Human Rights Violations During the Sierra Leone Civil War

Eric Sprys

SPS 206 75 Genocide and Human Rights

Dr. O’Dell

12-5-18
 All humans have certain rights that should not be violated at any point in time. Human

rights were once just ideas of what is morally right and wrong. They have become written

international legal documents because human rights are so important (Donnelly,2013). One of

the first of these documents was the Universal Delectation of Human Rights. This document laid

out the rights that cannot be taken away and that every human being should have. The

document starts out with, “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and

inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and

peace in the world” (United Nations, 1948). These human right are in place to make everyone

can live a fulfilling life and to make the world a better place. Another one of the many legal

documents created to protect human rights is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women. This is an important document because all humans are equal no

matter their gender. This document was created in 1979 to make sure women all around the

world had the same rights as men. In most countries around the world women have historically

given women less rights and respect than men. Women in most countries would be expected to

stay at home and take care of the family while men are out at work earning money. Also in

many counties women were not even given the right to vote or own property. In Africa this is a

similar occurrence since, “Africa as a predominantly agricultural continent where between 65

and 80 percent of African women are engaged in cultivating food for their families” (Sheldon,

2016). Most of the land is controlled by men because they are in charge of many of the political

and religious positions. During times of war women can also be used and treated differently

than men. Their basic human rights may be taken away from them so the other side can gain an

advantage in the war. Rape of women can be used as a weapon in wars that puts fear in people
and it can destroy the way whole communities live. This weapon was used during the civil war

in Sierra Leone along with many other wars in African and all around the world (Marks,2013).

This practice is wrong and should have no place in modern wars. I plan to look at why this

practice is used during wars and why there are so many other human rights violations during

times of war.

The civil war was a very volatile time in Sierra Leone there was many human rights

violations during that time. The war started when a conflict in Liberia spread to Sierra Leone

territory. As the Sierra Leone military was fighting Liberia they were also under attack from the

Revolutionary United Front who were working with the Liberian rebels (Nicol, 2018). The

Revolutionary United Front was a group of rebels from Sierra Leone that were led by a former

corporal of the Sierra Leone Army. The group wanted control over the county and this resulted

in a very long war where many atrocities were committed. During the war the Revolutionary

United Front took control of land that had diamond mines. These diamond mines provided a

major source of income for the Revolutionary United Front and helped them fund their war

efforts. The world diamond industry is estimated to be around $81.4 billion a year so it can be

seen why the diamonds would be such a good source of money during the war (Baker, 2018).

Money and power can be one of the factors that drive warfare and cause people to commit

human rights violations. In the mines the people are exposed to unsafe conditions that were

often fatal. The Revolutionary United Front would use forced labor in the mines to get the

diamond out (Nicol, 2018). The forced labor allowed the profits to be even larger because they

did not have to pay a workforce and it provided a way to keep the people they conquered

oppressed so they cannot continue to fight back. Forced labor however is a human rights
violation and should not be done even in times of way. This labor goes against the fourth article

of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which says, “No one shall be held in slavery or

servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms” (United Nations,

1948). This means when the Revolutionary United Front was using forced labor they were

directly violating this document and going against the standard for human rights that the

United Nations had laid out. During the civil war the Revolutionary United Front was also using

the citizens as human shields and keeping them hostage. When they force innocent citizens to

be human shields this could also be thought of as a form of slavery. This is because the citizens

are being forced to do something they do not want to do and they are being put in harm’s way.

Using citizens for slave labor and as human shields is another way that human right violations

can be used to give one side an advantage during a war.

Today there are currently rules in place to prevent the sale of diamonds that may have

been mined to fund wars. These rules are in place because of what happened during the Sierra

Leone civil war and because other incidents where diamonds were mined to fund wars. The

goal of these rules is to help bring a stop the use of diamonds to fund wars. The rules the

diamond industry put into place is called the Kimberley Process. This process is used to make

sure the diamonds are not funding violent rebel groups fighting wars against their

governments. The Kimberly Process says that, “passports issued from the country of origin

that would accompany every shipment of rough diamonds around the world. Countries that

could not prove that their diamonds were conflict-free could be suspended from the

international diamond trade” (Baker, 2018). This method would be able to show exactly

where diamonds were coming from and let the buyers see if the diamonds are being used to
fund wars or other problems going on in these countries. I believe this was a very good idea

because it would help slow down funding for some wars which will in turn slow down the

killing that happens during the wars. The process was very efficient in lowering the amount of

diamonds used to fund conflicts by lowering the number of diamonds traded illegally from

25% in 2003 to 5-10% today (Baker, 2018). It is not perfect however because it is impossible

to document every diamond is coming from and some diamonds can be smuggled out of

countries that are currently suspended. Other diamonds from conflict area may still make it

onto the market through loopholes that exist in the diamond buying process. Another huge

problem with the Kimberly Process is that the definition it gives for diamonds that come from

areas of conflict does not include many diamonds that may come from mines that have

human rights violations going on. The definition of conflict diamonds according to the

Kimberly Process is, “gemstones sold to fund a rebel movement attempting to overthrow the

state” (Baker, 2018). This means that diamonds mined by forced laborers can be sold with no

action being taken by the Kimberly Process. These miners can also be working in awful

conditions and the diamonds from that mine can still be sold. There needs to be more done

to increase the definition of conflict diamonds to protect against human rights violations.

