Sierra Leone, 9 years on. Reconciliation?
Post categories: Trips
| 17:30 UK time, Tuesday, 30 November 2010
This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 26 November 2010. Listen to the programme.
This entry was written by Ros in Freetown and posted by me.
Hi from the BBC World Service Trust offices in Freetown. We're busy sorting any number of things ahead of today's programme.
Ben is down at the Information Ministry explaining why we're here; Mary in Nairobi is rigging up local media interviews with us (I'm very excited about going onto Good Morning Sierra Leone on telly tomorrow).
Fiona is taking any number of calls as various guests head into town from the countryside. (The civil war played out for many years before reaching the capital, so as we don't have time to travel out of town, some guests have kindly agreed to come to us.)
Alex our engineer is playing with the generator. If the mains go down, as is quite common, we'll fall off air and re-appear 3 minutes later with the purr of the generator in the background.
And I'm sat in a side room with the light brown walls that you always seem to find in West African offices. Outside the barred window, is a two-storey buiding, clad in corrugated iron on top and on the sides, with a palm tree behind.
It's muggy, still and the shouting of children suggests that it must be lunchbreak at a nearby school.
I had a good 8 hours on the plane to read an awful lot about Sierra Leone, and in particular about its civil war.
There were several times I had to put down the book. The accounts of the extreme violence used by both sides in the civil war are so gruesome, so brutal and so random that even picturing such things was too uncomfortable.
On today's programme we've people who fought on both sides, some when they were children. We'll also be joined by others who were attacked and in some cases maimed during the war.
We're going to listen to their stories, and try and understand how humans can become so cruel and violent, and then learn to live alongside each other in peace, all in a relatively short period of time.
Background on Sierra Leone's civil war - by Ben James
The fighting began in 1991 between Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels and the government. Control of Sierra Leone's diamond mines fuelled the conflict.
The rebel forces were notorious for mutilation and thousands of people who survived the war live today with missing limbs (you can read some of their stories here).
The RUF was allegedly backed by Charles Taylor who went on to be President of neighbouring Liberia.
He's been on trial at a UN backed court in the Netherlands on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone; the verdict is due mid-2011.
The war officially ended in January 2002, after a peace process which saw a UN force and British troops enter the country.
Since then, a Truth & Reconciliation Commission has attempted to repair some of the damage done by the conflict.
Organisations like Fambul Tok are continuing to work in communities where former enemies live side-by-side.
It's not the only country to have to work out how their society moves on from war, atrocities and division - South Africa, Rwanda and Bosnia have all emerged from dark periods of their history in different ways.
Comment number 1.
At 15:23 30th Nov 2010, ABUBAKARR DARAMY wrote:I AM A SIERRA LEONEAN, AND TRUST ME EACH TIME ANY THING ABOUT THE RUF WAR IS MENTIONED I FEEL SO BAD. I WOULD HAVE LOVED THE BBC TO HOST A PROGRAMME ABOUT OUR CURRENT SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS AND NOT THINGS WE HAVE PUT BEHIND US.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 10:58 1st Dec 2010, Ibrahim in UK wrote:I think the first step is to bring to account those who transgressed and let the victims know that justice has been carried out. Safeguard the rights of people and ensure there is a system of accountability and avenues to raise and address concerns.
Once a structure of long-term stability is established, it clears the way for reconciliation as described by Alhaji's comment.
It is a long road but I think Sierra Leone has already started on that path and wish it all the best and success.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 18:10 3rd Dec 2010, CD wrote:One of the best shows ever!! Great reporting.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)
Comment number 4.
At 11:12 9th Dec 2010, johannazsharp wrote:I listened to this programme in Freetown last week and was appalled. The civil war ended 9 years ago and Sierra Leone is moving forward at pace. I think its about time the BBC supported this rather than perpetuating images of a violent, war-torn society, which have so damaged the countries global profile since the 90's. Sierra Leone will reach 50 years next year - why not focus on what there is to celebrate rather than indulging in these self-gratifying conflict and poverty narratives, so frequent when it comes to the BBC reporting on Africa?
Complain about this comment (Comment number 4)