War and 10 years of violent changes - Latter part -
We would like to give you a very detailed account of the events that followed, as they are very closely related to the present situation.
Because NPRC lost its vision, the people demanded for a change in regime, and appealed to the rest of the world to pressure it, in order for a regime elected by the people. NPRC had nowhere to go, and agreed to an election. However, it did not happen. This was because Strasser was overthrown in a coup d'etat that happened within the party, and Maada Bio came into power. For a while he tried different techniques in order to remain in power, but he too failed, to the will of the people.
In February of 1996, democracy was revived with a general election, and a very internationally aware former UN embassador Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was elected president. He was a desirable politician for Sierra Leone, so when army men such as J.P. Koroma overthrew him with a coup d'etat and tried to deny democracy, the people and the world supported him and brought him back to power.
Lend A Hand Movement had also resumed assistance through the three Sisters who were back in Lunsar. But something very unfortunate and sad happened: Sister Rosemary, the headmaster of O.L.G. secondary school, unexpectedly passed away on February 25th, the eve of the general election. Sister Leticia Negishi was immediately sent there. The provision of rice as an emergency aid began at this time also, in order to help the teachers who were helpless and in need.The inauguration of the elected president Kabbah received the blessing of many countries. A multi-party parliament came to be, which was supposed to be the best news for the people. It became the worst instead, because RUF became angry at the fact that they were not included in the election. Since then began their horrific massacre campaign, slaughtering, raping, cutting limbs, and chopping off heads of the people.
In order to end the civil war, the government reached the Abidjan Peace Accord with the RUF, with the mediation of the international community, in November of that year. Actually, the talk for this peace accord had already started between F. Sankoh, the leader of the RUF and Brigadier Bio. This brought hope to the hearts of the people who were battered by the war, and whose hopes were non-existent, and even pulled up economic performance temporarily. However, it did not take long before the RUF broke the peace agreement. As soon as Kamajors attacked his fort in Kailahun, Sankoh resumed armed activities and destroyed the Abijan Peace Accord. This was just an excuse to break an agreement with no clause or provision that promised him the power that he so wanted.
In 1997, since it seemed as if peace would continue, Lend A Hand Movement not only resumed the financial assistance but also resumed the material assistance by the containers that had been interrupted for two years already. However, the rebels had continued to permeate the nation during that time. This was when the word 'sobel' began to appear in the reports on Sierra Leone. 'Sobel' is a word created by adding the words 'soldier' and 'rebel.' This expression showed the decline in military discipline and fighting spirit, and the increase in soldiers of the national army who took actions as bad and cruel as those of the rebels. As this coined word shows, the national army was in fact on the verge of collapse. Thus, the people had started to distrust the army. At such a time the anachronistic military coup d'etat occured.
On May 25 1997, 3 or 4 military trucks driven by army men attacked the jail which confined J.P. Koroma, and rescued him along with 700 other prisoners. Koroma lead the coup, and formed the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) after seizing the government body and declaring a new regime. At the same time began the plunder, abuse, and arson by the pro-coup soldiers and escaped prisoners, and Freetown turned into a capital of panic. And with this, the RUF forces that had been running around loose in the countryside rushed to Freetown, the capital, and joined the AFRC under the command of Sankoh, who had been imprisoned in Nigeria.
President Kabbah and the VIPs escaped to Guinea, a neighboring country, and other foreigners and Lebanese Sierra Leoneans who felt threatened fled the country also.
The Clarissan Missionary Sisters were forced to flee for the second time also. But since the north, east, and south of Lunsar was occupied by the rebels and Freetown, which is the western entrance to Lunsar was seized also by the troops of the coup, they escaped to Conakry, Guinea, by land, and then fled to Rome. Fortunately the container for material aid from Japan had arrived a week before this drastic political change happened, and since the state of affairs was unstable, most of the goods had already been distributed to the people. This was at least a consolation.
Countries such as the United States, Britain, and France rescued their own nationals and the nationals of the countries they are friendly with by helicopter or ship, but did not try to crush the troops that caused the coup. However, the western African countries criticized the political change as "an absurd doing that makes democratization efforts in Africa take steps backwards" and tried to stop it. Nigeria, which is the regional leader of western Africa was especially firm, and attacked Freetown by land and sea on June 2nd 1997, and applied pressure so that Koroma would abandon his post and President Kabbah would come back to power. They could do this because ECOMOG, the collaborative army of West Africa that holds the Nigerian Army as its main force, was protecting the Lungi International Airport, which was on the opposite bank of Freetown. However, because the RUF joined the fight, ECOMOG lost and was forced to retreat from Freetown. The RUF/AFRC regime exclaimed that President Kabbah's politics favored his own tribe, and claimed themselves as being "a peaceful regime that collaborates with the RUF, and integrates all the tribes," calling out, "People of Sierra Leone, let us protect our homeland from the invasion of the Western African troops." However, the people became nothing other than conspirators that got tricked by the RUF, the 'Trojan Horse' that was snuck into the center of the power.
