An Oral History of the Civil War in Sierra Leone Interviewer

An Oral history of the Civil War in Sierra Leone Interviewer: Kyle Hardy Interviewee: Michel duCille Instructor: Mr. Whitman February, 14, 2012 Hardy 3 Table of Contents Interviewee Release Form Interviewer Release Form Statement of Purpose……………………………………………………………………………...4 Biography………………………………………………………………………………………….5 Blood Diamonds: A Decade of Tragedy in Sierra Leone………………………………………..6 Interview Transcription…………………………………………………………………………..13 Analysis Paper…………………………………………………..……………………………….30 Works Consulted…………………………………………………………………………………34 Hardy 4 Statement of Purpose The purpose of this oral history interview is to further understand the horrifying war in Sierra Leone. The civil war, between 1991 and 2002, was rarely reported to news and till remains widely unknown. Though a relatively small country, the horrendous actions taken throughout this war should not be ignored nor forgotten. This interview will serve as a guide for those remain unaware of the horrors of the war and give a first-hand account of Sierra Leone during this time. Hardy 5 Biography of Michel duCille Michael duCille is a Jamaican-American photographer who currently works for the Washington Post in Washington, DC. He spent most of his childhood in Jamaica and describes his time her as “Idyllic”. He father, who was a preacher, instilled in him the values of education, and in 1970, his family moved to Gainesville, Georgia with hopes of improved education and a more stable financial means. He started school in America at Gainesville High school when he was 15. The school he entered also welcomed the first year the school intergraded blacks and whites. His father, who was also a journalist, introduced him to journalism. At the age of 16, he began to take pictures for the newspaper and has been a professional photographer every since. He got his Bachelor of Science degree in science at Indiana University and masters in journalism from Ohio University. He began working for the Washington Post, as a photo editor, in 1998, and in 2005 he became the senior photographer of the Washington Post. For his work, he won the Pulitzer award, given for outstanding achievement in the news journalism field, twice, in 1985 and 1988. The Pulitzer he won in 1985 was for his photojournalism coverage of the 1985 eruption of Colombia's Nevado del Ruiz volcano and the second was for photo essay on crack cocaine addicts in a housing project in Miami. His achievements eventually got him to be recruited for his trip to Sierra Leone to archive, via photography, the Civil War. Hardy 6 Blood Diamonds: A Decade of Tragedy in Sierra Leone From 1991 to 2002, the West African County of Sierra Leone was terrorized by the rebel forces in their attempt to overthrow the corrupt government. The rebel organization, The Revolutionary United Front or RUF, took over large cities, leaving a trail of destruction in their path. They captured thousands of children whom they forced to join their militia. The RUF demonstrated no value of human life and committed horrifying crimes against the innocent people seen of Sierra Leone. Savagely hacking off arms and legs of civilians was a common tactic of these forces, and many of these acts were done by and to children. The economy of Sierra Leone severely deteriorated during this period, sinking in the war-stricken country deeper into poverty. Therefore, in order to understand the perspective of some who participated in the Sierra Leone Civil War, it is important to first examine the events leading up this massacre. The beginning of Sierra Leone, as it stands, begins with the return of about 400 freed slaves, after having been stolen and shipped away to Great Britain into slavery (Glass-Royal 7). The Temne people were the previous owners to this area, who inhabited the Northern and Southern region of present day Sierra Leone (Fyle 18). The other groups of aboriginal were the Mende, who control the Southern and Western area of Sierra Leone (Flexner 365). The land was located on King Tom’s, a Temne leader, territory called Granville Town and was renamed the “Province of Freedom” in 1787. The newcomers were reviled by the natives and conflict quickly arose between the indigenous people of West Africa and the settlers. Many of the original migrants were killed from this hostility, as well as foreign disease. Moreover, it was eventually burned down, due to settlement leader’s insubordination to King Tom, within two years of their arrival (Fyle18).The succeeding king to King Tom, King Jimmy, proceeded to exile the surviving settlers from the rest of the land and eventually assimilated with the people of the Hardy 7 Temne tribe. The settlement was rebuilt privately by the wealthy English men and was renamed Freetown in 1791. The following year about 1190 freed slaves were brought over from Nova Scotia and the region was officially deemed a colony of Great Britain. As Sierra Leone matured, more and more freed slaves were sent to Freetown