Preview

Sierra Leone Civil War

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
648 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Sierra Leone Civil War
According to United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and United Nations Development Programme (2007) the civil war in Sierra Leone was
… [A] decade-long …marked by widespread human rights abuses, the collapse of the central government, and destruction of public capacity to provide any services or protection for its people. [The war displaced] more than two million people…widespread of sexual violence [with a record of] more than 1,800 victims of sexual violence…[as] 55 per cent reported being gang raped in a conflict in which abduction, molestation, and sexual slavery became [a] commonplace. More than 100,000 people were killed during the strife. Others suffered from the intentional amputation of arms and legs as well as other forms of mutilation. (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs; United Nations Development Programme, 2007, p. 3).
In spite of these aforementioned atrocities committed against civilians in Sierra Leone, can reconciliation be achieved? How can justice be pursued? How …show more content…
Based on this thought, how can victims accommodate perpetrators in the society? What is the best mechanism for states to adopt to ensure sustainable peace in a transiting state? Raymond Helmick, S.J., and Rodney L. Paterson identify reconciliation as the best procedure to achieving sustainable peace. They explain reconciliation as the “…possibility of transforming war into peace, trauma into survival, and hatred into forgiveness (Sarkin, 2008, p. 13). Although this provided definition simply explains the required need of reconciliation for the transitional process from war to peace, the definition and conceptualization of reconciliation presents a complexity, which is dependent on the contextualization of an event. Therefore, this research paper focuses on atrocity conflict and the transitional process for post-atrocity
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Americo-Liberian Cities Annotated
    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Americo-Liberian Cities Annotated

    It all started December 24, 1989 when a rebels group lead by Charles Taylor. Enter Monrovia through Nimba county and Freetown Sierra Leone many innocent children died , so many properties was destroyed , the weakness of this article many government official were killed, no foods, no water. The United Nations never try help or step in to stop the war. The strength of this article is the West Africa Peace Keeper through, The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS)brought a little peace to Monrovia, the peace Keeper brought foods and water, people were happy.…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Darfur and the Crime of Genocide Book Report
    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Darfur and the Crime of Genocide Book Report

    Chapter one – Darfur Crime Scenes – explores, in graphic detail, the firsthand accounts of exactly what happened to refugees in Darfur. The violent murders, rapes and destroying of property are clearly shown from the interviews, charts and data that the research teams in Darfur collected. In chapter two, the authors go back in time and discuss one of the other most famous mass genocides, the holocaust. The history aspect is important information because it helps explain why so many people were against calling Darfur genocide, and would only call it a “crime of crimes” and “a crime against humanity” (Hagan, Rymond-Richmond). The chapter also gives a background in criminology and shows how much early criminologists aided in bringing to justice the criminals of the holocaust and other crimes against humanity. The third chapter discusses how much information the rest of the world did not have about Darfur and it was legitimately going unnoticed in many parts of the world. It was not being reported on, and nothing was getting done. In chapter four, Flip-Flopping on Darfur, the efforts by the rest of the world finally begin to focus on Darfur. It discusses he Atrocities Documentation Survey and what information it gave researches and the rest of the world. The chapter also discusses the disparities that the different…

    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    A Long Way Gone vs. Blood Diamond
    • 1301 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A Long Way Gone vs. Blood Diamond

    A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier and the recent 2006 film Blood Diamond both depict how it was living in Sierra Leone, Africa during the Civil War in the ‘90’s. While A Long Way Gone focuses on child soldiers and what they had to live and go through for many years, Blood Diamond focuses mainly on how the country is torn apart by the struggle between government soldiers and rebel forces. The film portrays many of the atrocities of that war, including the rebels' amputation of people's hands to stop them from voting in upcoming elections. Both the movie and the book try to tackle major issues by asking the questions: how did the rebels and the government gain support, what is the price and impact of way on men, women, children and society.…

    • 1301 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Review Of Elie Wiesel's Speech 'Perils Of Indifference'
    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Review Of Elie Wiesel's Speech 'Perils Of Indifference'

    However, this violence should not have lasted so long, other countries ignored the conflict and allowed this problem to worsen, surrendering the lives of thousands. Indifference still exists among our world; it has been the reason for such violence lasting and…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Study Guide on Imperialism
    • 1531 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Study Guide on Imperialism

    Effects: stripped land of natural resources (rubber trees, elephants), caused thousands of deaths due to brutality…

    • 1531 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Darfur Genocide Research Paper
    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Darfur Genocide Research Paper

    “The “Darfur Genocide” refers to the current mass slaughter and rape of Darfuri men, women and children in Western Sudan” (“Darfur”).These killings of Darfuri villagers began in 2003 and as of today, over 480,000 have been brutally murdered. This crisis is still ongoing, even though action is being taken by other countries and organizations to stop the violence. Suffering is still constant in Darfur as of today and will not be abolished until peace is ensured in the country (“Darfur”).…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Sierra Leone Imperialism Essay
    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sierra Leone Imperialism Essay

    In 1787, British humanitarian founded the "Province of Freedom" which later became Freetown, a British crown colony in 1808 and the principal base for the suppression of the slave trade. Throughout the 19th century, the colony steadily grew through various treaties of friendship from the local chiefs. After the British abolished their slave trade the new colony was used as cornerstone from which the abolishment could be enforced (Gascoigne, Bamber). By 1855, over 50,000 freed slaves has been settled in Freetown the capital of Sierra Leone (Hopkins, Mark). However because of some mistakes by the British imperialists Sierra Leone had multiple rebellions and military coups also a horrible civil war in 1991…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of The Sierra Leone Civil War
    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Analysis Of The Sierra Leone Civil War

