CHAPTER FOUR Nature of the Conflict

CHAPTER FOUR Nature of the Conflict Introduction 1. The Commission is required by its enabling legislation to determine whether the conflict was a result of deliberate planning, action or authorisation of any person or government, and what roles external or other actors may have played in the conflict. 2. The conflict started as an attempt to overthrow a dictatorial and tyrannical regime. It was unable to mobilise support among the people to prosecute the revolution. It resorted to abductions, forced recruitment and other violations and abuses to increase its numerical strength. Community militias were established to resist the purveyors of revolution. In no time, the militias themselves began to attack the civilian population that they were established to protect. 3. The defining character of this conflict was its radical departure from other armed conflicts in terms of targets. This was a conflict waged against the civilian population. The combatant factions did not target conventional military targets. There were very few accounts of direct confrontation between the combatant factions. In consequence, civilians bore the brunt of the violations and abuses that marked the conflict. 4. The conflict was also notable for its chameleonic nature. Factions and groups changed sides frequently culminating in the wholesale transfer of loyalty from a national army to a renegade fighting force established by an illegal government. The confusion among the civilian population led to the sobriquet, “sobels,” soldiers who became rebels at night in order to loot and plunder the resources of the people. 5. What shines through in the rest of this chapter is the plethora of violations and abuses to which the people were subject. The chapter analyses the fighting forces and identifies the strands in their composition and behaviour that enable an understanding of the violence they deployed against the civilian population. 6. Using qualitative testimony and quantitative analysis, the Commission captures the roles played by the armed factions in prosecuting their campaigns and ascribes responsibility for the violations and abuses to the different combat groups including the ECOMOG peacekeeping forces. 7. The Commission has researched the influence of external actors and factors in starting, and fuelling the many thousands of violations that took place during the conflict. Indeed there are specific examples of foreign involvement that attest to a war with significant international, particularly sub-regional, dynamics and reverberations. The overwhelming majority of abuses recorded by the Commission were carried out by Sierra Leoneans against Sierra Leoneans. The patent truth is that for eleven years the people of this country effectively waged armed conflict against themselves. In its essence, it was a self- destructive civil war. Vol Three A Chapter Four Nature of the Conflict Page 465 8. The nature of the conflict is better understood in terms of its complexities and ambiguities than through the lens of any single, defining cause of ill intent. What this chapter shows is the multiplicity of causes and effects that permeate the violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law as well as the institutional fluidity of the violators themselves. 9. There are notable paradoxes at the heart of this analysis, which the time and resources available did not permit the Commission fully to resolve. One of our most important observations is that in spite of all the malice and suffering of the conflict period, Sierra Leone has returned in peacetime to what appears to be a climate of tolerant and harmonious co-existence. Sierra Leoneans demonstrated tremendous courage, resilience and desire to put the past behind, through accepting many of those who committed violations against them back in their home communities. 10. However, a propensity for conflict continues to exist among the people. Many of the root causes of the malice and violence remain unaddressed. To a large extent, the purpose of this chapter is to pose a deterrent to the recurrence of armed conflict by recording the full extent of the violations and abuses that have taken place and analysing the context that enabled the perpetration of such violations. The chapter also reports on two further features identified by the Commission as characteristics of the conflict: (a) particular malice, whereby violations and abuses are found to have occurred as a result of deliberate targeting, planning or policy on the part of their perpetrators; and (b) particular suffering, whereby the specific ordeals of communities, groups or single persons demand to be given a voice in the hope that we might all learn lessons from them and unite to ensure that such things never happen again. 11. Based upon the tenets outlined above, this chapter has been divided into four main sections. The first section outlines the Nature of the Violations by describing the framework for the categorisation of violations adopted by the Commission. The second deals with the victims of the conflict, noting certain characteristics of the violations and abuses perpetrated, and focusing on the Mr Ozonnia ojielo ! 04/3/22 5:56 PM patterns of abuse and evidence of targeting. The third section profiles those Deleted: Based upon the tenets outlined who committed the violations, that is, the perpetrators and perpetrator groups. above, this chapter has been divided into five It includes an assessment of the character and conduct of each of the militias main sections. The first section outlines the and armed groups involved in the prosecution of the conflict. The fourth section framework for the categorisation of violations adopted by the Commission. The second titled, ‘Characteristics of Context’ elaborates the general trends that underpin identifies those Against Whom the violations the conflict. Each of these sections is supported, where necessary, by and abuses were carried out, that is the victims qualitative and quantitative data identifying patterns and peculiarities in the of the conflict, noting certain characteristics of conflict. the violations and abuses that were perpetrated, and focussing especially on patterns of abuse and evidence of targeting. The third section profiles those By Whom these acts were carried out, that is, the perpetrators and their respective groups, including an assessment of the character and conduct of each of the militias and armed groups involved in the prosecution of the conflict. It also elaborates general trends that underpin the entire duration of the conflict. The fourth section is entitled ‘Characteristics of Context’. Using monographic studies into the psychology of Vol Three A Chapter Four Nature of the Conflict Page 466 Vol Three A Chapter Four Nature of the Conflict Page 467 NATURE OF THE VIOLATIONS 12. The violation categories used by the Commission are the violations known to have occurred frequently during the conflict in Sierra Leone. These are quite different from those that occurred during outbreaks of mass human rights abuse in other conflicts and countries. By using these common violations, the Commission hopes to comprehensively describe the common experiences of the Sierra Leonean people during the conflict. 13. The list is deliberately short, numbering 16 violations. Each is precisely defined to avoid ambiguity, ensuring a common understanding of the violations recorded by the Commission. While the list is short, there is scope for a broad analysis of each one. For example, acts of rape should be considered as not only happening in the context of abduction as sex slaves or “bush wives”; but as a violation perpetrated against women during attacks on villages or as part of encounters at checkpoints or in the bush. Furthermore, the burning of property should be understood, not just as an economic crime, but on occasion, as a means of murdering the persons detained within the property. Data Framework 14. In order to grasp the context in which the violations took place, the Commission organised the different violation types into a framework. Some violations such as amputation, forced cannibalism and forced displacement stand alone, because of their specific character and the patterns in which they were committed. The remaining violations have been divided into three sections: violations perpetrated in the context of abduction; violations without prior abduction; and economic violations. It was a major characteristic of the conflict that economic violations were accompanied by other violations, such as beatings. 15. Abduction is violation by itself. In the context of the war, it was carried out with other violations and/or provided a foundation for other violations. Abduction is defined by the Commission as the capture and forced/unwilling removal from current location, in the control of person/s defined as perpetrators. The Commission recorded 5968 cases of abduction. Mr Ozonnia ojielo ! 04/3/22 5:58 PM Deleted: uction was considered by the 16. Certain violations occurred specifically in the context of abduction. Abductees Commission as a violation in itself, but it is used experienced abuse for an extended period, often for many years, whereas the in this framework as a context. Abduction is defined as the capture and forced/unwilling experiences of non abducted victims were in the context of encounters with removal from current location, in the control perpetrators. These experiences represented “events” in the lives of the non of person/s defined as abducted victims. They occurred mostly during attacks on villages, village perpetratorsCommission recorded 9079 occupations, check point encounters, ambushes on the road and bush abduction violations in its da encounters. For those who were abducted, life was a continuous state of fear, Mr Ozonnia ojielo ! 04/3/22 5:59 PM within a rigid hierarchical command structure based on terror. The consequences on the lives of these two categories of victims varied Deleted: ction than where the victims were not abducted. The experiences therefore differ. For accordingly. instance, abductees experienced abuse for an extended period, often for many years, whereas 17.

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