and by 1808, some 2000 people in habited this colony, which was renamed again to the colony of Sierra Leone (Trillo 906). The British government had a large role in the rapid population growth due to their active attempts to end wide spread slavery. They would seize slave ships using the British Navy and bring them to Sierra Leone. Due to their support about 70,000 “recaptives”, slaves rescued from slavery via British naval interception, were transported to Sierra Leone from 1808 to 1864. The freed slaves brought to West Africa, were called Kriol or Creole (Woods 7). The area became more sophisticated and was eventually was the center of education in British West Africa, set on by English missionaries. Well educated lawyers and doctors and other intellectuals taught the English language along with Christianity to the people. The region served as the location for the Fourah Bay College in 1827, which attracted many English speaking Africans to the Western coast of Africa. Upon the discovery of the abundant resources, primarily diamonds, within the territory, dispute arose over which nation had rightful ownership between the bordering countries French Guinea and Liberia. Due to the large about profit presumable for whoever took sole ownership of the resources, Great Britain drew particular interest (Valls149). In1896, the territory of Sierra Leone established the current national borders and the agreement granted Sierra Leone with most of the resources, and soon after, Great Britain became an official protectorate over Sierra Leone (Kargbo 30). The British government took advantage of the Sierra Leoneans in order to obtain the highest profit from the natural resources. Furthermore, Great Britain continued its oppression by provoking attacks and other conflicts with the native people, Hardy 8 the Mende and Temne tribes, in order to ensure the people were dependent on their protection. Great Britain dominated over almost all aspects of Sierra Leone including trade and government affairs. After World War II, they planned to reduce their influence and shrink their Empire, between 1951 and 1961. Sierra Leone received its independence from Great Britain on April 27, 1961 (Woods 11). The success of receiving independence lasted but 30 years, when focused shifted to mere survival with the start of the civil war. The History of this war can be traced back to old ethnic clashes and the leaders who sprawled Sierra Leone into a devastating 11 year civil war. The newly formed country elected Sir Milton Margai as the first prime minister in May 1962. He represented the Sierra Leone’s People Party or SLPP, and during his rule Sierra Leone entered the UN and the British Commonwealth (Kargbo 63-64). His half-brother Sir Albert Margai preceded him and created tensions throughout the country by swiftly electing Mende Tribe members into important governmental roles. He continued to show his preference of the Mende people which then caused him to lose the next election for Prime Minister on March 17, 1967 to Siaka Stevens, who led the newly formed APC party which stands for All People’s Congress (Woods 11). Steven became the first president of Sierra Leone as well as the first major corrupt power of the independent country. Without resistance, he stole from the nation treasury and used fear to continue in his crimes unopposed by other officials or citizens (Valls147). Owing to his misdeeds, he was forced to quit, however, his successor, General Joseph Momoh, was equally as corrupt. The economy of Sierra Leone continued to suffer through the negligent nature of two consecutive presidents. Charles Taylor, president of Liberia, assisted in forming the Revolutionary United Front, which aimed to remove Momoh from power in order to create a more stable government. However, Taylor’s ulterior was to destabilize Sierra Leone further in 1991 and seize control of Diamond Hardy 9 mines. After participating in the Liberian Civil War in 1989, the leader of the RUF, Foday Sankoh, adopted the same war methods used by Charles Taylor (Woods 14). Corporal Foday Sankoh led the rebels, who consisted of junior military officers, in their fight against the government through extreme violence toward civilians (Valls 147). The RUF regime started from Eastern Sierra Leone, taking over villages and diamond mines. They continued north, occupying major areas of Sierra Leone in1991. On April 29, 1992, a military coup was launch, commanded by Valentine Strasser, and they successfully exiled Momoh to Guinea. The National Provisional Ruling Council, NPRC, temporarily took control of the government. The RUF came back with vengeance and by 1995, controlled a majority of Sierra Leone (State Department). The country was aided by hundreds of foreign mercenaries, and within a month, the RUF was pushed back yet again. The war seemed over as the president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was elected and the government implemented parliamentary elections, by proportional vote in 1996.

Load more