The civil war in Sierra Leone also lead to other human rights violations along with the

forced labor in the diamond mines. There was also brutal treatment of civilians and military

personnel that were captured during fighting. This was not just by the Revolutionary United

Front these brutal acts were also committed by the Sierra Leone government. These act were

war crimes and major human rights violations. One of the worst periods of human rights

violations was in January 1999 at the capital of Sierra Leone. At that time there were many
documented cases of genocide and torture. This was an even larger problem because the

military forces were not just attacking each other they were also attacking unarmed civilians.

In other wars civilians are only killed on accident and are not killed in large numbers by

organized military forces. This action has been done in pervious wars thought. During the

Holocaust the Germans systematically killed millions of people that they did not deem worthy

of life. During the civil war large numbers of civilians were gathered by the Revolutionary

United Front and killed. They would even kill people in places of worship with one report

saying that, “One massacre in a mosque on January 22 resulted in the deaths of sixty-six

people” (HRW, 2015). These were not all men, women and children were also killed in many of

the massacres. The Sierra Leone government also committed executions of Revolutionary

United Front members but did not kill nearly as many people and also did not kill regular

civilians. The government should not be killing its people it should be the force that protects

people. Donnelly says, “providing protection against torture always requires positive endeavors

by the state” (Donnelly, 2013). In this case the government was not protecting people from

human rights it was violating the rights of its people. Along with the mass killings there was

torture of civilians. Many people had body parts cut off with some people even losing more

than one arm. There was one little girl that, “describes how she and two of her friends were

taken away by a group of rebels, who then hacked off both of their hands” (HRW, 2015). These

were awful human rights violations that go against the Convention against Torture and Other

Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Article 2 of the document says that,

“Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to

prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction” (United Nations, 1984). Not only
did the state protect its citizens against torture they also executed rebels without a trial.

Torture and genocide should have no place in modern society or wars. I believe these acts

were done to demoralize the enemy during the war. The only other reason I can think of that

soldiers would just kill civilians would be just because they like killing. I hope this was not the

driving force behind these killings because only a psychopath would kill humans for fun. If the

Revolutionary United Front was killing civilians to demoralize the government forces it most

likely took away the soldiers will to fight which made them less effective and they would want

to get out of the war quicker. During WWII this is what America did to try and end the war

with Japan. The Japanese said they would never surrender. America then used two atomic

bombs, which killed many civilians, to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This caused the

Emperor of Japan and the Japanese military to surrender to America and brought an end to

the war in the pacific. I can see why methods like torture and genocide can be useful for one

side to try to get an advantage other the other in a war. They can attack the enemy’s mind

along with attacking then physically but these methods are totally unacceptable and have no

place in modern society or warfare.

Another weapon that was used during the Sierra Leone civil war was rape. This is

another way that wars can be fought both mentally and physically. It is also a human rights

violation that is very traumatic for the victims and their families. During the civil war there

were cases of women, “systematically rounded up by the rebels, brought to rebel command

centers and then subjected to individual and gang-rape. Young girls under seventeen, and

particularly those deemed to be virgins, were specifically targeted, and hundreds of them were

later abducted by the rebels” (HRW, 2015). It can be seen how demoralizing this could have
been to the Sierra Leone military. Most of the men were off fighting in other places leaving only

women and children in the towns and their family members could be getting raped. I would

think this would make many of the soldiers want to leave the fighting in other places so they

could be able to go back and protect their families. Another way that rape could be used as a

weapon of war is that it can be used for ethnic cleansing. Women of one ethnicity can be

impregnated by the soldiers committing the ethnic cleansing and then they will have the child

of the enemy. This would cause the child to be a mix of the ethnicities. This was most likely a

problem in Sierra Leone because it was a civil war but having a baby from an enemy soldier

could still be problematic. In other countries there have been cases where, “virtually every

adolescent girl who survived an attack by the militia was subsequently raped. Many of those

who became pregnant were ostracized by their families and communities. Some abandoned

their babies; others committed suicide” (UNICEF, 1996). This would be hard for the women of

Sierra Leone because even after the war is over they cannot return to their family and try to go

back to their life before the war. They will also have to take care of a child which will take a lot

of time and money that they may not have if they are on their own (Holland, 2012). Another

problem that can be caused by rape is a very high rate of STDs. If women in a community are

raped that community will have a higher rate of disease which in the future will cause major

health problems. During times of war there is, “breakdown of health services and public

education worsens the impact of diseases and chances for treatment” (UNICEF, 1996). The

women and communities that acquire the STDs will not be able to effectively treat them

causing the effects of the diseases to worsen. Rape is a violation of a person’s basic human

rights. I should not be used as a weapon in wars or used at all in the world.
 It can be seen why a military force would use some of these methods in times of war to

gain an advantage over their enemies. However, none of these things should ever be used so all

people can have their human rights protected. One of the first ways the international

community can try to stop human rights violations during wars is that they can try to stop wars.

They can try to do this by holding meetings with both sides that are at war and trying to

determine what both sides have to gain out of the war. They can then try to come to a

compromise that will work for both side and bring an end to the war. War is one of the main

times that human rights violations happen and the global community should be trying to avoid

wars as much as possible to decrease the number of human rights violations around the world.

Ending all war is unlikely so the international community will have to look at each human rights

violation individually. One way to stop genocide and torture in war could be to provide military

support to the side that is not committing those atrocities. If the military force is strong enough

the violators will not have time for genocide because they will then be fighting a much stronger

army. The military support can also help the citizens that are being raped. If more military force

is present they will be able to protect villages that cannot protect themselves. This means less

people will be taken hostage during the duration of the war. The global community should

always be working to protect people against human rights violations like torture and rape. In

the future more is needed to be done to prevent future tragedies from happening like those

that happened in the Sierra Leone civil war.

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