The people, backed up by the international community, vigorously criticized the seizing of power by the RUF/AFRC, and did not obey the junta regime. For example, the new regime organized a gathering of 'prayer for peace and reconciliation' that expected a turnout of 50,000, in order to appeal to the world and cause a trend to oppose Nigeria on June 8th, but only 5000 soldiers turned up. The next day, it demanded that workers go back to work, but nobody obeyed, and instead the workers carried out a 15-day anti-rebel strike to show resistance. Students also demonstrated.
Other countries did not accept the junta regime as a justified government, and the Secretary General of the UN pressured it by saying, "If we need to, we will have to resort to military force. Hopefully they will make a smart decision and will leave while there is still little to lose," and the UN Security Council imposed an embargo and a ban to enter and leave Sierra Leone to people involved with the RUF/AFRC. The coup d'etat regime objected, and attempted a breakthrough by sending negotiating groups. Many discussions took place between ECOWAS (Economic community of Western African States) and the RUF/AFRC, but the negotiations followed two parallel trails.
In return to various countries' demand that the people-elect president be restored, from the position that they did not recognize the unlawful way the military regime seized power, the military regime made the release of F. Sankoh, who was still in prison, a condition. During this time, the fighting between ECOMOG and the RUF/AFRC troops continued intermittently, and ECOMOG tried to stop the ships that carried weapons to the rebels despite the embargo, by attacking them from the sky.
In reaction to this, the military regime hunted young people and made them soldiers, in the name of the protection of their homeland from the invasion of Nigerian troops, as the main force in the ECOMOG troops was from Nigeria. In addition to the war, people's lives became even more miserable, as food, fuel, and medical supplies ran low, prices skyrocketed, the functions in the capital were paralyzed, and the mail service stopped functioning. This is a very good example of how unhappy people with a foolish leader are, and the even greater misery that comes with having a foolish army.
President Kabbah, who was in exile, appealed to the general assembly in September 1997, "I am here in front of you today to make a desperate appeal to the international community to save a people. In one night, Sierra Leone became a scene of fear where the innocent people were massacred, plundered, confiscated of property, and sexually assaulted. The fact that I am here today symbolizes my people reaching out their hands for help. Please do not let the military regime turn the country into a site of massacre." The secretary general of the UN made a statement in concert with this plea for help. The fear was that the RUF would conspire with the former national army and stay in power. But the situation took a favorable turn. On October 23rd, a discussion between ECOWAS and the junta regime of Sierra Leone took place in Conakry, Guinea, and the restoration of the democratically-elected president, a ceasefire, disarmament, the exemption of the leaders of the coup d'etat from responsibility, the release of F. Sanko (the leader of the RUF who was imprisoned in Nigeria,) and the start of a peace process were agreed upon. The path to peace was slowly opening up.
So, four sisters returned to Sierra Leone in November. Sister Leticia Negishi left for Rome from Narita airport in Japan, and then flew to Conakry, and from there used the same land route as when she fled Sierra Leone. The second refuge lasted 5 months. We are told that the people in Lunsar were overjoyed beyond words at the sisters' return.
In 1998, the Conakry peace process did not progress at all. The military regime declined the disarmament of the RUF/AFRC troops, and in fact denied the agreement by bringing out new conditions that were not agreed upon in the peace accord. ECOWAS decided that a diplomatic resolution was impossible, sent ECOMOG to Freetown on February 13, and on February 14, led the RUF/AFRC military regime to collapse by the use of force. ECOMOG kept close contact with the UN, and Kamajors (civilian militias) also assisted. And so, President Kabbah was restored to power. But the new regime was a vulnerable civilian regime with no capabilities to protect itself, since the national army had estranged itself from its original duties when the coup d'etat occurred. As soon as AFRC was dragged off the throne, what was the national army, which was eating up the people's taxes, turned into a threatening group, and began to kill people and burn their houses. Since then, they came to be called the ex-SLA (ex Sierra Leone Army.) Angry and revengeful, the people killed and assaulted RUF soldiers and other traitors on the streets of Freetown and Bo. For the people of Sierra Leone who had lost its national army, ECOMOG was a God-like protector, and one that would bring them peace.
The joy of liberation in Freetown brought about an unexpected tragedy to the people of Lunsar, the sisters of the Clarissan Missionary Sisters, and Lend A Hand Movement. This is because when ECOMOG began its attack on the RUF/AFRC regime towards the inland, the rebel troops on the run towards Makeni attacked Lunsar, which was in their way. The sisters fled on foot, with the help of citizens and pupils, through woods and swamps, for four days from February 13, 1998. Sister Leticia Negishi and Sister Elisa Padilla were captured by rebel soldiers on the way and were almost shot. This is recorded in Sister Negishi's 'escape journal'. Although they were rescued, Lunsar became too dangerous even for male missionaries to go back to, and so the sisters were forced to flee the country for the third time, and left for Rome. For sister Negishi, this marked the end of her devoted 22-year educational service in Sierra Leone. In April of the same year, she returned to Japan, and in May of 2000, she was transferred to Russia.
