[allAfrica.com] [Contribute_for_the_People_of_Niger] A Dirty War in West Africa - the RUF And the Destruction of Sierra Leone Concord Times (Freetown) NEWS December 8, 2005 Posted to the web December 8, 2005 By Lansana Gberie Freetown Lansana Gberie's detailed account of the rebel war in Sierra Leone clears away many of the misconceptions about the conflict as he provides the most lucid explanation of what he describes as "the RUF phenomenon". This small West African country was the scene of some of the worst atrocities witnessed in Africa at the end of the last century. During the 11 years between 1991 and 2002, well over 50,000 people were killed, thousands were mutilated in a conflict symbolised by the systematic chopping off of hands and legs, one in three of the population of 5 million were displaced as thousands of home were destroyed and villages raised to the ground. The reasons why it proved so difficult to find a lasting resolution to the conflict was because so many, especially in the international community, failed initially to regard it as a sub-regional conflict. They kept trying to treat the rebel RUF (Revolutionary United Front) led by Foday Sankoh, the former Army corporal and erstwhile photographer, as something it never was. It suited the international community to treat the conflict as an internal "civil war" with the RUF as another of those well meaning liberation movements fighting against oppression and corruption, as had been experienced in places like Guinea Bissau and Uganda. Some earlier scholars became "experts" on the RUF without even bothering to talk to the rebels. Gberie is able to draw upon his first-hand experiences as a Sierra Leone journalist covering the early days of the rebel war. He had actually met and interviewed Sankoh and dozens of other members of the RUF. He then applied his scholarly research while based in Canada and West Africa to produce this well-informed and very readable book. Some others, as the British Foreign Office researcher, Dr Lillian Wong, has noted, "put a romantic gloss on a very brutal group of people, interpreted what they believed the RUF stood for - and got it wrong." Gberie gets it right. He conceives the RUF as largely a mercenary enterprise, describing them as bandits and the movement as essentially a sub warlord system, under the direction of Charles Taylor in Liberia and influenced by Gadaffi in Libya. He helps explain why the RUF were so excessively brutal and resorted to the mass recruitment and indoctrination of children, who were devoid of political thought and ideology. The RUF was indeed more like a cult, with Foday Sankoh its messianic despotic leader. Sankoh is described in the book by President Kabbah of Sierra Leone as "the most treacherous and evil man he had to deal with in 40 years of public service." By contrast, Jesse Jackson, President Clinton's "ambassador for democracy in Africa", compared Sankoh to Nelson Mandela and encouraged the US Government to force Kabbah to share power with Sankoh in the ill-fated Lome Peace agreement. When the fears of Kabbah and the Sierra Leone people that Sankoh could not be trusted proved to be accurate and led to further mayhem and atrocities, the Americans then made a 180 degree turn and pressured the Kabbah government to establish a war crimes tribunal, the Sierra Leone Special Court, and indict Sankoh for crimes against humanity! Gberie's previous book which he co-authored, "The Heart of the Matter: Sierra Leone, Diamonds and Human Security", helped reveal the extent to which diamonds fuelled the conflict and the role played by the Liberian warlord, Charles Taylor. For too long this aspect of the conflict was ignored by the international community, notwithstanding the fact that between 1994 and 1999 Belgian figures alone registered more than $2 billion worth of diamonds were imported reputedly from Liberia, although at the very best of times Liberia never surpassed $10 million in exports of diamonds. The publication of Gberie's book coincides with that of another excellent book on the Sierra Leone conflict, David Keen's "Conflict and Collusion in Sierra Leone". Keen's book attempts an academic analysis of all the causes which led to this "bloody war" with in depth analysis of all the players. Gberie focuses primarily on the RUF but he still gives useful insights into the positive roles played by others such as Executive Outcomes,(the South African based security firm), Ecomog, the British, and especially the Civil Defence Force (CDF) and its coordinator Chief Hinga Norman, whom he also interviewed. Gberie concludes his book with some observations upon the Sierra Leone Special Court and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Sierra Leone is the only country in the world in which both a Special War Crimes Tribunal and a TRC have been established as part of the conflict resolution process. (Other conflicts such as in Mozambique have been successfully resolved without recourse to either.) Whereas the TRC has successfully completed its findings and published its report, the Special Court continues its tortuous proceedings even though Sankoh and his main henchman Sam Bockarie (alias Mosquito) are dead, as is probably the leader of the illegal AFRC junta, Johnny Paul Koroma. Chief Hinga Norman is the only person of note who is detained and he remains to many a hero who helped restore peace and democracy to the country. His continued detention remains a grave injustice. The Court remains hopeful of snaring Charles Taylor into its lair but, although as Gberie's book shows he was undoubtedly one of those bearing the greatest responsibility for the atrocities in Sierra Leone, there are many who are concerned that Taylor's appearance in the Special Court at this time could disturb the fragile peace which the sub-region enjoys. They prefer to remain grateful to President Obasanjo for keeping a watchful eye on Taylor in Nigeria. As part of the peace process, Sierra Leone became the scene for the largest United Nations peace operation in the world. (Gberie and I were both members of a team of experts which produced a report on the UN operation to look at lessons learned.) It took this UN presence and before that the Ecomog force led by Nigeria and a significant involvement of British forces before President Kabbah was finally able to declare in November 2002 "di wor don don" (the war is over). Since then Sierra Leoneans have been trying to put the past behind them. But they are still waiting for the "peace dividend" as they struggle with their miserable lives. There are worrying signs of corruption and mismanagement still around. Development has given way to politicking for the 2007 elections. The unemployed disaffected youth are still hanging around the streets of Freetown - waiting for another Sankoh and RUF to appear? It is to be hoped that Lansana Gberie's excellent book will help alert people to such dangers and ensure that such "a phenomenon" does not arise again. Peter Penfold was Former British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone 1997-2000 November 2005   ==============================================================================  Copyright © 2005 Concord Times. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). ==============================================================================