All language subtitles for The.Pirate.Tapes.2011.720p.WEB.H264-DiMEPiECE

(foreign language speaking
over weak speaker)

- [Voiceover] This is a head pirate.

We have a head pirate.

Two ships.
(murmurs)

If we help you to try to get
a larger amount of the ransom.

(voice sounds over speaker)

It's 15 million, okay.

And that's for the one ship?

'Kay.

You know Mr. Matt.

He'll tell you how--

- [Matt] So we'll need the condition

of the actual cargo hold.

Yeah, the condition of the ships,

the cargo holds

and to make sure that
the hostages are okay.

- [Voiceover] This 2,500 dollars,

we will give it to his hand

first time he lets you on the ship

and you see the captain,
you see the people

and you videotape that.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Voiceover] I just need
to get out of Somalia.

I can't call my family.
(abstract ominous music)

I can't call no one.

What am I gonna tell them?

- [Voiceover] Confirmed the latest hijack.

A 40 meter container ship,

the MV Ariana

had been seized overnight.

(speaking foreign language)

- Piracy is one way,

at one level, it's very simple.

It's a very simple idea.

It's a very simple business model.

But over the last few years,

it's evolved into a fairly complex

system of networks

involving people across Somalia

and further afield.

- [Voiceover] This is my
brother, the youngest.

Insha'Allah, he's going to
this journey to Somalia.

- I'm boarding the airplane to Somalia!

(man mumbles)

- [Voiceover] It's not (mumbles).

I'm not doing nothing.

I'm just holding my camera.

- [Guard] Yeah.

- [Voiceover] I'm holding my camera.

- [Guard] Yeah.

- [Voiceover] I'm holding my camera.

I'm not taking a picture.

I was a semester away from graduating

with a Bachelor's degree
in Computer Science

and spending the rest of my life

in a four by four foot cubicle,

if I was lucky.

But, now I'm about to land in Bossaso,

Somalia.

♫ And I'd like to watch the
white flash of your heels

♫ As they take turns
breaking the desert heat

♫ To beckon me in languages

♫ I've never learned ♫
- [Voiceover] That's my name,

Mohamed Ashareh.

My father was Minister of the Interior

of Puntland in 1998.

My family name carries a
lot of weight in this land.

It will protect me.

(speaking foreign language)

♫ And I'd like to think
the actors never banded

♫ And I'd like to throw
this trumpet down ♫

- [Voiceover] For the next three months,

I'm going to live with the pirates.

(whistles)

- [Voiceover] My cover is simple.

I'm a middle man for a Western businessman

interested in turning a profit

by funding a pirate operation.

- [Mohamed] You think that's crazy?

It's more common than you think.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Mohamed] And you know why?

Because here,
(speaking foreign language)

I could turn your 20,000 dollars

into four million dollars in 24 weeks.

Guaranteed.

- So everyone is basically
(drumming)

backed up by someone.

Someone who's hiding behind the curtain,

while the people starve,

while kids die,

while bullets fly.

- [Voiceover] First, you
need a Somali insider,

in this case, me.

Then I get in contact

with the leaders of the pirate bands.

They all have cell phones,
(speaking foreign language)

so they're pretty easy to reach,

unless they're out hijacking something.

There are several different types

of pirates to choose from,

based on the town, the tribe

and the success rate.

If you go with Eyl,

you'll be dealing with the tribe

of the Majarteen,

the ruling tribe of Puntland.

The only problem with them

is they are sneaky bastards.

The next tribe you might deal with

is the Hawiye.

The tribal majority in Mogadishu.

The same guys from Black Hawk Down.

Needless to say,

they're just fucking crazy.

That leaves us with the Warsangali.

My tribe.

We are not as successful
in hijacking ships

as the other guys,

but at least we're honest.

(elastic stringed music)

Now that I have your 20,000 dollars,

I will minimize your risk

by investing five K each

into the four separate pirate operations.

With an average success rate

of about 30 percent per operation,

the chance is, now,

that at least one of
my pirates will succeed

are pretty good.

If you're feeling lucky,

and want to maximize your investment

on top of the shares,

you can also invest further

by purchasing equipment

and covering certain expenses.

These will always keep
making money for you

if you use them in subsequent operations.

