Secret Sardinia | People and Power
The Italian island of Sardinia presents many faces to the world, from the pretty harbours, sun-kissed beaches and fancy coastal villas of the super-rich to the famously stunning landscape of the interior, with picturesque towns and remote villages dotted among the mountains, woods and streams. Unsurprisingly, such things attract holidaymakers from all over Europe and tourism has long been one of the island's main industries.
But few of those visitors will fully appreciate just how much of the island is barred to them - and indeed to locals as well. That is because about a third of Sardinia's territory is controlled by the Italian military and rented out as a testing ground for war.
This restricted fiefdom includes places like Salto di Quirra - a huge weapon-proving range and rocket launching site near Perdasdefogu, one of the largest such bases in the European Union - and large sections of Sardinian coastal waters reserved for use by NATO for naval and amphibious warfare training and kept off-limits even to local fishermen.
Inevitably some Sardinians baulk at the constraints all this imposes on them, but their principle concern is not about restricted movement, it is about their health. In areas near the test sites, there have been high rates of cancer, birth defects and early death. In one village, in one year, a shocking one-in-four new baby had some kind of defect. Elsewhere whole families have been hit.
"My mother-in-law died of cancer. They cut my father-in-law's leg off because it was cancerous. My father died. My sister died young of lung cancer," says Sardinian citizen Guilio Angioni. Farmers and veterinarians say grazing livestock has also been affected, with numerous documented cases of animals giving birth to young with grotesquely twisted limbs.
All of these instances, say concerned locals, are a toxic side effect of the thousands of high-explosive bombs, missiles, and rockets that have been tested here by European armies over the years - weapons that in some cases have contained depleted uranium, thorium and other radioactive materials, about which the authorities have been less than forthcoming.
Despite the military's alleged secrecy in covering up these health problems for decades, in early 2019 formal police investigations began to shed clarity on the issue. "The causal link between the exposure to depleted uranium and diseases suffered ... has been confirmed at a judicial level. It is a milestone," says Gianpiero Scanu, leader of a two-year parliamentary inquiry.
This film from Australian journalist Emma Alberici investigates the background to this disturbing story and the human cost of getting too close to the machinery of war.
-
- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe
- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish
- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera
- Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/
Видео Secret Sardinia | People and Power канала Al Jazeera English
But few of those visitors will fully appreciate just how much of the island is barred to them - and indeed to locals as well. That is because about a third of Sardinia's territory is controlled by the Italian military and rented out as a testing ground for war.
This restricted fiefdom includes places like Salto di Quirra - a huge weapon-proving range and rocket launching site near Perdasdefogu, one of the largest such bases in the European Union - and large sections of Sardinian coastal waters reserved for use by NATO for naval and amphibious warfare training and kept off-limits even to local fishermen.
Inevitably some Sardinians baulk at the constraints all this imposes on them, but their principle concern is not about restricted movement, it is about their health. In areas near the test sites, there have been high rates of cancer, birth defects and early death. In one village, in one year, a shocking one-in-four new baby had some kind of defect. Elsewhere whole families have been hit.
"My mother-in-law died of cancer. They cut my father-in-law's leg off because it was cancerous. My father died. My sister died young of lung cancer," says Sardinian citizen Guilio Angioni. Farmers and veterinarians say grazing livestock has also been affected, with numerous documented cases of animals giving birth to young with grotesquely twisted limbs.
All of these instances, say concerned locals, are a toxic side effect of the thousands of high-explosive bombs, missiles, and rockets that have been tested here by European armies over the years - weapons that in some cases have contained depleted uranium, thorium and other radioactive materials, about which the authorities have been less than forthcoming.
Despite the military's alleged secrecy in covering up these health problems for decades, in early 2019 formal police investigations began to shed clarity on the issue. "The causal link between the exposure to depleted uranium and diseases suffered ... has been confirmed at a judicial level. It is a milestone," says Gianpiero Scanu, leader of a two-year parliamentary inquiry.
This film from Australian journalist Emma Alberici investigates the background to this disturbing story and the human cost of getting too close to the machinery of war.
-
- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe
- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish
- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera
- Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/
Видео Secret Sardinia | People and Power канала Al Jazeera English
Показать
Комментарии отсутствуют
Информация о видео
Другие видео канала
Israeli minister orders return of equipment seized from AP news agencyAfghanistan floods: Thousands of homes destroyed in Ghor provinceBlinken's budget bid: Israel’s war a focus of future US spendingChina loosens COVID quarantine, testing rules nationwideGermany coup plot trial begins: Nine defendants face judgesMexico elections: Presidential candidates hold third debateTrump criminal trial: Defence rests and Trump declines to testifyThis foreign volunteer doctor refused to be evacuated out of Gaza | Al Jazeera Newsfeed'War criminals perpetrate war crimes' reactions from experts after ICC's potential arrest warrantsFrance: Strikes continue amid growing fuel shortagesPalestinian woman in Gaza refuses to flee | AJ #shortsProtesters have gathered in Colombo in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in GazaThailand’s Fearless Cop | 101 East DocumentaryBeit Lahia residents run from Israeli bombing | #AJshortsPalestinian brothers search for mother after Israeli strikeRare deep-sea squid filmed by scientists | AJ #shortsSatellite images from Gaza show scale of Rafah displacement | Al Jazeera NewsfeedSouth Africa shows a firmer stance in today’s ICJ hearing: AnalysisIsraeli military says 5 soldiers killed in northern Gaza due to 'friendly fire'Crowds chant 'Free Palestine' during friendly match in Ireland | AJ #shortsThe role of music in the Palestinian resistance movement | The Stream