Sierra Leonean History, Context and Conditions: 

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore the land, calling it Sierra Leone (“lion mountains”).

A British protectorate for over 150 years, Sierra Leone became an independent nation on April 27, 1961. The nation has been on a roller-coaster of internal military interventions, extreme brutality, and periods of democratic rule ever since.

A military coup overthrew the civilian government in 1967, in turn replaced by civilian rule a year later. The country became a republic on April 19, 1971.

A 1971 coup attempt led to then-Prime Minister Siaka Stevens calling in troops from neighboring Guinea, who remained for two years. Stevens turned the government into a one-party state under the aegis of the All People's Congress (APC) party in April 1978.  In 1992 rebel soldiers overthrew Stevens' successor, Joseph Momoh, calling for a return to a multiparty system. In 1996, another military coup ousted the country's military leader and president. Nevertheless, a multiparty presidential election proceeded in 1996, and Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) candidate Ahmad Tejan Kabbah won with 59.4% of the vote, becoming Sierra Leone's first democratically elected president.

Freetown, Sierra Leone

However, another violent military coup ousted President Kabbah's civilian government in May, 1997. The leader of the coup, Lieut. Col. Johnny Paul Koroma, became Head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).  Koroma promptly began a reign of terror, destroying the economy and murdering enemies. The Commonwealth of Nations demanded Kabbah’s reinstatement and ECOMOG, the Nigerian-led peacekeeping force, intervened. On March 10, 1998, after ten months in exile, Kabbah resumed his rule over Sierra Leone. The ousted junta and other rebel forces continued to wage attacks, many of which included the torture, rape, and brutal maiming of thousands of civilians, including countless children.  Amputation by machete was the horrific signature of the rebels.

In January, 1999, rebels and Liberian mercenaries stormed the capital, demanding the release of the imprisoned Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader, Foday Sankoh. ECOMOG regained control of Freetown, but President Kabbah later released Sankoh so he could participate in peace negotiations. Pressured by Nigeria and the U.S., among other countries, Kabbah agreed to an untenable power-sharing agreement in July 1999, which made Sankoh vice president of the country – and in charge of the diamond mines. The accord dissolved in May 2000 after the RUF abducted about 500 U.N. peacekeepers and attacked Freetown. Sankoh was captured and died in government custody in 2003, while awaiting trial for war crimes. The conflict was officially declared over in January, 2002. An estimated 50,000 people were killed in the decade-long civil war. The U.N. installed its largest peacekeeping force in the country (17,000 troops). President Kabbah was reelected with 70% of the vote in May 2002. In 2004, the disarmament of 70,000 soldiers was completed, and a U.N.-sponsored war crimes tribunal opened. For the past several years, the U.N. has listed Sierra Leone as the world's “least livable” country, based on its poverty and the poor quality of life endured by its citizens.

The trial of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, on charges of crimes against humanity began at a U.N. criminal court at The Hague in March, 2007. He is accused of abetting the violent rebel group in Sierra Leone that was responsible for atrocities including hacking off the limbs of civilians, sexual slavery, conscripting child soldiers, and even cannibalism.

In June 2007, three former rebel leaders were convicted of crimes against humanity by a U.N.-backed court. Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara, and Santigie Borbor Kanumurder were found guilty of rape and enlisting child soldiers. It was the first time an international tribunal has ruled on the recruitment of children under age 15 as soldiers.

Now some five years removed from the extreme brutalities of its civil wars and several years following the departure of United Nations troops, Sierra Leone continues the struggle to secure its peace, educate its populace and climb out of its status as one of the poorest nations on Earth.  As long as significant inequities and widespread illiteracy prevail, the nation will remain in the limbo of possible descent to yet more factionalism and bloodshed.

YHRI’s First Steps to Establish a Local Chapter, Profile: 

Tim Bowles and students at leadership and public speaking workshop, Freetown, Sierra Leone, July 11, 2007

Having been a Liberian refugee in Kenema and later Freetown as a young boy in 1990 and 1991, YHRI’s program director Jay Yarsiah has taken the initiative to establish a local chapter in Sierra Leone.  Recruiting the valuable help of Foundation for International Dignity (FIND) Sierra Leone’s national program officer David Mendigela and others, Jay has inspired the first steps to organize human rights education activities in the country.

Jay, along with YHRI directors Tim Bowles and Derek Geer, conducted an initial assessment trip in April, 2007, including travel to Sierra Leone’s eastern province city of Kenema. Some 45 civil society stakeholders – including a coalition of the Kenema Youth Association and other youth network leaders – attended Tim and Jay’s introductory session covering the scope of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, through YHRI’s videos as well as the organization’s initiatives to date in the West African sub-region. 