- This is the biggest crop in our country.

- [Voiceover] All you have to do now

is send me the money.

(throbbing techno music)

(speaking foreign language)

And say it's hard, it's hard!

We've got our men.

We've got our boats.

We've got our guns.

All we got to do now

is jack shit.

People say Somalia's the
worst country in the world.

But where else can you turn

20 K into four million dollars

in under six months?

(motor whirs)

Wait!
(seagulls caw)

Are you having second thoughts?

Don't.

Before you start to feel guilty,

consider this.

- After 23 years of civil war,

poverty, destruction

cause only more self-destruction.

You can't sleep without
the sound of a gun.

They can't eat without the sound of a gun.

They can't

even pray or beg

without hearing the sound of a gun.

I mean, where do they get
all these weapons from?

You know what I'm saying?

They've got a 500 dollar gun, AK47,

and he can't even feed his belly.

That's weird.

- Stingray!

This is a stingray!

The people that they capture

are the people that
collect all of the fish.

That's why you see all
these dead fish over here.

They cut the fish

on their ships and on their trawlers,

and whatever's the bad
parts they don't need,

they just throw it in the ocean.

So, a lot of, the sea.

So a lot of the stuff
that you see over here

is all the garbage left by them.

Some fishermen from all over the world,

(speaking foreign language)

- Over-fishing in Somali waters

is very often the responsibility
of local authorities,

who license vessels

to come into Somali waters

and pocket the proceeds.

The licenses that fishing vessels pay

to local authorities in
Puntland and elsewhere

do not go into the

public treasury.

They tend to go into the pockets

of the officials involved in the deal.

(speaking foreign language)

We used to die of maybe
TB or something like that.

(speaking foreign language)

- Well, the United Nations
Environment Programme

got involved in this issue

after the tsunami,

the Indian Ocean tsunami of

2004.

And we did a rapid assessment

of the impact of that tragic event,

particularly on the eastern side

of the Indian Ocean,

Indonesia, Banda Aceh.

But we also looked a little bit

at the impact of that tsunami

on the coastline of Africa

and, indeed, in Somalia.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Nick] And at that time,
there was a lot of evidence

that large containers
and small containers,

that perhaps had been submerged
just below the water line,

had been tossed onto the shore.

- We wanted to spotlight this issue

after the tsunami,

and try and raise a level of interest

in the international community

among governments worldwide.

- There's been speculation
that some European companies

may indeed have done a deal

with some warlords

to get rid of waste,

because, clearly,

in Europe, for example,
or the United States,

dealing with hazardous
waste or toxic waste

is quite expensive.

(speaking foreign language)

- And there are a lot of
reports by aid workers

and local community groups

of people feeling very unwell.

Bleeding gums, headaches, nausea.

All sorts of descriptions like that.

- We really tried to get
to the bottom of this

after the tsunami.

First the rapid assessment report,

then there was a very small United Nations

mission to Somalia.

Literally just a couple of days.

They did soil sampling.

To see if there was any toxic chemical.

Nothing was found at that moment in time.

But, what fundamentally is needed

is an all-singing, all-dancing,

fully scientific investigation.

The problem is,

the security situation in Somalia

makes it very difficult for
the international community

to actually send that kind of mission.

And until there's kind of a sense of

calm in the country

and you can guarantee

the security of scientists and others,

it's always going to be a challenge

and, therefore, a big question mark about

what exactly has happened

in terms of waste.

(murmuring in foreign language)

I think this issue of toxic waste

has really, you know, as they say,

gone off the radar

and disappeared in the sense

of the international
community's radar, as well.

- Any comprehensive solution

to the piracy problem
off the coast of Somalia

will require both sets of
issues being addressed,

toxic waste dumping,

illegal fishing

and piracy, per se.

These two issues are
not necessarily linked,

except in the minds of pirates

who try to link the two.

The reality is that pirates

usually don't attack fishing vessels.

(acoustic Country guitar music)

- [Voiceover] Most of
the ships captured lately

are tankers or bulk-carriers

and got nothing at all to do with fishing.

Makes sense, though.

A slow-moving oil tanker

is a much easier target
than a fishing trawler.