ECOMOG, in support of the Kabbah regime, chased away the rebel troops and came to control 80% of the whole country, but when they reached that point, struggled with little progress due to the rainy season and rough mountain paths. Since the sisters could not abandon the schools, six of them returned to Lunsar on August 1, 1998 in preparation for the new academic year. The interruption of aid in Sierra Leone on the part of Lend A Hand Movement was inevitable.
In the northern and eastern regions where they were still dominant, the rebels were carrying out a massacre plan called, "Operation Spare No Souls" and were spreading the terror. A new town or village was attacked everyday, and bore new victims everyday. Those who did not obey were burned alive along with their houses, their hands, feet and ears were hacked off with an axe, and even little girls of nine years old were raped. These pseudo-revolutionaries who claimed to be fighting for free education and promised all people good health by the year 2001 burned school buildings and destroyed hospitals. By November 1998, they controlled Makeni, and as soon as they collected all their troops, they began their attack on Freetown.
Meanwhile, a dramatic scenario was being prepared in Freetown; 24 of the junta leaders had been sentenced to be shot to death, and Sankoh had been sent from Lagos to face a trial, and was sentenced to the death penalty for treason and inhumane actions. President Kabbah declared through the radio, "The war is over. The Rebels have been destroyed." It seemed as if there was no way out for Sankoh and his supporters in prison. But that was not the case.
January 5, 1999, as if sneering at President Kabbah's radio broadcast, the rebel troops who surrounded the hill of Freetown attacked the capital, and brought the east and part of the west of the city under its control. Once they flowed into Freetown, they began an all-out massacre. More people were murdered at this time than at any other time, and more people had their arms or legs cut off than any other time. There were at least 5000 dead. Most of the attackers were the RUF and ex-SLA who had been hiding in the bushes since the February attack by ECOMOG. With this attack, four sisters of Sisters of Charity were killed, and a priest also was injured. As for the sisters of the Clarissan Missionary Sisters, since they had fled from Sierra Leone in December 1998, they were able to escape death, but this was the fourth escape in 5 years, and since then, they have been unable to go back.
Although ECOMOG managed to chase the Rebels out of the Peninsula of Sierra Leone, their attack opened up a way for Sankoh and his followers to survive. Despite the horriffic slaughter of the people, or worse, because of it, another discussion between the government and the rebels was suggested.
On July 7, beginning with the sponsorship of the international community in Lomé, Togo, most people of Sierra Leone secretly disapproved of the suggestion to let the RUF participate. However, there was no choice, and they had to accept the change in priority from 'absolutely opposed to the sharing of power' to 'peace at any cost.' The negotiation reached its peak as a peace accord was signed. The accord gave blanket amnesty to all those who participated in the fighting, and not only did it overlook all the crimes committed, it promised preferential treatment to the RUF. Sankoh, the leader, became chairman of a commission in charge of mineral resources and postwar reconstruction, which is a vice-president rank post, and his other executives joined the cabinet. They literally got 'the lion's share.' As opposed to that, from the AFRC, only J.P. Koroma became chairman of Commission for the Consolidation of Peace. The general public strongly opposed power-sharing between the rebels and the legitimate leadership, but the Kabbah regime was forced to accept it. This is because the African nations, the foolish UN envoy F. Okello, and the envoy of the president of the United States, Jesse Jackson all swarmed and pressured the Kabbah regime to do so.
And so the negotiation came to a conclusion and the fact that peace finally arrived was a great joy. As the accord was about to be signed, President Kabbah called to his people to forgive, and holding up a three-year old girl whose arm had been hacked off by the rebel army, said, "The war is over. We have decided never again to take up arms to resolve political differences. These children are the ones who receive the most damage from war." Furthermore, Sanko, representing the Rebel side, apologized for the atrocity during the war.
We as well shared the happiness for the people of Sierra Leone who suffered more than eight years of war and violence. But at the same time we criticized the situation, on the 39th issue (8/22/1999) of Lend A Hand Movement News:
"Public interest in the issue of Sierra Leone, with the exception of Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and other human rights organizations, has subsided to a strange extreme. Why? It is probably because it was the international community that imposed a peace accord that favors the rebels, and if the Nigerian troops were to retreat, then there was no choice but to reach an agreement, and because this peace treaty is too fragile to criticize. The international community resembles an incapable teacher who makes two pupils reconcile without asking who is accountable for the conflict. Does peace without justice lead to real justice?