On April 28, 2007, Jay Yarsiah returned from Monrovia and, in conjunction with FIND Sierra Leone, conducted a human rights awareness workshop for 25 students from three Freetown secondary schools. He briefed the students on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the role of youth in post-war Sierra Leone. The session included an interactive portion with Tim Bowles, linked by phone from Los Angeles, with discussion on the future of YHRI in Sierra Leone and the students’ respective roles.  The participants created their own projects from the session, each school to research particular communities affected by the decade of civil war in Sierra Leone, with focus on ongoing human rights issues and solutions, including the proper address for integration of the disadvantaged into society.

Students at leadership and public speaking workshop, Freetown, Sierra Leone, July 11, 2007

Freetown Secondary School for Girls, Prince of Wales Secondary School and Government Technical Secondary School thus conducted the project through May and June, 2007 with Tim providing the basic funding for transportation and reporting. FIND Sierra Leone’s program officer, David Mendigila provided regular monitoring and reporting to Jay and Tim on progress of the project.  The students embraced their challenges enthusiastically, consulting over the two month duration with national agencies responsible for war victims, non-governmental agencies providing needed services and programs, and national and regional leaders of war victims’ organizations, while assessing the challenges to properly equip disadvantaged communities with desired services and enhancement tools to permit them to change their conditions for the better.

Jay Yarsiah returned to Freetown in late June, 2007 to evaluate the progress of the schools and to set the groundwork for a final presentation event on the research projects in July.  Jay Yarsiah also returned to Kenema on that trip, meeting again with the Kenema Youth Association leadership on the prospect of duplicating the youth group initiatives ongoing in Monrovia and Freetown.

Tim and Jay returned to Freetown in early July, 2007 to culminate the research projects, holding an all-day workshop on leadership and public speaking at FIND Sierra Leone on July 11 and with David Mendigila’s assistance, a culminating competition event on July 12 at the “Thompsonian Illusion,” a large hall facility near the national stadium.  All participating schools attended along with the Kenema Youth Association leadership, local press and national dailies, representatives from many of the agencies and organizations the students had consulted, and the national chairlady of the Sierra Leone Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (SLANGO), Ms. Shellac Davies.

Each of the three competing schools submitted a remarkable report on its assigned constituency, in many instances detailing the nearly unspeakable violence and cruelty inflicted during the war years. For example:

“On Saturday night, I was sleeping when the rebels attacked Bafodia at about 6:30 am. They surrounded the village and they knocked on our doors¼ the rebel asked for the children¼ they forced the door open and they captured eight of us¼ in the morning they took us to another house where they inscribed “RUF” on our bodies.

I was at Mordavies with my father¼ I was sitting in front of the house when  I saw a lot of people coming led by my father’s brother Unisa Kamara¼I was then tied together with my father¼ they took a stone and hit the face of my father and he was then killed and they removed his blood and put in a cup and made me drink his blood or else they will kill me which I did because I had no alternative.

At the age of six, commander Gbondena took me to camp Zogoda for training and after my passing out, I began to go to the front¼ Before I was sent to the front, C.O Gbondema used to inject me with cocaine on my forehead; he also gave me marijuana and alcohol to drink.”

Student presenters, YHRI Sierra Leone human rights leadership competition, Freetown, July 12, 2007

Fatmata Bangura of the winning Freetown Secondary School for Girls team summarized ex-combatants’ post-war struggle for normalcy and to resolve the plague of gross human rights violations.  "After the war, the National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization and Rehabilitation (DDR) was formed. Ex-combatants were trained in various skills and micro-enterprises developed. Later they felt disenchanted and disillusioned when they found out that their expectations created from DDR mandates were not realized.  Many resorted to drug abuse as well as street crimes as ways of supposedly ‘normalizing’ their lives. "   On the reasons for the war, Fatmata cited life in ethnic tension, economic inequality, class struggle, social injustice, power struggle, ill defined territories and the tenuous legitimacy of political regimes.  "The children in Sierra Leone were greatly affected by the war because their rights were consciously violated with impunity. The just-concluded civil war had a colossal catastrophic impact on the political system that suffered decadence."   She called on greater public awareness of the struggles and aspirations of ex-combatants and greater public commitment to their reintegration into the society.

Ambrose G. Nabie of the Government Technical School presented his material on the human rights violations of rape and torture during the war. He cited rape as a crime against humanity. "This phenomenon has been rampant in our society. The use of torture as a weapon of war has become evident while abduction and sexual slavery wreaked terror on civilians. Rebels subjected girls to what they called virginity test." According to Ambrose, other forms of human rights abuses included forced recruitment, forced labour, and outright killing. "Children suffered psychological torture from many atrocities and it is good to bring those responsible for human rights abuses to justice."