(speaking Arabic)

(acoustic guitar strumming)

- Having the head pirate

allow me to be around them,

kind of like their own son around them,

so they don't feel threatened

by my presence.

But getting the acceptance

from the rest of the pirates,

the guys that actually
gonna hijack the ship,

so they can open up to me.

(men mumbling)

Yeah, we're gonna eat here.

See what they have.

(clicking and speaking foreign lanuage)

They say eat the food before it gets cold.

(murmuring in foreign lanuage)

They're wondering about my tattoos.

They're wondering why I
have stuff written on me.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Voiceover] The food
that the hostages get

during their stay
(rock music)

is actually quite good.

The lady that was cooking for the hostages

prepared food for me,

and it was the most
delicious meal I've had here,

or anywhere else, for that matter.

All this stuff costs money, though.

When you take into
account the startup costs

and couple them together

with all the crap you'll have to pay for

during the entire negotiation process,

it can get very expensive very fast.

It'll run your operation over-budget

if you don't know what you're doing.

(rumbling)

(mumbling in foreign lanuage)

- Seventeen.

Closer, so we could look at it from here.

(piano music)

- Probably one regret about piracy

is that if pirates,

as they claim,

were actually about trying to

fill the gap
(speaking in foreign language)

left by absent fishing revenues,

by helping their communities

to defend themselves and
protect their resources,

then we would see pirates putting money

into community projects.

But we haven't seen
pirates building schools,

building roads,

or improving the lot of

communities in coastal Somalia.

On the contrary,

the presence of pirates
is becoming a problem.

Pirates drive up prices.
(people murmuring)

Tea costs more.

Food costs more.

Fuel costs more,

'cause people then charge
the pirates more for it.

(speaking foreign language)

- And that is creating real difficulties

for the ordinary people
in those communities

who don't benefit from piracy.

They don't see the proceeds,

and they don't see the advantages.

So, to that extent,

it's a problem.

And I don't think pirates

can validate their claims

that they're actually acting
on behalf of their communities.

They're simply criminal gangs.

(speaking foreign language)

- And there's sort of this myth

that pirates who come to Kenya

are coming here with bags full of cash

that they made off of their

hijackings in Somalia.

So, what I had heard

was that, actually,

there are pirates coming to Kenya

who are extremely poor

and basically fleeing Somalia

and fleeing the piracy trade

because it's become incredibly lucrative

for some of the big
financiers and warlords

who do the piracy trade,

but the little guys,

the guys at the bottom,

the one's who actually do the dirty work,

make very little money.

(engine roars)

(speaking foreign language)

- The piracy is stronger

than the government.

They have money.

More money than the government.

And they have more equipment to fight

than the government.

Then, literally, they are the government.

- [Voiceover] Well, the
Puntland government,

they never invited me.

That's evil!

That's, that's evil.

That's evil.

(brakes squeal)

(beeping)

It's 10:00 in the morning,

and we're gonna go to the
hotel of the President

and stay and ask (mumbles).

- Piracy.
- [Mohamed] Yeah.

- It's a huge project. (laughs)

(voice booms over speakers
in foreign language)

- [Voiceover] It's a lake here!

- [Mohamed] It's a street!

- It has became a lake here.

Okay, you can pass through here.

Come on, see?
(adhan chants on loudspeaker)

Okay, pass here.

Pass here.

(calling out)

(arguing in foreign language)

(car beeps)

Excuse us.

Check it, three bus tickets.

Three, yeah?

(melodic hip hop music)

- I'm trying to get a
hold of the President,

so I'm trying to get the Secretary.

And he's here right now,

but his phone's not picking up.

(murmuring)

Yeah, the President,

well, the General Interior Minister

said that the President is sleeping.

(speaking foreign language)
And, um...

he was sleeping.

Right now, the President,
- [Mohamed] President.

he's here right now?

Or is he--
- [Mohamed] He's here.

He's here, he's here.

- He's not had--

- Look, I know,

but I know he should not
be sleeping like this.

(murmuring)

- What's wrong?

Wait, wait, wait!

(speaking foreign language)

- The Somali government

over the Somali people

have been given a lot of money

by different taxpayers in the world.

Those money are all waste.

We were told 280 million was donated

by the European Union.

We never saw that.

