrea, most countries receive a good amount of money to keep refugees, this could as well be a Eutopia plan to have Eutopian pretending to be Eritreans in order to receive some money. Kelley’s lack of professionalism made me question his credibility, like when he questioned Romaine if Nevsun had a choice when making the deal with Eritrea, he was being pushy and trying to put Romaine in a tight corner. Kelley also used the UN as a tool against Nevsun, without expecting Romaine firing back with the fact that the UN got it wrong with that non-existent tunnel. What else could they have gotten wrong? It was no surprise when they immediately defended UN’s wrong accusations by pointing the finger at Eritrea’s government for not letting the UN into the country. It also seems that the Fifth Estate ignored the fact that the funds from the Bisha mines are helping to end poverty and improve conditions of living by remarking that the mines is also owned by ruthless dictatorship Isaias Afewerki, who let’s not forget won Eritrea’s independence from neighbor Eutopia in 1993. What a coincidence that after being free from Eutopia, people are now seeking shelter in Eutopia. Either its karma’s fault or maybe it’s a Eutopia plan to destroy Eritrea after discovering its success with Canadian mining company, Nevsun. The Fifth Estate poorly selected their guests. When interviewing the two men who filed the lawsuit against Nevsun, none of them gave a credible interview, one of them was “too nervous” to be recorded giving the interview while the other man asked for his face not to be on camera. This entire section was very biased, some of the answers even seemed rehearsed. Later, they started linking Eritrea with Al-Saabab, perhaps for dramatic effect. Kelley then introduces Abdinur Soyan, a former gunner of Al-Shabaab stating that his job was to smuggle weapons into East Africa from Eritrea. Now, how in the world does an Al-Shabaab smuggler can meet with someone in broad daylight in public? His credibility is highly questionable yet he is still used as a testimony for this film. I strongly believe this film had no strengths whatsoever nor I think the director accomplished his set out to do. His insidious attempts to defame and shame the state of Eritrea and the Nevsun mining company will amount to nothing.
Although, there were many accusations regarding the moral and ethical consequences of such partnerships, I believe that Mark Kelley is guilty of biased and unjustified journalism practices. Regarding if the atrocious working conditions and the force labor is true or not, Kelley’s evidence and testimonies were very questionable. This documentary looked more like a propaganda against Nevsun and the Eritrean government to convince the audience they are violating human rights.
escaping the horrible conditions and treatment they claimed to have experienced. She was asked how she left Eritrea and if she left with family, she only responds that she left with a friend. They would call ruthless regime Eritrea’s new leader and dictator, Isaias Afewerki, after winning Eritrea’s independence in 1993. Journalist Mikaela, who allegedly has written extensively about Eritrea, states that Isaias was a very charismatic figure but that he also showed megalomaniac tendencies. Kelley now interviews Todd Romaine, Vice President of Nevsun Resources Ltd., Kelley wonders if the risk of doing business with a country that didn’t allow democracy was worth the reward. By running a mine in Eritrea would come at a cost; the dictatorship wanted 40% off the bat. Romaine states that Eritrea wanted to make sure they were part of the board that made decisions. Kelley then asks if Nevsun had a choice when they said they wanted 40% without a take-it-or-leave-it deal, when Romaine didn’t directly answer the question, Kelley impulsively asked again “But did you have a choice?”, Romaine answers that he did not recall but if it meant stability then it was favorable with those conditions. In February 2011, the gold started to thrive and so too did the money. Now Nevsun was making hundreds of millions of dollars, but success came with a price of troubling stories from the mine. Parlimentary Committee on International Human Rights questions Cliff Davis, CEO of Nevsun, on his involvement with a country that’s been described as a North Korea of Africa, “There are no human right violations”, Cliff Davis says in response. Romaine claims that the mine has been used as a tool for positive development, after the Bisha mine a lot of contribution has been made to the European Economy and government to create new hospitals and schools. Right after Romaine’s response, the narrator recalls “That may well be but remember that country is run by a dictatorship that also had a 40% stake in running the mine”.
