Sierra Leone Civil War Case Study

reality of the most brutal 20th century civil war in Sierra Leone. Mariatu tells a very

A brief historical account of Sierra Leone may provide only a glimmer as to why the Sierra

“Liberian Civil war fought in 1989-1996, is among the most deadly and destructive war in the history that lasted for more than 7 years and killed almost 3 hundred thousand people. This war was the worst ever in the history of Africa because it caused the infrastructural and property damage in the country. The war also displaced more than 1 million people in refugee camps in neighboring countries. This war led to a complete breakdown of law and order in the country. There was not any direct cause that led to this war but several reasons contributed in the creation of this destructive event. Hunger for power, greed and opportunities to control and to get more out of Liberia’s natural resources were the main reasons behind this conflict. As D. Elwood Dunn quoted “We begin with the assumption that the conflict arose from the tugs and pulls of different identities the differential distribution of

Considering the U.N.’s response to the war in Sierra Leone, it has a long way to go in its responsibility to ensure “legitimate governance under international law.” But U.N. efforts alone won’t stop the senseless killing in Sierra Leone over illicit diamonds. Kayne West’s song and video about “blood diamonds” makes us take an honest look at ourselves and ask: Is my fascination with diamonds contributing to the violence in Sierra

These events that led to the civil war in Sierra Leone destroyed its economic, political, and social system. The economics have been driven down since independence as seen before, from smugglers, to crooked political leaders destroying the economic system into pieces. The collapse of the economic system can trace back to many things. The political system has played a big part in it. The corrupt leaders as seen before in history like Stevens, and Mohob. In the book “Along Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah he experiences the messed up politics. He had first heard about it in the news about neighboring wars. Those wars were in Liberia. He had first hand experience, as he had fought for the government side which is no better than the rebels known as RUF. Ishmael roughly experiences this as he says

Throughout history, our world has constantly been bruised and battered by civil turmoil. Today, the civil war in Syria decimates the country; the Israeli and Palestinian conflict rages on; tens of thousands of people have been killed in South Sudan's ongoing civil war. It is not always easy to isolate what exactly ignites the flames of war, but, whenever possible, finding a workable, calm and satisfying solution to a potential uprising is preferable.

Before reading “A Long Way Gone,” I was not at all familiar with the civil wars occurring in Sierra Leone. I didn’t know anything about Sierra Leone’s political dynamics either, however I could infer much about what might be going on there if asked. At least that is what I thought. That is until I read part of Ishmael’s memoir. I figured, previously to reading the memoir, that civil wars began as a result of some generally good reason, and were continued for a generally good reason. The civil wars in Sierra Leone, as I read, were quite the opposite, rather blind fight for power, as narrated by Beah, “A lot of things were done with no reason or explanation.” It is also implied that each side in the war believed that they themselves were doing

¹A cilvic war of corruption have turned apart the relationships of Sierra Leone and the trust among its people, its travesty esstitally have destroy once peaceful community. Prior to the cilvic war, the people of Sierra Leoner have shared an intimate relationship with each other, they were a tight communities, until the war took away their lives, forcefully turning the family against each other.

In 1991, the Sierra Leone Civil War started. Rebels invaded Beah's hometown, Mogbwemo, located in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone, and he was forced to flee. Separated from his family, he spent months wandering south with a group of other boys. At the age of 12, he was forced to become a child soldier. According to Beah's account, he fought for almost three years before being rescued by UNICEF.[1] Beah fought for the government army against the rebels. In 1997, he fled Freetown by the help of the UNICEF due to the increasing violence and found his way to New York City, where he lived with Laura Simms, his foster mother. In New York City, Beah attended the United Nations International School. After high school, he enrolled at Oberlin College and graduated in 2004 with a degree in Political Science.[1]

The government continued to be extremely corrupt, there were still ethnic tensions, and Liberia, the neighboring country, was in its own civil war spreading violence into Sierra Leone. Along with that the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was formed. This group overran the diamond mines of Sierra Leone and caused enough trouble for the military to have to get involved launching Sierra Leone’s civil war on March 23, 1991. For further reading into causes of the civil war in Sierra Leone click this link. The civil war lasted much longer for one reason being the vast amounts of diamonds. To the right you can see an image of the illegal diamond mining in Sierra Leone. The RUF funded their rebellious cause selling the diamonds, and since they are sold to fund war they are known as blood diamonds. In order to end the civil war Britain once again had to step into Sierra Leone and send its own military to stop the brutal civil war finally ending the 11 year war on January 18, 2002. (Sierra Leone, Royal African Society). If you would like to view more on Sierra Leone’s civil war the following links are to videos documenting the events of the war: link (long video est.1 hr 30 min), link (short video est. 14

Sierra Leone is a country with much history. It has many historical sites and great mines that contain so much “treasure”. Its economy is still growing and they’re trying to improve themselves. They’re a diverse country with different ethnic groups and languages but socially and culturally they can agree on the way they eat, what type of music they like, and what they do for fun. This country is unique and is growing from the past to a modern future.

Despite its immense potential, very little of this wealth has benefited the Congolese people. Instead, all of its riches have attracted adventurers, warlords, corrupt governments, and unscrupulous corporations, and divided the population into competing groups. This is the main source of the conflict that rids the majority of eastern DRC (“The world factbook,” 2017).

In developing countries such as Sierra Leone and Sudan, there are many types of violence, propaganda, and corruption used to create this vulnerability, which leads to vicious cycles of displacement and war. The corruption that is present in these governments is rather significant and the fear that is instilled into civilians by the military or militia causes a power imbalance. Furthermore, the abuse of drugs and alcohol is caused by the lack of education in many of these developing countries. Civilians are persuaded to join these organizations with the use of drugs such and cocaine and crack. The lack of availability of education and awareness of the effects of such drugs puts civilians in a vulnerable position. Being born in certain developing countries comes with everlasting conflict, which commonly leads to vulnerable environments and further displacement. Most of the time these conflicts arise over natural resources, religion or contrasting political views. The current action being taken by foreign aid has had a very minor impact. New Statesman writer Dinaw Mengestu discusses African literature comparing past to present, “Growing up in the United States, I was acutely aware of how everything I saw and heard about my native Ethiopia was being translated...We died by the millions, and with the exception of a handful of thoughtful accounts by western journalists, little was said and done from the outside, and even less was uttered out loud from within” (Mengestu, 2007). This further reflects the issue of not being recognized on a global scale and being misinterpreted by the rest of society. In order to protect these civilians from the corruption, violence and propaganda, there is a need for further action. Firstly, this issue needs to be recognized and humanized by foreign governments. The amount of awareness needs to drastically increase in order for civilians and foreign

Due to these Blood Diamonds, Sierra Leone has faced many social and economic costs. One diamond is capable of causing a civil war. That’s all, a fight over diamond control took many lives. During this civil war, rebels came and committed disgusting crimes including murder,

Building a nation… Slavery, Independence, Constitution, Military coups to Presidential elections! Senior Enlisted leaders, it is important to know that the freedoms we all prefer comes with a cost of sacrifice, bloodshed, and for some, nation before self for democracy. This essay will discuss the background, government, strategic importance, and future direction of Sierra Leone.