Sierra leone

Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gonetells of the civil war in Sierra Leone

What do children understand about war?

Ishmael Beah was 10 years old when he started seeing refugees in his village.

He was 12 years old when he was separated from his family and his life torn apart from the war.

While he gives some background to the conflict, his main focus is on a child trying to survive a brutal reality.

Some Background on Sierra Leone

1462: Portuguese explorers name the mountains outside Freetown Serra Lyoa (Lion Mountain)

Sierra Leone became haven for freed slaves

1780’s: Sierra Leone becomes a British colony called Freetown after the freed slaves from all over Africa who were sent there. They develop a shared language called Krio.

Why does A + B = Trouble?

A: Diamond B: Sierra Leone

SOURCE: “The Terror of Sierra Leone” by Sebastian Junger

Diamonds Discovered in 1930

According to legend, British told the locals that the stones were electric and dangerous to touch. Their advice was to leave them alone until a white man could get there.

British sell mining rights

In 1937 the British colonial government sold De Beers (a mining company) exclusive mining rights to the whole country for 99 years.

But diamonds are little tiny things!

And soon people just smuggled them out of the country.

Tips on how to hide a diamond:• Heat them and drop them into tins of lard• Sew them into hems of skirts.• Encase them in wax and take as a suppository.• Swallow them; hide under tongue; burrow into

navel; slip into an open wound that is allowed to heal.

1961: Freedom!Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip

visiting Sierra Leone in 1961. Like many other African nations, Sierra Leone overthrows the British colonial rule in 1960s and enjoys a few years as a functioning democracy.

1967 Election of Siaka Stevens: Hello Repression; Goodbye Democracy

Siaka Stevens remains in control for 18 years

Sierra Leone is increasingly crippled by high-level corruption. The nation has considerable wealth in the form of diamonds which are easy to misappropriate.

Another guy: Worse than the First

In 1985 Stevens retires and nominates the head of the army, Joseph Momoh, as his successor.

Corruption and economic decay continue.

Response to Government Corruption: The R.U.F.

A guerilla army, the Revolutionary United Front (R.U.F.) was formed quietly and brutally when a hundred or so lightly armed guerillas crossed into Sierra Leone from Liberia in 1991.

Unfortunately…

The R.U.F. was just as bad – if not worse – than the corrupt government.

The force contained many mercenaries and it quickly became an excuse to loot and kill.

Foday Saybana Sankoh

Sankoh was the leader of the rebels. His trademark was amputations, mostly of hands, as a way to spread terror.

Sankoh – rebel leader – and one of his child victims

RUF became notorious for brutal practices

In addition to amputations, the RUF also practiced mass rapes.

Sankoh personally ordered many operations, including one called "Operation Pay Yourself" that encouraged troops to loot anything they could find.

1991 to 1999: Coups, counter-Coups, and many changes in government

There are many atrocities committed on both sides.

Jan. 1999: RUF again attempts to overthrow the government

• Teen age soldiers, out of their minds on drugs, rounded up entire neighborhoods and machine-gunned them or burned them alive in their houses.

• They killed people who refused to give them money, or people who didn’t give enough money, or anyone who looked at them wrong.

Amputation Squads

Realizing they were losing the battle, the R.U.F. started rounding up people.

Amputation squads were made up of teenagers and children, many of whom wore bandages where incisions had been made to pack cocaine under their skin.

They chose victims at random and worked with rusty machetes and axes.

Lome Peace Accord

The traumatized civilian population was willing to do anything to end the war, and brought the R.U.F. into the government.

2002: Civil War finally ends

With the help of British troops, the civil war is finally brought to an end.

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission provides a forum for both victims and perpetrators to tell their story.

Sankoh dies of a stroke before he is brought to justice.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)

Findings of the TRC:• The civil war happened due to decades of

corrupt rule by the political elite. • Recommended increasing the transparency of

the mining industry• Establishing a reparations fund for war victims.• After a long delay, establishment of a

reparations fund for war victims was established.

So what did all that have to do with ?

The movie Blood Diamond tells the story.

In Blood Diamond…

A fisherman is captured by the RUF and forced to work in the diamond fields. His son becomes a child soldier and hardened killer. The RUF use the diamonds to fund their war effort, often trading them directly for arms.

The film’s fiction has an important fact:

Easy to smuggle and very valuable, diamonds are at the heart of the Sierra Leone civil war.

The rebels sold diamonds to buy arms.They used these weapons to control the

diamond-producing areas.The misery that Ishmael and so many others

endured can be traced to a shiny little jewel.

Today in Sierra Leone

Highest life expectancies

1. Japan: 83

2. Australia: 82

3. Iceland: 82

4. Italy: 82

5. San Marino: 82

(United States: 78)

Lowest life expectancies

1. Sierra Leone: 41

2. Afghanistan: 42

3. Zimbabwe: 45

4. Lesotho: 45

5. Zambia: 46

Sixth Poorest Nation

Rank Country Population below poverty line (%)

1 Zambia 86

2 Chad 80

3 Haiti 80

4 Liberia 80

5 Gaza Strip 80

6 Sierra Leone 70.2

"In the sky there are always answers and explanations for everything: every pain, every

suffering, joy and confusion." --Ishmael Beah