Kelly also added Jeremy, an exiled Eritrean human rights activist, into the documentary. Jeremy has talked to former workers who fled the country and says that many were forced into the job. In January 2013, New York based Human Rights released a report called “Hear No Evil” blaming Nevsun for failing to stop the use of force labor at the mine. Romaine claimed that Nevsun didn’t do the hiring process but it was provided by an Eritrean state-run company called Sagan Construction. After all the accusations, the UN released a 484 page report on human rights abuses in Eritrea, including the issue of forced labor to build the Canadian mine. Kelley questions Romaine if he is sure force labor was never used in the development or operation of the mine. Romaine affirms that lots of investigation has been made inside territory at the Bisha mine. After Kelley recalling the allegations being made on the public record from people who say were force labor working in his mine, he questions Romaine if he thinks the people are lying. Romaine reads a report from the UN, regarding the alleged
use of conscripted Eritrean workers by Sagan to build a nonexistent tunnel for future mining operations. Romaine fires up Kelley when later he establishes that the Bisha mine is an open pit mine and that there has never been tunnels in 2008, and there is still no tunnels in 2016. Immediately, Kelley confronts Romaine if the UN got it wrong or if the UN is lying. Romaine responds that the UN had a very biased approach which only included testimony outside the country. The narrator states that the UN couldn’t talk to anyone inside Eritrea thus got it wrong was because the Eritrean government wouldn’t allow the UN into the country. Later, Kelley meets with the two men that sued Nevsun. One of them was too nervous to allow to record the interview, but he stands by his statement file in a BC court, they couldn’t independently verify his claims. Alleges that he was effectively under Eritrean military control. The second man from the lawsuit agrees to speak but doesn’t want to show his face on camera. He was a former soldier, but he was told to hide it while working at the mine. Now with the lawsuit he fears for his life. Kelley asks if he thinks someone from Eritrea or even the government will try to kill him, he answers yes. Nevsun’s partner was seen as a bad neighbor supporting rebel militia groups bent on destabilizing countries like Kenya. It was said that Eritrea’s dictatorship had a relationship with Al-Shabaab, responsible of a terrorist attack on Westgate mall in Nairobi. People were claiming that Nevsun was now doing business with the Eritrean government regime that was accused of sponsoring Al-Shabaab. Canadian Matt Ridings spent years investigating who was arming Al-Shabaab, until his team found evidence pointing to the Eritrean dictatorship. Claiming they were supporters of a group guilty of suicide bombings, murder or civilians, and assassinations of foreigners. Kelley and his team traveled to Nairobi to meet with Abdinur Soyan, former gunner of Al-Shabaab. Soyan claims that his job was to get the weapons from the Eritrean regime and smuggle them to the rebel groups in East Africa. Romaine states that he cannot comment on government policy after being questioned if he would be concerned about being partners with someone who might be funding Al-Shabaab. This documentary had a very weak argument, for example; the lack of evidence Mark Kelley was presenting. We don’t need too much knowledge of Eritrea to notice the glaring flaws of his documentary. When Kelley first interviews the young girl refugee, he shows very little content. Now, we don’t know if all these refugee are in fact from Eritrea, most countries receive a good amount of money to keep refugees, this could as well be a Eutopia plan to have Eutopian pretending to be Eritreans in order to receive some money. Kelley’s lack of professionalism made me question his credibility, like when he questioned Romaine if Nevsun had a choice when making the deal with Eritrea, he was being pushy and trying to put Romaine in a tight corner. Kelley also used the UN as a tool against Nevsun, without expecting Romaine firing back with the fact that the UN got it wrong with that non-existent tunnel. What else could they have gotten wrong? It was no surprise when they immediately defended UN’s wrong accusations by pointing the finger at Eritrea’s government for not letting the UN into the country. It also seems that the Fifth Estate ignored the fact that the funds from the Bisha mines are helping to end poverty and improve conditions of living by remarking that the mines is also owned by ruthless dictatorship Isaias Afewerki, who let’s not forget won Eritrea’s independence from neighbor Eutopia in 1993. What a coincidence that after being free from Eutopia, people are now seeking shelter in Eutopia. Either its karma’s fault or maybe it’s a Eutopia plan to destroy Eritrea after discovering its success with Canadian mining company, Nevsun. The Fifth Estate poorly selected their guests. When interviewing the two men who filed the lawsuit against Nevsun, none of them gave a credible interview, one of them was “too nervous” to be recorded giving the interview while the other man asked for his face not to be on camera. This entire section was very biased, some of the answers even seemed rehearsed. Later, they started linking Eritrea with Al-Saabab, perhaps for dramatic effect. Kelley then introduces Abdinur Soyan, a former gunner of Al-Shabaab stating that his job was to smuggle weapons into East Africa from Eritrea. Now, how in the world does an Al-Shabaab smuggler can meet with someone in broad daylight in public? His credibility is highly questionable yet he is still used as a testimony for this film. I strongly believe this film had no strengths whatsoever nor I think the director accomplished his set out to do. His insidious attempts to defame and shame the state of Eritrea and the Nevsun mining company will amount to nothing.
Although, there were many accusations regarding the moral and ethical consequences of such partnerships, I believe that Mark Kelley is guilty of biased and unjustified journalism practices. Regarding if the atrocious working conditions and the force labor is true or not, Kelley’s evidence and testimonies were very questionable. This documentary looked more like a propaganda against Nevsun and the Eritrean government to convince the audience they are violating human rights.