- Somalia is one of the lowest,

(suspenseful music)

- If there is corruption,
you have to prove

with evidence.

And then,

actions can be taken.

(peaceful music)

There's a number of officials

who've been identified as

complicit with acts of piracy.

That can mean a range of things.

It could mean that they've
received piracy proceeds.

It could mean that they

act to provide protection
or political support

for pirate leaders.

And, specifically, those
who've been identified so far

include President Farole,

for receiving funds during his campaign

for the presidency of Puntland,

and the Minister of Interior,

General Ilka Jir.

- [Voiceover] Why does
he allege corruption

in the Puntland government?

- It's this warlord-ism.

Clan militias,

local militias,

where the warlord is making money

of his activity.

This has been Somalia's
problem for 20 years.

In Puntland, we have a different problem.

We have an authority,

but it is being eroded

and criminalized from the inside out.

We have to question
this issue of impunity.

A pirate commander

who has hijacked dozens of vessels,

made tens of millions of dollars,

is then allowed to say,

"I've discovered religion

"and I'm no longer a bad man,"

and is allowed to go free.

And we don't see any serious action

to combat piracy.

The issue is to hold
the leaders accountable.

(birds sing)

- [Voiceover] I doubt he'll
even pick up his phone.

Obviously, he don't even give a shit.

My shoes are more (mumbles)
than this president,

so-called president.

Of nonsense.

(clattering and men speaking)

(speaking foreign language)

- Okay, I went to see
the Puntland government,

but two times they rejected me.

Not Ilke Jid.

Farole.

Farole.

Yeah.

(inspirational music)

- [Ahmed] You know, life,

it has a value.

Life has a value

when you have life.

So, when you don't have any life,

Somalis see death as an art.

The art that makes you cry.

- There's things I have to do

that I have to gain their trust.

And, making promises

that might not materialize

and things like that

that I have to do

in order to gain people's trust.

(speaking in foreign language)

- Today I'm being,

I'm becoming a Sultan

(mumbles)

Today, we're here for the ceremony

and I'm being,

I'm becoming the Sultan of (mumbles).

(clapping)

(singing and ululating)

(inspirational music)

Have you heard of

a high-ranking pirate

by the name of Jama Donyal?

- Yes.

- [Voiceover] Um, guess that's it.

- That's all I can say for now.

But, yes,

I know the name

and I believe he's still active.

♫ Pirate music

♫ Yo, yo

♫ Yo, yo

♫ Pirate music

(singing)

♫ Hey, Somalis have to put down the gun

♫ They can't

♫ Because they can't stop self-destruction

♫ They see the way they battle

♫ Everyone they want to buy one

♫ In the city

♫ The place that they call mosayon

♫ See the original youths

♫ That kept with King Solomon

♫ The truth that has to be shaken

♫ And they run

♫ The way that they
murder each other is dumb

♫ They say that they rich intellect

♫ Boy, but them not reach nowhere yet ♫

- I'm gonna go off

into (snaps) the coastal town

where we're actually gonna see

the 4.5 million dollar pirates.

After that, we're gonna
sit down with them.

(speaking foreign language)

- There was a pirate.

Well, I'm meeting with a pirate.

I'm meeting with a pirate, so

people will...

What's, hey?

- He's talking about the guns.

He's talking about the guys with them.

(tinny rap music)

- Yeah, they're taking the case out.

Make sure it had bullets.

(clicks)

(speaking foreign language)

- Everybody knows how
to put a gun together!

Everybody!

Wow.

This is my gun.

This is my security.

It's a loaded gun.

There's no,

they said safety,

there's a safety on here.

(pops)

This is a big-ass pirate thief.

It's Somalia.

- Yeah.

- That's it?

(woman sings in Arabic)

(speaking foreign language)

Oh, shit!

Oh, fuck!

It's crazy (mumbles).

Yo, don't point that shit!

(chatting)
- Oh, fuck!

You know, that could kill you.

No, no, no.

I got it.

Let go.

- Look, I don't want that to kill me!

(speaking foreign language)

(high-tempo rhythm and blues music)

(speaking foreign language)

(blues music)

- Spoke to the bosses.

We went back to his house.

Two million dollars

is sitting in his cupboard.