Cedric W. Leigh of the Prince of Wales School delivered his school’s project on amputees and the war wounded. "Politicians have been giving blind eyes to the innocent amputees and their present situation is pathetic."  He told the gathering that war-amputees are in a state of disorganization, some as young as seven.  “Illiteracy is a great problem and education is a major human right abuse in Sierra Leone." He noted that following the repatriation scheme in 2005, the amputee story became pathetic as a result of the pull out of NGO's. "Some amputees continue to express how the civil war shattered their lives and their emotional pain continues," Cedric said. "The question is what the government is doing for amputees in Sierra Leone as they are suffering from discrimination."

At the program’s close, many of the students attested to the inspiration gained by the two month exercise:

”I have learned a lot since the starting of this program. I enjoyed the presentation of the essays and also the statement that was made by different people. I promise as a child activist that I will pass on the message to those who where [not] fortunate to be part of the program, and also I want you the organizer of this faithful Youth for Human Rights to help us so that we will be able to sensitize our parents, guardians and friends who are living in the provinces so that they too will know their basic human rights and practice them.”

”Sincerely speaking I have been made to understand my rights, how to protect those rights and that of others knowing that my rights are someone’s responsibility and someone’s rights are my responsibility. As a leader I promise to teach anyone who [does not] know his or her rights and to make human rights expand in the world especially Sierra Leone. Therefore I express my sincere thanks to you Mr. Timothy Bowles, Mr. J. Yarsiah and the entire team from Youth for Human Rights International board for establishing this noble organization in Sierra Leone.”

”I have learned a lot from [this] human rights [program]. I now know everybody is equal before the law no matter your status or position in the society. We also have the right to life; [intentional] killing of another human being is illegal and forbidden by laws and we also have freedom of speech to express our personal views on [social and personal concerns].

”I am pleased to be part of the program (Youth for Human Rights International). I hope and pray that the program will continue. I promise that I will disseminate [what I have learned ] to my fellow students in and out of Sierra Leone. The program is successful because people from various institutions were present during the presentation of the essays…”

Sierra Leonean Students Plan an Even More Ambitious Human Rights Competition: 

Winning team from Freetown Secondary School for Girls, Workshop, Freetown, Sierra Leone, July 12, 2007

The core leaders from participating schools had already created a coalition and outlined their next ambitious human rights education project before the July 12 competition event. Calling their organization the National Federation of Schools Human Rights Clubs, these key students now form the foundation for YHRI Sierra Leone. The project proposal – “Human Rights and Peace Education Workshop for Secondary School Pupils and Volunteers¼ and  Inter-Secondary Schools Quiz Competition on Human Rights” – declares:

“Human rights abuses especially amongst the school-going children and violence against the girl child and women are global outrages. Children continue to be subjected to impunities by elders, including teachers. School-based violence, domestic violence and community violence are common in Sierra Leone.

“Although concerted efforts have achieved dramatic changes in laws, policies and practices in recent years, there is a pressing need to spread the word about¼ gender-based violence and other human rights abuses. Also, with the absence of human rights education as a specific topic in the national syllabus, there is an urgent need to promote [human rights to young people].

“After years of brutal conflict in Sierra Leone, a need existed to confront the past. The nation wanted to know what caused the wave of violence, vengeance and mayhem that swept across the country. We need to share with our colleagues an important historical record of violence and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law related to the armed conflict in Sierra Leone.

“This project proposal, if fully funded, would help promote human rights messages to hundreds of our colleagues who will also educate hundreds more.”

Parallel to the next pilot initiatives in Ghana and Liberia, this next project will enable participating student human rights leaders to impart the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to their peers in Freetown-area secondary schools. Akin to the pattern planned for Accra and Monrovia, these leaders will divide up into two competing units, with each to engage as many secondary schools as possible to host human rights workshops conducted by the competitors, with the aim of documenting such briefings and their results, including the formation of as many viable human rights clubs in the participating schools as possible. The plan is to conduct the “train the trainers” workshops in November, 2007, followed by delivery of presentations through to April, 2008 and a culminating event that May. Jay and Sammy Jacobs Abbey (YHRI program director for sub-Saharan Africa) will regularly monitor the program through those five-to-six months, with Tim to participate in initial training workshops In January, 2008 and in the closing competition next spring.

YHRI is confident the results will establish even greater promise for its human rights leadership initiative, with young people taking the lead in defending, respecting and promoting human rights throughout their communities and schools. YHRI and YHRI Sierra Leone intend to convert such promise into a significant contributing motivation for the near-future implementation of human rights education initiatives nationwide.