Our Horrible World - The Not-So-Pacific Ocean

Everything about this blog is esoterically violent, I can admit to that. Ranging from my style of writing in the original stories, the media (videogames, comics, movies) I’ve talked to you guys about, and the world events I had decided to input my thoughts. I’m not sure if I can or if I should excuse myself for running the place like this. I will say though, tonight might be the worse night. Last night an odd mutual follower at Tumblr who’s name will remain censored, and at times I think he’s another spam account, posted on his blog the following Youtube video that has to be the closest thing to a snuff film allowed to be shown on that site. With that mentioned I hope I’m being very clear here that what follows is incredibly disturbing:

If this is another CreepyPasta hoax or another promotion for V/H/S/3 then holy crow these people are doing their job right. Censored Tumblr blog quotes an unnamed source for a possible explanation of what we just saw: 

Men shot at sea: Fiji police told gruesome video showing men being shot at sea originated in Somalia

Fijian police have been told that four men apparently killed at sea in a video posted on YouTube were most likely Somali pirates shot by fishermen after a failed hijacking attempt.

The police have asked Interpol for help verifying a video which appears to show the brutal killing of men at sea.

A graphic video posted on YouTube in Suva on Monday shows four men being shot as they cling to debris in the ocean.

Gunshots come from one of several boats surrounding the men, and blood is seen in the water.

Men on the boat, which is reportedly a tuna fishing vessel, are seen laughing and posing for photographs at the end of the video. The video’s contents have not been verified.

The YouTube post says the victims were Fijian and were shot just outside Fijian waters.

However, Fiji Tuna Boat Owners Association president Graham Southwick says Taiwanese boat owners and contractors in Suva have told police they believe the footage relates to a failed hijacking off Somali last year.

"They … said we know about this incident, it’s a very famous incident and this didn’t happen in Fiji, it happened off the coast of Somalia," Mr Southwick told Pacific Beat.

"And the graphic pictures you see of people gunned in the water are not Fijians, but Somali pirates that attempted a hijack of some Taiwanese vessels that attempted a hijack that backfired and they all got gunned down.

"The debris floating in the water is the wreckage of a Somali pirate boat that got rammed by one of the Taiwanese boats."

Police in Suva say there is no clear evidence to identify the victims, or pinpoint where and when the apparent murders took place.

"We have not received any formal complaints and I have not yet seen the video," Fiji assistant police commissioner Rusiate Tudravu told Radio Australia earlier on Tuesday.

Fijian authorities have asked Interpol and police in neighbouring Pacific countries for assistance in establishing the facts.

The men on the boat from which the shots are fired can be heard speaking in Mandarin and interpreters for Television New Zealand have identified Taiwanese, Thai and Vietnamese voices on the video.

One man can be heard saying: “Shoot, shoot, shoot”.

Someone says: “If you see anyone, just kill. Look ahead there: one and two.”

A man can also be heard giving out instructions, telling another man at the front of the boat to “be prepared”. 

Chinese characters reading “Safety is number one” can also be seen on the side of one of the boats.

Let me stop here for a moment and note a few things: so far I’ve watched this video twice, so my research as always might be tepid. But the first observation I’d like to make is that the victims don’t look either Somali or Fijian. When I watched it last night they looked Asian, from more or less the same Southeastern ethnicity as the people gunning at them. Giving it a second view and browsing at the comments in the Youtube page, one of the posters suggests they were actually Iranian, and indeed if you look closely at the facial features of one of the victims at 7:17 through 7:20, you can tell he may be Middle Eastern. As for the attackers, Southeast Asians, the characters on the ship are indeed Chinese, and the captain or whoever is at the bullhorn, is speaking in Mandarin. Moving on:

Violence on Pacific seas ‘relatively common’: Southwick

Despite confusion over the video’s authenticity, Mr Southwick, says violence often erupts at sea, and crew members go missing.

"This particular type of incident of being shot in the water and all that stuff is, you know, [is] extremely unusual, but conflicts and fights and murders on the high seas, on fishing boats, is relatively common," he said.

"In the Pacific there would probably be half a dozen a year at least, but usually it’s the result of some sort of a conflict or fight or something on the boat, and the report usually comes back that, either he fell over the side, or whatever, and then there’s nothing much anybody can do very much about it.

"If they die of natural causes, they’re usually stuck in the freezer and brought back in at some stage of the game. But this would be extremely rare I’d say, this deliberate slaughter of people that got off the boat."

Mr Southwick says authorities have the call sign and details of at least one of the ships and will be working to identify crew members who could shed light on this gruesome maritime mystery.

Right then. 

I’m having a hard time searching for this, but I remember reading a book couple of years ago about how some of those fishing boats in Japan are actually run by Yakuza, getting people who can’t pay their debts to just work it off, this reminded me of that. Look up also the Korean Crab Wars for another interesting look on how all Hell breaks loose there more often than the mainstream news will let on.

Interestingly, a theory for how that video found itself uploaded in the first place is that it was probably one of the attackers getting mugged and having this recording stolen. If that’s true then it’s a pretty much karmic way to get caught doing something fucked up like that!

Stay safe.

- AA