I swear to God!

♫ To your pale face and
spring when it comes

♫ Warm winds will dullen

♫ The edge of our razor blade tongues

♫ Make me a child put me back

♫ On the sand of that beach ♫

It's a waiting game.
(open door signal beeping)

Right now,

there's a couple speed boats outside.

Out in the ocean.

Out in the sea.

Every single day, trying to get one.

Trying to catch one.

It's a waiting game.

Let's see if there's any ships here.

- I think it should make anybody nervous

when you have a super-tanker

in the hands of an irresponsible

pirate militia

who are capable of just about anything.

Of course that's a problem.

(speaking foreign language)

(waves crash)

(man shouting)

(speaking foreign language)

(shouting)

(engine whirs)

It's cold!

It's cold out here!

Black water!

That is a Yemen flag.

- So we got a new engine.
(wistful piano music)

So, they're gonna use this as a decoy

so they can catch a ship.

Um, so this is the one
that I'm gonna follow.

Hopefully, I'm gonna be following this one

and I'm gonna be following another one.

But this is the main one.

They have a good strategy with the ship.

(winding)

- So, a bunch of people

are gonna be

put under there.

(speaking foreign language)

(ominous music)

- This would be where I'm staying

for tonight.

(footsteps squeak and echo)

This is actually

a real, fucking hotel.

Man.

Holy fuck!

Whoa, it's bugs.

They're attracted to light.

So, walking in the pitch black,

and, oh, shit!

(rooster crows)

It's five in the morning.

(bangs)

(vocalizes sound effects)

(electronic tones)

(speaking in foreign language)

- The police!

No, the pirate.

They catched Jama Donyal.

Today.

And today they said that
they're gonna catch me.

I'm not afraid of him.

Come on, don't think about the money.

I'm gonna give him his money.

I just need to get out of Somalia.

What is the problem?

Why are they arresting me?
(speaking foreign language)

I can't call my family.

I can't call no one.

What am I gonna tell them?
(speaking foreign language)

- [Police] Listen, this man, (mumbles).

(speaking foreign language)

(ominous music)

- Hi, I'm looking for Mohamed's mother?

- It's Andrew calling
from Palmira Productions.

- It's Andrew calling.

It's his, uh,

it's his colleague

from Palmira.

I talked to him on Sunday night.

(mumbles)

Did he end up calling you?

'Cause he told me he was gonna call you.

That's why, you know?
- [Andrew] Yeah.

- [Andrew] Yeah.

- [Andrew] I'm sorry?

- I spoke to someone

at a place in Lascanod,

and I think he was on his way to Hargeisa

to come home.

- [Andrew] I have no idea.
(mumbles)

- I have no idea.

It was the phone number
that he called me from.

- We're getting someone to call
the jail who speaks Somali,

and hopefully find out

what's going on with Mohamed.

(speaking Somali)

- Uh, is this Blackladder?

- [Operator] Yes.

- I have a possible situation in Somalia.

And I was wondering what it was exactly

that you guys could do.

We basically need some sort of a

hostage extraction.

- [Operator] Okay, um (sighs).

- [Voiceover] But what did he say?

He said it would take 1,000
dollars to get him out?

- Yeah, they said they
wanted 1,000 dollars.

- [Voiceover] But we offered
to give them that and--

- Yeah, and I said,

well, you know, I can
give you 1,000 dollars.

Can I send you 1,000
dollars, 'cause I trust you.

You're his uncle.
- [Voiceover] Yeah.

And you go over there.

And he refused.

He said no.

He said he doesn't wanna go there.

It's too far, and all
this, that and the other.

It's just like, well, you know,

this is your family.

He hasn't done anything wrong

to deserve being in prison.

(piano music)

♫ I want faith

♫ I want faith in everything

♫ I want faith

♫ I want faith in everything

- Thank you for everything.

(murmuring)

Sure, absolutely.

- [Voiceover] Good luck!

♫ Atlantis

♫ Let me in

♫ I will live free of sin

♫ Here my plea

♫ and bargain

♫ Atlantis, let me in

♫ I wanna be the key to unlock it

♫ I wanna be the key, let me in

♫ I wanna be the key ♫

(phone rings)

- Mikel.

Mikel?

