The difficulties in the country were compounded in march 1991 when conflict in neighbouring liberia spilled over the border into sierra leone. Sierra leone is still recovering from a brutal civil war 19912002, fuelled in part by a valuable and easily extractable natural resource diamonds. The sierra leone civil war 19912002 was a civil war in sierra leone that began on 23 march 1991 when the revolutionary united front ruf, with support from the special forces of charles taylors national patriotic front of liberia npfl, intervened in sierra leone in an attempt to overthrow the joseph momoh government. The war was declared to have finished on 18 january 2002 officially. This fleeting interest, however, obscured much of the longer history of the region, and made sierra leone a laboratory for postcold war interventions. The process of deforestation in sierra leone already started before the civil war, but it is generally assumed that the conflict exacerbated it. Its land yields diamonds, gold, bauxite, and rutile titanium dioxide.
Using a timeline, students will learn the details of the civil war as well as learning about the victims of the war, what conflict diamonds are and how sierra leone. This thesis examines the crises of war and state collapse in the west african state of sierra leone, which has been devastated by a civil rebellion. Pdf an examination of the sierra leone war researchgate. This thesis examines the crises of war and state collapse in the west african state of sierra leone, which has been devastated by a civil rebellion which began ostensibly as armed incursions from.
Although diamonds seemingly played a significant role in financing the war once it started, diamonds more likely contributed to corrupting. New york the widespread and systematic use of rape and other sexual violence during the tenyear civil war in sierra leone is documented in a new human rights watch. These models put statesociety relations, in particular between the formal national government and the population that constitutes the electorate, at the heart of the fragility question. United nations observer mission in sierra leone hereinafter termed unomsil with representatives of the government of sierra leone, rufsl, the civil defence forces hereinafter termed the cdf and ecomog shall be established at provincial and district levels with immediate effect to monitor, verify and report all violations of the ceasefire. The sierra leone civil war sierra leone was ravaged by a civil war that started in 1991 and lasted until 2002. An examination of the sierra leone war academic journals. Sierra leone covers an area of 71,740 km, approximately the. Sierra leone is a small country, the size of belgium, on the west african shore, encircled by guinea in the west and liberia in the east, with an estimated 4. Sierra leone has been ravaged by a civil war that lasted from 1991 to 2002, and resulted in some 70,000 casualties and 2.
May, 2016 twentyfive years ago, sierra leone plunged into a decadelong brutal civil war, made famous by the chilling practice of mass amputations of hands, arms and legs and the film blood diamond. In the years after the death of sierra leones first prime minister sir milton margai in 1964, the politics of the country was progressively distinguished by several negative factors, such as corruption and mismanagement, hat. Sierra leone ratified the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in 1988 without reservation, but since it was emerging from an 11year civil war that had. The civil war in sierra leone raged from 1991 to 2002. Diamond miners in sierra leone sifting through the sand in search of diamonds. Earlier this month, it held remarkably fair, peaceful and wellorganized elections for president and parliament. The present study investigated the impact of the civil war on deforestation, fallow periods and commercial logging, in the region around the gola rainforests national park. Its been 25 years since sierra leones brutal civil war. Sierra leone is a country located towards the northwest side of the african continent. For the first time since the aftermath of world war ii, a former head of state was indicted and found guilty of war crimes. Sierra leone covers an area of 71,740 km, approximately the size of ireland. Until the middle of the civil war, the country also exported other. The trade in blood diamonds was the focal point of the trial, which demonstrated how natural resource exploitation can serve to fund armed conflict and lead to the abuse of human rights. This study is a historical analysis of sierra leones state structure in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Resources and governance in sierra leones civil war. Using a timeline, students will learn the details of the civil war as well as learning about the victims of the war, what conflict diamonds are and how sierra leone dealt with its troubled past. Pdf this study is a historical analysis of sierra leones state structure in the 20th and. Although most of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture, sierra leone is also a mining centre. Before the country was consumed by an elevenyear civil war 19912002, the sierra leone police slp was perceived as an instrument of political oppression. Sierra leone has been a source of and destination for refugees. Momoh responded by deploying troops to the border region to repel the incursion of liberian rebels known as the national patriotic front of liberia npfl, led by charles taylor. Sierra leone lion mountain was embroiled in a civil war that resulted in the death of over 50,000 civilians. The conflict in sierra leone and the engagement of the united nations the conflict in sierra leone dates from march 1991 when fighters of the revolutionary united front ruf launched a war from the east of the country near the border with liberia to overthrow the government. It began in march 1991, as the revolutionary united front ruf. Although the conflict has been over for more than a decade, this western african country is still struggling to recover from the bloodshed and violence that left more than 50,000 people dead. We seek to explain local variation in conflict intensity against the backdrop of an intense and prolonged war. Chris coulter abstract this article looks at how the category of female fighters in the sierra leone civil war 19912002 was interpreted by the local population and by the international humanitarian community. Twentyfive years ago, sierra leone plunged into a decadelong brutal civil war, made famous by the chilling practice of mass amputations of hands, arms and legs and the film blood diamond.
