Human Security Brief 2006 Cover Photo by Tim A. Hetherington / Panos Pictures
© Tim A. Hetherington / Panos Pictures
Saw this photo taken by Tim A. Hetherington of a fearsome-looking militant armed with a FN M240 on the cover of the Human Security Brief 2006, a report which analyzes the trends of recent armed conflicts around the globe. One disturbing point put forward by the report was that Sub-Saharan Africa was the only region to see a decrease in armed conflicts (from 2002 to 2005) (Page 6). A very depressing read which you can access without charge at www.humansecurity.info.
As the report did not contain any information on the identity of the men on the cover, I went to Panos Pictures, which owns the rights to this picture (search for THE00341NIG and THE00344NIG to find this picture and another related to the above photo) to find more info.
Quoted from Panos Pictures’s official website:
Panos Pictures is a London-based independent photo agency representing photojournalists worldwide. Our photographers document issues and geographical areas which are under-reported, misrepresented or ignored. In a media climate dominated by celebrity and lifestyle Panos aims to provide fresh perspectives on the world.
From Panos Pictures, I found that the militant above is a member of the Nigerian militant group MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) and the photo was taken when the MEND was releasing one of the hostages out of the nine foreign oil workers that they captured in 2006. Read more about MEND and this incident in this Christian Science Monitor article or from Wikipedia . I leave you to form your own opinions on MEND - politics has and will always be a grey area.
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Eric Pasquier’s Photos
powerful photograph and some brilliant detective work… stunning
(blushes) ….
Seems like the world is a more troubled place than the good old days
Our work documents a dramatic, but largely unknown, decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuse over the past decade. The single most compelling explanation for these changes is found in the unprecedented upsurge of international activism, spearheaded by the UN, which has occurred in wake of the Cold War.
Thus it was the ‘good old days’ that were in fact more violent. Check out http://www.hsi.sfu.ca
Hi Ryan, thanks for your clarification.
The HSB did alert me to one thing though - that there were more unreported conflicts in the world than what we actually see in the media
…well thats me put at ease… now if only the same could be said for my neighbourhood seems alot meaner…