Mikel?

- [Mikeil] Yes?

- Yeah, it's Matvei here.

Is that you?
- [Mikel] How are you doing?

Hey.

What's going on?

What's the news?

So what do you got?

What's--

- [Mikel] Well, the thing is

Mohamed has been moved to another jail.

And--
- [Matvei] He's been what?

He's been what?

What?

- [Mikel] No one will tell me which.

Mohamed has actually been moved

to a different jail.

- [Matvei] They moved him?

- [Mikel] Yeah, they moved him.

So, the problem is

that they don't know which one.

They don't wanna tell me which one.

One of the cops came--

- [Matvei] Did you give them the money?

- [Mikel] Into the building.

Into the house.

He was saying,

"We should execute Mohamed."

- [Matvei] No, no, no, wait, wait.

Did you give them the money?

- [Mikel] Yes, I did give
them the money to the--

- [Matvei] What did you just say?

Execute what?

- [Mikel] But somebody else came

saying the name.

"We should execute Mohamed.

"We should execute Mohamed."

It's like a time bomb.

It's like...

(melancholy piano music)

- [Mohamed] If I'm meant to die there

then that's what fate has written out.

(melancholy rock song)

- [Voiceover] One thing is still

bothering us.

We have yet to get a straight answer

to a pretty uncomplicated question.

Why?

Why go there?

Why risk your life?

What's driving you, man?

- You know, life has a value.

Life has a value when you have life.

So when you don't have any life,

you know, as I was
explaining to you earlier,

Somalis see death as an art.

The art that makes you cry.

You know.

It's death.

So, it's not a big thing

in the Somali tradition now

to be afraid of death.

- I think most Somalis
want their country back

from the violence,

the disorder, the uncertainty,

and the insecurity of
the last two decades.

And from predatory leadership,

which is all too prevalent

in the various authorities
across the country.

- What we need to look at

is how to extract piracy
from the administration.

Because if we had a functioning
partner in Puntland,

a functioning government

that were genuinely committed
to the fight against piracy,

my guess is between 60 and 75 percent

of the piracy problem in Somalia

would be eliminated in
a short period of time.

(speaking foreign language)

(murmuring)

- Where?

- [Voiceover] It's just right behind you.

(coughing)

- [Voiceover] Oh, okay.

- He said he would be careful.

I called back.

I was told the police station.

- [Voiceover] So we thought
it was the police station.

- I just said,

I said don't call

'cause I think someone's torturing him.

I don't know.

Maybe you could see him.

Because it can't be everybody need money.

- [Voiceover] He's actually
on potential standby status.

(mumbling)

(voice echoes over loudspeaker)

Yes, it's him!

Right there.

(sweet music and vocalizations)

- I did nothing for twelve weeks.

(mumbling)

- [Voiceover] Crazy shit, man.

- Over my head and they put--

- [Voiceover] We heard that they put you

in a separate cell or something?

- No, it's all a lie!

They took everything,
all the stuff that I had.

They were gonna keep the laptop.

- [Voiceover] I don't know
how this is here right now.

- I got everything back.

I pushed 'em.

They set me up.

The pirates.

Actual pirates.

- [Voiceover] Those guys you
were with the whole time.

- [Mohamed] There's a
politics behind everything,

so I'm lucky I came back alive.

(coughs)

(speaking foreign language)

(soft music and vocalizing)

- [Matt] The solutions to
piracy are not going to be found

in trying to beat the
pirates at their own game.

It's the old story of a
big sky and a small bullet.

It's a big ocean.

The pirates have got free reign.

And if they hijack a vessel,

then they can come back
through these naval

these maritime security
cordons with no trouble

because they have hostages.

The issue's going to
be dealt with on land.

- [Voiceover] So we're at Emergency.

Mohamed's been here for a few days now.

- I've been losing so much weight

that they found out that I had

parasites.

They took all of my luggage,

they put it on what is called a technical,

and they drove us to a place called Burao.

Halfway between Burao and Las Anod,

they told us to get out

and they want to shoot us.

Like, execution style.

But, one of them hesitated

and they told us to get back in the car

and they drove us to Burao.

So, I was lucky and escaped death.

("Sing Captain" by the Handsome Furs)