Center for global development essay for a decade, the small western african nation of sierra leone suffered through a brutal internal war that ended in 2002. Our results are complementary to the other recent studies mentioned above, none of which examines institutional impacts. Sankoh was a military corporal in the army before he was imprisoned by the apc government for his alleged involvement in an abortive military coup. The sentence on charles taylor is to be pronounced on may 30, 2012, and sierra leoneans will finally receive some justice for the atrocities they have endured. The capital of the country is freetown, which was founded for former repatriated slaves in 1787. Two million were relocated and tens of thousands died in this 11 year war. May 17, 2007 sierra leone ratified the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in 1988 without reservation, but since it was emerging from an 11year civil war that had. The sierra leone civil war was the result of varied interactions between structural problems in sierra leone society which increased grievances among people and, accordingly, led to the emergence of the ruf. As a proxy for governance quality we exploit exogenous variation in political competition at the level of the. The broader political climate, in the prewar period, was characterised by corruption, marginalisation and poor governance, which negatively affected the relationship between the state. Conflict profile sierra leone 1991 2001 the decadelong war in sierra leone began in 1991 as a revolt against a longstanding dictatorship. Lets begin with a background history of the political situations that mainly caused the civil war in sierra leone. Pages in category sierra leone civil war the following 61 pages are in this category, out of 61 total.
Sierra leone unep disasters and conflicts programme. The war in sierra leone lasted from march 1991, when a group of rebels. Our analysis does not imply that resources or poor governance played no role in the war. In 1991, sierra leone fell into a bloody civil war that left 50,000 dead from 11 years of fighting. The country is also rich in diamonds and other minerals. The war in sierra leone was started by the late foday sankoh and the revolutionary united front ruf when they invaded sierra leone from the eastern border with liberia in 1991. Internal conflict crippled the country from the late 1980s onward, culminating in a brutal civil war that took place from 1991 to 2002.
The resulting civil war lasted 11 years, enveloped the country. It was in the year 1991, when the civil war in sierra leone was started by the revolutionary united front led by foday sankoh. Thousands of children were forcibly abducted by rebel forces. Interesting facts about sierra leone and its civil war. No presidential candidate won the 55 percent of the vote. Jan 16, 2003 new york the widespread and systematic use of rape and other sexual violence during the tenyear civil war in sierra leone is documented in a new human rights watch report released today. The causes of the sierra leone civil war einternational relations.
National and international perspectives of the civil war. The liberian civil war began in december 1989 when charles taylors. Lome peace accord the peace agreement between the sierra leone government and the revolutionary united front of sierra leone to end the countrys eightyear civil war. Interesting facts about sierra leone and its civil war a. May 20, 2014 interesting facts about sierra leone and its civil war. The underlying causes of fragility and instability in sierra. Apr 05, 2018 2002 july british troops leave sierra leone after their twoyear mission to help end the civil war. Sierra leone united nations development programme undp. Sierra leone now stands on the verge of an unprecedented period of economic growth, driven primarily by. Council for the development of social science research in africa. This civil war erupted because of the mounting dissatisfaction of the people, especially the youth that were engrossed by the rebellious revolutionary united front ruf, towards the politics of the country that was set apart by its corruption, negligence and electoral violence.
Causes of sierra leone s civil war prior to the civil war in 1990, sierra leone s life expectancy was even lower than it is today. It borders guinea in the north and northeast, and liberia in the east and southeast. Sierra leone has been ravaged by a civil war that lasted from 1991 to 2002, and. Sierra leone came to world attention in the 1990s when a catastrophic civil war linked to the diamond trade was reported globally. It began in march 1991, as the revolutionary united front ruf attempted to. The conditions that led to the war included a repressive predatory. Oct 25, 2012 the sierra leone civil war was the result of varied interactions between structural problems in sierra leone society which increased grievances among people and, accordingly, led to the emergence of the ruf. This lesson will briefly summarize the sierra leone civil war, how and why it started, and the key events of sierra leone s civil war from its beginning in 1991 to its end in 2002. Between 1991 and 2002, sierra leone was heavily damaged by a tremendously violent civil war.
Western media coverage of the civil war in sierra leone. This content was written by a student and assessed as. Media in category sierra leone civil war the following 2 files are in this category, out of 2 total. The western media perspective of a barbaric africa. Hayward, a higher education specialist has described sierra leone as a pioneer of west african history. Sierra leones civil war internally displaced as many as 2 million people, or almost half the population, and forced almost another half million to seek refuge in neighboring countries 370,000 sierra leoneans fled to guinea and 120,000 to liberia. The category of the female fighter both challenges and. Civil war in sierra leone and the role of blood diamonds. Assets project and how it could be applied to postconflict development in sierra leone. Another civil war in sierra leone has begun under the slpp bio duration.
The war was fueled by wealth from diamonds located in the east of the country, where the rebel united front ruf was strongest. The underlying causes of fragility and instability in. Shocking war crimes in sierra leone human rights watch. The ceasefire agreement signed between the government of sierra leone and the ruf in lome, togo. The war was characterized by widespread atrocities, including the abduction of children and systematic rape. Explain the reasons why sierra leone descended into civil war in 1991 2. The january 1999 offensive against freetown marked the most intensive and concentrated period of human rights violations in sierra leones eight. Starting in 1991 sierra leone was ravaged by a decade of civil war which cost the lives of thou. Apr 25, 2017 the civil war in sierra leone has been one of the most grotesque ones in history, and the nations rich diamond reserves have driven much of the violence. Sierra leone covers an area of 71,740 km, approximately.
Civil war in sierra leone essay sample new york essays. The january 1999 offensive against freetown marked the most intensive and concentrated period of human rights violations in sierra leone s eightyear civil war, said peter takirambudde. Diamonds and conflict in sierra leone diamonds since their initial discovery in sierra leone in 1932, the country has exported more than 32 million carats of diamonds. The end of the twentieth century saw an adverse escalation in armed conflict. Impact of the civil war in sierra leone on deforestation. Apr 05, 2018 sierra leone has experienced substantial economic growth in recent years, although the ruinous effects of the civil war continue to be felt. Sierra leone has experienced substantial economic growth in recent years, although the ruinous effects of the civil war continue to be felt.
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