This peace accord makes me think of the trial of King Solomon. Between two women who both claimed to be the mother of one child, he succeeded in proving the real mother by suggesting cutting the baby in half. However, the international community, in contrary to King Solomon, made a democratic government share power with its enemy with empty promises. While the Kabbah regime is painfully tolerating the bitter results, the rebel army exults in its victory. Naturally, the rebels obtained eight of the cabinet posts without even an election, and Sanko, the leader, not only was exempt from death row, but became chairman of the Commission of Mineral Resources! This is like trusting the resources for national revenues to a group of robbers. The international community in the end let the rebels achieve the purpose of their eight-year civil war. How absurd!
President Kabbah called out to the people, "Let us forgive one another, and FORGET." To forgive, we agree, but is it alright to forget? Those who forgive but do not forget will live with the poisonous grains, but God, who has taught to forgive, does not forget what to do with them on Judgment Day. (see Matthew 13:24) To the evil, we want to admonish them to repent as soon as possible, before Judgment Day.
DDR (Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration,) a very important peace process, did not progress, and even if it had, it would have led to the loss of 30,000 jobs. The children are left with trauma, people lost their families, there are tens of thousands of refugees, farmers have given up, robbed of their seed rice, and those in areas under Rebel control are threatened by starvation. What kind of tomorrow is there for them? The only hope is the young people who may be able to overcome the shameful previous years. We would like to count on them and continue with our education efforts."
After the Lomé Peace Accord, the flow of people coming in and out of Sierra Leone has increased in intensity. First, 11,000 UN Peacekeepers from India, Kenya, and Jordan began to be stationed, and in exchange, the Nigerian troops of ECOMOG began to withdraw, with intended completion by May. And, organizations such as the WFP (the United Nations World Food Program), the International Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Caristas also entered the country and began their activities.
As for Lend A Hand Movement, because the return of the sisters of the Clarissan Missionary Sisters was still undecided and Father Bruno of the Josephite Fathers holds the post of director both at Murialdo school and O.L.G. school, and taking care of the remaining people and internally displaced people, we have decided to assist the people in Lunsar through Father Bruno until the sisters go back. We have judged that now is the time when aid is most needed.The people of Sierra Leone, although they do have some complaints, have continued to believe, even through the failure of the Conakry plan and after the Lomé Peace Accord, that the Kabbah regime was the regime that would take them to their promised land, and that UNAMSIL (the United Nations Armed Mission in Sierra Leone) would protect the people, that disarmament would happen swiftly, that the economy would revive and that business would prosper. However, Sankoh, who signed the Lomé Accord with advantageous conditions, spoiled the enforcement of the agreement by not returning to Sierra Leone for three months.
Soon, the first split within the rebel group occurred. The rebels were made up of the union between the RUF and the AFRC, but AFRC, which received less benefit at the Lomé peace negotiation, based themselves at Okra Hills, and began carrying out divisive actions such as kidnapping UN staff and RUF officials and taking them hostage. In response to their actions, Nigeria, whose national army once fought as the main force of ECOMOG against them, sent AFRC 5000 bags of rice. This was so that they would not take away the rice intended for the people of Sierra Leone, and so that the peace accord would not be broken and ruined by those who were unsatisfied.
On December 31, Kingsley Linton of the Concord Times concluded the year 1999 with the following words: "The people of Sierra Leone hoped 1999 to be better than 1998. But this was in vain. 1999 became a nightmare we want to forget… We spoke of our dreams, to have electricity by Christmas, and to have completed disarmament by December 15. Dreams, brothers, dreams. Nobody blamed the public wrongdoings by the evil, and these words were spoken, and people obeyed. But the dreams did not come true. They were only illusions, eternally escaping waters. What are we to expect from the year 2000, a new millennium?"
In 2000, peace continued somehow or other for half a year, but Journalist U. Fofana of the Concord Times wrote in his article dated January 4, while the rest of the world was in excitement over entering the year 2000, "The war in the 90s drove all development off the tracks, and justified all regression. Mothers, sisters and wives were gang raped, some of them violated in front of their parents or husbands. And unwanted babies were born to them. 90s, why did you come? I thank God that you have gone. Because of the RUF who declared that it would fight against corruption and injustice, you made Sierra Leone the country with the most limbless people. They did all that they wanted to do, indiscriminately. The 90s was a decade in which the destructive government of APC changed to the atrocity and slaughter of the RUF. Citizens' rights faded away as destruction came, sneering. Our hopes went up after the election of SLPP and Kabbah. That the war where fellow countrymen kill each other will be something in the past, and that there will be enough employment, and that the country will develop. But it was not so." (translated back from a Japanese translation)
This tells us that most people of Sierra Leone, regardless of age, are suffering from the trauma of the past ten years. So, let us go over not the course of the civil war, but the problems that arose from it as well as its causes.