Sierra Leone: War & Ethnic Strife
Is Sierra Leone recovering from its civil war?
Thomas de Boer
Period 2
World History
5/19/09
The conflict that lasted in Sierra Leone from 1991 to the early 2000’s was long and definitely took its toll on the country. Before the war the country was democratic for the most part. It had a weak economy but it was stable. Perhaps more importantly, people lived according to their own free will, hence the country’s capitol named Freetown. That all changed in March of 1991 when a rebel group from Liberia invaded. Today, after a decade of war, Sierra Leone is beginning to return to democracy.
That rebel group was the Revolutionary United Front, or the RUF in short. They were founded by Foday Sankoh and funded by the former Liberian president Charles Taylor (Globalsecurity.org). It also received funds from the Dutch diamond company DeBeers (Britannica.com). The RUF claimed to be the people’s party. Their goal was to topple the existing democratic government. However, it soon became clear that the RUF was the farthest thing from the people’s party. The RUF had no grounds of government. It appeared as an anarchist movement to some. The RUF would randomly attack villages, killing everyone in sight and kidnapping children to turn them into child soldiers. The child soldiers were drugged and forced into combat (UN.org).
The RUF established a reign of terror. The RUF cut off the hands of many people after the government’s election slogan that the power was “in the people’s hands” (UN.org). Thousands of people’s limbs were amputated. The RUF also used rape as a weapon and as a result, many of the women in Sierra Leone now have AIDS and other STD’s. At one point the RUF was within five miles of Freetown. Word of the atrocities occurring in Sierra Leone got to the United Nations; and the United Nations sent hundreds of UN peacekeepers to stop the violence. Five hundred of these peacekeepers were taken hostage by the RUF (UN.org). This is when the United Kingdom sent five hundred troops into the country (Globalsecurity.org). After a series of crushing defeats the RUF was toppled and Foday Sankoh was captured by a village of angry citizens who turned him over to the authorities (Brittanica.com).
Sierra Leone is making a recovery slowly but surely. Foday Sankoh died in prison after a heart attack, and Charles Taylor was taken into custody and turned over to the UN by Liberian police in 2006. Also three of the senior leaders of the RUF movement, and leaders of the RUF party were convicted in 2009 (Brittanica.com). As for the government, the democratic government is back in business and elections are being held for office. Sierra Leone’s economy collapsed during the decade-long war but now its beginning to recover and stabilize itself, but there’s fear that the recent global recession will suppress this. Villages are being rebuilt with the help of the United Nations and charities such as the Red Cross (Globalsecurity.org). In a half a decade or so Sierra Leone should be back on track to the free bustling country it once was.
Annotated Bibliography
“Sierra Leone.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica online. 12 may. 2009 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/543356/Sierra-Leone.
This site was good for basic dates. It also helped with how Sierra Leone was before the war itself.
“United Nations Missions in Sierra Leone.” UNAMSIL. 2005. United Nations. 12 may. 2009
http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unamsil/background.html
This site helped me figure out how Sierra Leone fought off the rebels. It also talks of the rebel leaders convictions. It also mentioned the many atrocities the RUF imposed.
“Sierra Leone.: GlobalSecurity. 2005. John Pike. 13 may. 2009
http://globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/ruf.htm
This site talked a lot about how Sierra Leone is working to rebuild itself.
last updated on 5/21/09.
Period 2
World History
5/19/09
The conflict that lasted in Sierra Leone from 1991 to the early 2000’s was long and definitely took its toll on the country. Before the war the country was democratic for the most part. It had a weak economy but it was stable. Perhaps more importantly, people lived according to their own free will, hence the country’s capitol named Freetown. That all changed in March of 1991 when a rebel group from Liberia invaded. Today, after a decade of war, Sierra Leone is beginning to return to democracy.
That rebel group was the Revolutionary United Front, or the RUF in short. They were founded by Foday Sankoh and funded by the former Liberian president Charles Taylor (Globalsecurity.org). It also received funds from the Dutch diamond company DeBeers (Britannica.com). The RUF claimed to be the people’s party. Their goal was to topple the existing democratic government. However, it soon became clear that the RUF was the farthest thing from the people’s party. The RUF had no grounds of government. It appeared as an anarchist movement to some. The RUF would randomly attack villages, killing everyone in sight and kidnapping children to turn them into child soldiers. The child soldiers were drugged and forced into combat (UN.org).
The RUF established a reign of terror. The RUF cut off the hands of many people after the government’s election slogan that the power was “in the people’s hands” (UN.org). Thousands of people’s limbs were amputated. The RUF also used rape as a weapon and as a result, many of the women in Sierra Leone now have AIDS and other STD’s. At one point the RUF was within five miles of Freetown. Word of the atrocities occurring in Sierra Leone got to the United Nations; and the United Nations sent hundreds of UN peacekeepers to stop the violence. Five hundred of these peacekeepers were taken hostage by the RUF (UN.org). This is when the United Kingdom sent five hundred troops into the country (Globalsecurity.org). After a series of crushing defeats the RUF was toppled and Foday Sankoh was captured by a village of angry citizens who turned him over to the authorities (Brittanica.com).
Sierra Leone is making a recovery slowly but surely. Foday Sankoh died in prison after a heart attack, and Charles Taylor was taken into custody and turned over to the UN by Liberian police in 2006. Also three of the senior leaders of the RUF movement, and leaders of the RUF party were convicted in 2009 (Brittanica.com). As for the government, the democratic government is back in business and elections are being held for office. Sierra Leone’s economy collapsed during the decade-long war but now its beginning to recover and stabilize itself, but there’s fear that the recent global recession will suppress this. Villages are being rebuilt with the help of the United Nations and charities such as the Red Cross (Globalsecurity.org). In a half a decade or so Sierra Leone should be back on track to the free bustling country it once was.
Annotated Bibliography
“Sierra Leone.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica online. 12 may. 2009 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/543356/Sierra-Leone.
This site was good for basic dates. It also helped with how Sierra Leone was before the war itself.
“United Nations Missions in Sierra Leone.” UNAMSIL. 2005. United Nations. 12 may. 2009
http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unamsil/background.html
This site helped me figure out how Sierra Leone fought off the rebels. It also talks of the rebel leaders convictions. It also mentioned the many atrocities the RUF imposed.
“Sierra Leone.: GlobalSecurity. 2005. John Pike. 13 may. 2009
http://globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/ruf.htm
This site talked a lot about how Sierra Leone is working to rebuild itself.
last updated on 5/21/09.
