ABSTRACT
A country of western Africa, on the Atlantic coast, Sierra Leone was inhabited by the Temne when the Portuguese first visited the coast in 1460. The region was later settled by Mande-speaking peoples from present-day Liberia. In 1792 freed slaves were brought from Nova Scotia to found the colony of Freetown, which was transferred to British administration in 1808. In 1896 the interior was proclaimed a British protectorate, mainly in order to forestall French ambitions in the region, and the colony and protectorate of Sierra Leone was established. Under the British little economic development was undertaken in the protectorate, although a railroad was built and the production for export of palm products and peanuts was encouraged. After the Second World War, however, mining (especially of diamonds and iron ore) increased greatly. Sierra Leone achieved independence in 1961, with Milton Margai as Prime Minister. Several changes of government occurred over the next few years, some as a result of successful military coups. After an attempted coup in 1971 parliament declared Sierra Leone to be a republic, with Siaka Stevens of the All-People’s Congress (APC) party as President. A further series of military coups in the 1990s ended with Sierra Leone returning to civilian rule when power was handed over to Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People’s Party after the conclusion of elections in early 1996. Since 1991 the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a loosely organized guerrilla force led by Foday Sankoh, had sought to retain control of the lucrative diamondproducing regions of Sierra Leone with the aid of finance from Liberia. Most of Kabbah’s time in office was marked by a bloody civil war with the RUF, until the President succeeded in negotiating a cease-fire in the war. However, more instability in the country ensued when, only 14 months into his presidency, Kabbah was overthrown in May 1997 by a military junta, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), which invited the RUF to participate in a new Government. In October the UN imposed sanctions against the military Government and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sent in forces led by Nigeria. The rebels were subdued and President Kabbah was
returned to office in March 1998, although fighting continued in many parts of the country, with reports of widespread atrocities. In January 1999 over 6,000 people were killed in fighting in the Freetown area alone. A peace accord was signed in July between President Kabbah and Foday Sankoh of the RUF. The agreement granted the rebels seats in a new Government and all forces a general amnesty from prosecution. The Government had largely ceased functioning effectively, however, and at least half of its territory remained under rebel control. In October 1999 the UN agreed to send peacekeepers to help restore order and disarm the rebels. By May 2000 there was a UN force of 13,000 in the country attempting to disarm the RUF when Sankoh’s forces clashed with UN troops. Some 500 peacekeepers were taken hostage as the peace accord effectively collapsed. An 800-member British force thereafter entered the country to secure western Freetown, evacuate Europeans and support the forces fighting the RUF. After Sankoh was captured in Freetown, the hostages were gradually released by the RUF, but clashes between the UN forces and the RUF continued. In July another rebel group, known as the West Side Boys, clashed with the peacekeepers. In the same month the UN Security Council placed a ban on the sale of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone in an attempt to undermine the funding of the RUF. In late August 2000 Issa Sesay became head of the RUF. British troops training the Sierra Leone army were taken hostage by the West Side Boys, but were freed by a British raid in September. Although disarmament of rebel and pro-government militias proceeded slowly and fighting continued to occur, by January 2002 most of the estimated 45,000 fighters had surrendered their weapons. In a ceremony that month, government and rebel leaders declared the civil war to have ended; an estimated 50,000 persons died in the conflict. Elections were finally held in May 2002 and President Kabbah was re-elected; and his Sierra Leone People’s Party won a majority of the parliamentary seats.
