More on Bahrain crackdown: CNN Investigates
Amber Lyon, from CNN’s Special Investigative Unit, continued her conversation with Back|Story about her recent trip to Bahrain.
Hear more about the government’s efforts to conceal a crackdown on protesters. Amber describes scenes of people who are afraid to seek hospital treatment for gunshot wounds for fear of being detained by police.
Amber also answers questions submitted by BackStory viewers on Facebook and Twitter.
Unjust treatment in Bahrain
From Michael Holmes, CNN
Back|Story
CNN Investigations Unit correspondent Amber Lyon got more than a story when she visited Bahrain recently – she and her crew had the experience of being forced to the ground with automatic weapons pointed at their heads.
Amber and team were there working on a documentary which included telling the story of Bahrain's ongoing crackdown on pro reform protesters. Here’s her report, our chat with her about her experience and what’s going on in Bahrain.
Some of Japan's youngest survivors
From Nadia, Sr. Writer
Back|Story
April 11, 2011
(CNN)- A powerful 6.6-magnitude aftershock rattles Japan on the one-month anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami. The aftershock triggered landslides, which trapped several people in the city of Iwaki. Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were also briefly evacuated. Hundreds of aftershocks have shaken Japan since the initial March 11th disaster, making the road to recovery even longer.
Our Paula Hancocks has been traveling through devastated Japanese communities with photographer David Hawley and producer Jiyeon Lee. In the town of Tome, the team met some young survivors who are learning to cope with losses most of us can’t even imagine.
Gadhafi's son arranges CNN interview with alleged Libyan rape victim
Nic Robertson and CNN Photographer Khalil Abdallah spoke with Back|Story to describe what it was like to be in the room with Eman al-Obeidy, how the interview was arranged and who else was in the room with them as the interview took place.
From Nic Robertson:
TRIPOLI, Libya (CNN) - It has been almost two weeks since Eman al-Obeidy burst into our hotel in Tripoli, desperate for the world to hear her story of rape and torture. We had been trying since then to interview her in person and were finally able to speak to her Wednesday, against the explicit wishes of the Libyan government.
"You should not be allowed to do this," government spokesman Musa Ibrahim told me.
The interview with al-Obeidy was facilitated by Gadhafi's son Saadi and was subject to a government review. We asked al-Obeidy if she would be willing to come to Saadi Gadhafi's office. She agreed and Gadhafi sent a car to pick her up.
She came dressed in ornate black robes and with her head covered. She called herself an ordinary citizen, a good Muslim who is conservative in her social outlook. She spoke with clarity and exuded strength through the conversation, adamant about clearing her name she said Libyan state media had smeared.
"Everything they said about me is a lie," she said.
"I am well-educated unlike the way the Libyan TV portrayed me. I come from a good family, regardless of what they said, I am also not mentally challenged like they said. Just because I raised my voice and talked to the media they blamed me and questioned my sanity. Nonetheless, I want my rights, even without the media."
She spoke of her abduction, of how she was taken to one of the residences of Moammar Gadhafi's soldiers. They were drunk, she said. They tied her up, beat and raped her.
Her bruises had faded, but I could still the see the evidence of her agony around her wrists. She said in the height of her trauma, she took pictures with the camera on her mobile phone, lest people should not believe her later.
"People have blamed me for showing my body," she said. "I was depressed and there was no way to show people how I was tortured. I was brutally tortured to the point of them entering weapons inside me. They would also pour alcohol in my eyes."
She said the men who tortured her are still free, without punishment. Later Saadi Gadhafi told me: "The people responsible for raping her should face charges. She is a strong woman."
Undercover with paintbrush
Artist James Hart Dyke was given unprecedented access to Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, as MI6 celebrates its 100th anniversary. He spent a year shadowing spies and illustrating their activities. This week's episode of "The Revealer" takes us behind the pictures, and shows us how things are not always what they seem.
Hart Dyke's work looks pretty ordinary at first glance. If you walked in off the street, you might think his art portrayed everyday images. But this slideshow features some of the images he created during that time, along with the backstories on the illustrations.
