Sierra Leone’s Uncivil War
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Five hundred United Nations peacekeepers were kidnapped in Sierra Leone
recently by forces of the rebel Revolutionary United Front. Taking U.N. peacekeepers hostage is a new tactic in guerilla
warfare, representing an escalating danger to international peacekeeping forces.
Sierra Leone's conflict almost mirrors one that occurred in neighboring
Liberia 10 years ago. In fact, the two countries have much in common, as both were
established for and by freed slaves, have
similar climates and topography and have
similar complex cultural and political
problems.
Sierra Leone (see-AIR-ah lee-OHN)
is located in West Africa, bordering Liberia
on the southeast and Guinea to the north.
The country is one of Africa's smallest
with a total area of only 27, 699 square
miles (71,740 sq. km.), about the size of
Maine.
Its climate is mostly tropical monsoon with high humidity and heavy rains
from April through October. Annual precipitation ranges from 80 to 144 inches
(203 to 366 cm.). The coastal area around
the capital city of Freetown is the wettest.
Temperatures do not vary a great deal,
averaging between 77 and 81 F.
Coastal swamps and mangroves
dominate much of the coastline, giving
way to a 100-mile (160-km.) wide coastal
plain of sandy soils. Interior plateaus and
mountains rising to more than 6,000 feet
(1,829 m.) in elevation cover about 40
percent of the country in the northeast.
Sierra Leone has a current population of more than four million. About
130,000 are Creoles, descendents of black
African slaves settled there by the British.
Their language is Krio, a local form of
English, and they mostly live around the
capital city of Freetown. There are 12 principal ethnic groups, but the two main
ones are the Mende, who live in the south
and the Temne in the west. Although
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SIERRA LEONE
English is the official language, most nonCreoles speak local African languages.
Little is known of Sierra Leone's history prior to 1460. Portuguese and other
European ships traded in slaves from Sierra Leone's territory from the 1500s
through the 1700s. African tribes from the
east pushed into Sierra Leone about 1725
as the Fulanis from the eastern Sahel
staged a holy war to convert others to
Islam.
In 1787, Granville Sharp, an antislavery Englishman, established a colony of
freed American slaves at Freetown. It
wasn't until 1807 that the British outlawed
slave trade. A year later the British government began freeing slaves from slave
ships on the high seas and sending them
to Freetown. By 1896, Sierra Leone became a British colony.
Descendents of the freed slaves became the most educated and politically
dominant of the African groups in Sierra
Leone, much as was the case in Liberia.
Their wealth and power was the envy of
other ethnic groups.
Upon Sierra Leone's independence
from the British in 1961, a fairly peaceful
and stable period followed until 1992.
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Throughout this period, however, there
were increases in corruption, inflation and
dependence upon the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international
lenders.
These problems occurred despite economic wealth from diamond, bauxite and
iron ore deposits. After discovery of diamonds in 1930, Sierra Leone became the
world's fifth largest producer of industrial diamonds and the sixth largest producer of gemstones by 1990.
In 1992, an army coup ousted the
Sierra Leone president and replaced him
with a military regime. Another coup in
1996 paved the way for civilian rule with
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multiparty elections. Throughout the
1990s, however, a brutal rebel force called
the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)
battled the governments for power.
The RUF, under leader Foday Sankoh,
sought to punish any man, woman or
child who did not support their cause.
The tactics included assassinations and
the particularly brutal act of amputating
the limbs of their victims. Associated Press
reports recorded numerous adults and
children on the Freetown's streets missing at least one arm.
The United States was instrumental
in urging a power-sharing agreement between the government and the rebels
signed last July. It was clear to all parties,
however, that the RUF and its leadership
were not trustworthy. The rebels used the
agreement to gain more territory and control, particularly in the diamond district.
The deployment of U.N. peacekeepers
and a Nigerian-led regional intervention
force was ineffective in stopping the rebels.
As the U.N. peacekeepers recently
tried to disarm them, the rebels apparently took the peacekeepers hostage. This
tactic froze the rebels' opposition, allowing them to rapidly advance on Freetown.
At the eleventh hour, however, government troops rallied to save the capital
from rebel occupation.
The RUF has taken to the bush and
the situation remains desperate. Civilian
refugees are flooding in from the countryside-reminiscent of the early stages of
the Liberian conflict 10 years ago.
This is a difficult situation for the U.S.
government, which has placed itself in
the middle of the conflict by insisting on
the power-sharing agreement last summer. It is highly unlikely that U.S. troops
will be committed, but weapons and logistical support may be provided to the
government. The U.S. Air Force is scheduled to fly a battalion (700 to 900 soldiers)
of Bangladeshis to Sierra Leone shortly,
perhaps followed by two more battalions
by summer. This would bring the U.N.
peacekeeping force to 11,100, according
to the Associated Press.
The latest news flash is that rebel
leader Foday Sankoh has been captured
by pro-government troops.
As in many African countries, tribal
jealousies and weapon availability fuel
the violent power struggle in Sierra Leone.
And that is Geography in the News,
May 26, 2000.
(The author is a Professor of Geography
at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.)
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