    I can see many reasons why the author wrote this memoir. First off, he wanted to talk about what he had to go through during the Sierra Leone Civil War. He wanted to show the disturbing sides to what war really does. The rebels of the war did some horrible things in this war. They destroyed many villages in the country. This was including Ishmael’s villages, which caused the death of his entire family. Even the government did horrible things to fight against the rebels. They recruited boys to their army, such as Ishmael and his friends. The army trained them to become killing machines, and they brainwashed the boys into thinking they were doing a good thing killing all the rebels. The loss of innocence was another thing why he wrote this book.…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Paradise Road
    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Paradise Road

    It is intrinsically human to experience conflict; thus, we will all be forced to respond to conflict at various times and in various forms throughout the course of our lives, and in order to live serenely we attempt to avoid and resolve conflict. Whilst conflict may merely involve two parties disagreeing over minor differences of opinion (the permutations of which being largely insignificant), we have seen throughout history that major conflicts in the form of war and international political unrest, lead many to experience horrific and life-changing conflicts of a larger scale. Our challenge is to deal with conflict that might be well beyond the reaches of our control, and wholly influenced by the actions of others. Noting the diverse contexts of such conflict, what emerges is the extraordinary way that we can be tested, and how we emerge from such harrowing circumstances. We begin to question not the battle itself- conflict has occurred and will occur again- but the human behavior behind the conflict and our responses to such conditions. Those who experience conflict are truly tested and the core of their characters brought into sharp focus as they make sense of their experiences and those of the people around them. For the woman incarcerated at the end of Bruce Bereford’s ‘Paradise Road’ it is the conflict of enduring a war and all that this encompasses, including cultural prejudice and misunderstanding, violence and torture. For others in our world’s recent history such as Nelson Mandela, it was the conflict of enduring persistent ignorance, discrimination and injustice. Through the stories of these people we can see that while conflict can often breed further disagreement and suffering, it may indeed prompt some to act in extraordinary ways that are bigger and more complex than they might have realized themselves. They are led to articulate through their responses to conflict, who they…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Role Of Children In The Sierra Leonean Civil War
    • 172 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Role Of Children In The Sierra Leonean Civil War

    In the Sierra Leonean Civil War, abounding children were abducted by rebels from their villages. There were varying protocols between the boys and girls. The boys were directed to camps to learn how to fight and they were later recruited to the Civilian Defence Forces. The seized girls were raped and kept as sexual prisoners. Both the boys and girls were also used for free labor. At the same time, the children who were not kidnapped could go to the streets and beg for money. These funds they collected were used in the village for food, clothing, and any essentials to life. Furthermore, children brought awareness to the Civil War in Sierra Leone. A substantial amount of journalists reported about the war and shared their information around…

    • 172 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Effects Of Civil War On African American Imperialism
    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Effects Of Civil War On African American Imperialism

    In Sudan, it was a civil war caused by lasting cultural problems from the 1800’s that has caused the deaths of about two million people. As for Angola, a civil war was caused by the lack of natural resources and ethnicity differences. This civil war resulted in over one million dead. In Algeria, conflicts arose from the reinstatement of dominant Islam. After colonial rule, Algeria faced many political problems.…

    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Failure Of The Sierra Leone Civil War
    • 2192 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Failure Of The Sierra Leone Civil War

    Once independent, Sierra Leone had trouble forming their own government. Their first attempt ended with a military coup in 1967 because the government “failed to represent all [the] people equally” (Edsall, Healey, and…

    • 2192 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Conflict In Darfur
    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Conflict In Darfur

    Over 200,000 have fled abroad, mainly to Chad where they will face further violence as they will be refugees and more susceptible to the crime. 90 per cent of the villages of Darfur targeted ethnic groups have been destroyed as the Arabs were trying to get rid of the Africans. Also 3.5 million people are dependent on international humanitarian assistance. For that amount of people to depend on international help is a problem because if the other nations can’t provide then those people will suffer and not have a very good quality of life. However Darfur has the biggest humanitarian operation in the world. There are currently 14,000 aid workers. The economic impacts are that Darfur spent a lot of money on military weapons and so now the country struggle for basic resources. It is seen that in 2004 Darfur spent $1,352.71 on military weapons which especially went to the Janjaweed to help them fight against the rebel groups, in particular the SLA and…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Genocide In Uganda
    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Genocide In Uganda

    Genocide in Uganda has been going on since its independence in 1962, and is still going on today. Because it is such a poor country and the government is abusing its power it is difficult for Uganda to combat genocide. Uganda has suffered many violations to human rights, some of these violations have been government sponsored. The country has experienced forced exile, imprisonment without trial and murders against certain ethnic groups. Milton Obote, Idi Amin and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), led by Joseph Kony, contribute to a large part of the genocide in Uganda. The Genocide in Uganda is a result of misused authority, and a hunger for power, the only way it will be resolved is if people take action and if the government changes it…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    The Economic Problems of Sierra Leone
    • 1679 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Economic Problems of Sierra Leone

    References: Country Profile: Sierra Leone. (2010, January 28). Retrieved August 20, 2010, from BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1061561.stm…

    • 1679 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More

Related Topics