The Revealer: Artist spies on Britain's MI6
For the first time ever, an artist has been invited into MI6, for an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at Britain's Secret Intelligence Service. To mark MI6's 100th anniversary, James Hart Dyke spent a year shadowing spies and illustrating their activities. It was a top secret mission; he was required to sign the Official Secrets Act, and was allowed to tell only his wife and parents what he was doing.
His challenge was to capture the mystery, intrigue and excitement of the world of espionage, without letting any state secrets slip. MI6 gave him extraordinary access. But Hart Dyke's work was eventually censored; some drawings and paintings even have holes cut out of them.
Hart Dyke's work looks pretty ordinary at first glance. If you walked in off the street, you might think his art portrayed everyday images like a man in a hotel room, a woman standing on a street corner or a neighborhood in a third world country. But we reveal the "real life of a spy" - and show how, when it comes to the murky world of espionage, nothing is ever as it seems.
In this episode of "The Revealer", James Hart Dyke talks about how the project took over his life, and the biggest challenge he faced on the job.
Japan's Disaster in Words and Pictures
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11th is being blamed for more than 12,000 deaths. At this writing, more than 15,000 people are still missing and unaccounted for in the wake of the disaster.
In the days after the quake and tsunami struck, CNN crews fanned out across the disaster zone to bring the story to the world. One of the crews on the ground was reporter Gary Tuchman, producer Justine Redman and photojournalist Mark Biello. Mark recently returned to Atlanta from Japan and shared some his most powerful images and stories with BackStory.
Journey to Misrata: Inside the war-torn Libyan city
From Ann, Back|Story CNN
Join Fred Pleitgen, CNN Producer Jonathan Wald and CNN Photographer Scotty McWhinnie as they travel with international organizations delivering aid to the war-torn Libyan city of Misrata.
During an 18-hour boat trip from Malta, the team travels through treacherous waters, keeping an eye out for possible assaults from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces.
When the team reaches shore, they hook up with rebel fighters who take them into the heart of the battle-weary city. At one point Fred and the team run and take cover from incoming fire. Fred also shows us what he calls "one of the worst humanitarian situations" he's seen in a long time. (And Fred has seen some pretty bad stuff during his years of reporting)
And finally, watch as Fred, Jonathan and Scotty travel back to Malta by boat in the dead of night, battling rough surf but still managing to do back-to-back live shots while on board.
A fascinating and informative journey.
Clue #2... can you guess what we'll be "Revealing"?
Second day of the week means second clue as to what this week's edition of "The Revealer" will focus on.
The photo above shows a little bit more of the subject... can you guess what it is?
Here's another hint: It was quite a secret when residents of the building outgrew their previous space and had to relocate to this spot.
Chew on that and check out the two visual clues we've posted, then go into the "Comments" section to the left and let us know what you think it might be! Remember, no penalties for wrong guesses - and we'll read the name of the first person to guess correctly on Thursday's show, when we debut the new "Revealer" segment!
Allegations of rape in Libya: Getting Eman Al-Obeidy's story out
By Back|Story staff, CNN International and CNN's Reza Sayah in Libya
You'll remember she tried to tell her story to international journalists in a Tripoli hotel on March 26th. She said she'd been brutally gang-raped by 15 of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s troops.
Eman Al-Obeidy was taken away by Gadhafi loyalists. She hasn’t been seen since. A Libyan government spokesman says she's alive. He promised that female journalists would be allowed to interview her in the next couple of days.
Reza Sayah traveled many hours by car to visit the woman’s family and interview them to get their side of the story. Click on the above video to watch the full segment with Reza’s Back|Story. Reza just sent this note on the latest he has on the story:
“The mother says she still hasn’t heard from Eman. She’s aware of the regime’s promise to have two journalists interview her on Saturday. Her mother says she’s suspicious of the regime and worried that this is another plan by the regime to discredit her daughter and depict her in a bad light.”
About The Revealer
A new Back|Story series that unearths fascinating new secrets about places and stories you thought you knew. Every other Thursday on Back|Story“The Revealer” Game
Join the action on our new series, “The Revealer.” Use the photo clues to figure out what the subject of this week’s episode will be. Click on the picture to the left for more.
