Children of conflict in Africa

8/9/2019 Children of conflict in Africa

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Foreword

Being HUMAN involves having a series of rights andresponsibilities. Why make this choice about Africa itspeople?

The answer is : the first impression when hearing aboutthis continent. First, I heard a lot of interesting things relatedto African religion,landscape and original traditions .All

these aspects created a nice image in my mind whichremained untouched until... I found out that their reality wasnot the way I thought.

Africa is marked by all kinds of armed conflicts ,whichcause harsh damage to people and society development .Because of these wars people die almost every day and itis crystal-clear that some rights are violated in an obvious

manner. In this world full of issues of all kinds, activitiessuch as deliberate crime MUST STOP BEING one of themanymore.

Finally, I should say that some feature moviesinfluenced me in making this choice ,also giving me a boostto search for a wide range of information and real factswhich I gathered in my project.

Introduction

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Despite decades of conflict, death and tragedy, coverage ofissues in Africa has often been ignored, oversimplified, or

excessively focused on limited aspects. Deeper analysis, backgroundand context has often been lacking, so despite what seems likeconstant images of starving children in famines, news of billions inaid to Africa from generous donor countries, the background contextand analysis is often missing.

Whether aid makes the situation worse, or why there is famineand hunger in Africa when African nations are exporting crops to

other parts of the world are rarely asked by the mainstream. Thiscountry deals with a lot of problems related to the violation of somemain human rights. One of them is the right to life whichrepresents a fundamental right.

Conflicts starting in 1991 take after them negativeconsequences such as a more distructive people poverty(not enoughfood and water for African people) and uncontrolled crimes done

by rebel groups . For example,a child dies every three seconds from

AIDS and extreme poverty, often before their fifth birthday andmore than one billion people do not have access to clean water.Poverty is not something new in Africa. In fact, poverty was there

before man and it has become part of life, attaching itself to naturelike the blood through our veins. We cannot see it clearly or feel its

presence under normal circumstances but especially when the heartis beating so fast and the blood moves up and down harshly throughour chests but the harm might have been done already.

One of the most affected regions in Africa is SierraLeone.In this republic,a mixture of violated rights exists. We canremind of right to life of adults and children who are killed everyday for their living places full of resources , the right of each andevery child related to their immunity from armed conflicts and manyothers.

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Chapter I Life: the most precious gift .

Some facts about Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is acountry in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea in the northeast,Liberia in the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest.

Rich in minerals, Sierra Leone has relied on mining, especiallydiamonds, for its economic base. It is perhaps best known for itsblooddiamonds that are mined and sold for high prices. In the 1970s and early1980s, economic growth rate slowed because of a decline in the miningsector and increasing corruption among government officials. By the 1990seconomic activity was declining and economic infrastructure had becomeseriously degraded. Over the next decade much of the formal economy was

destroyed in the countrys civil war. Since the end ofhostilities in January 2002, massive infusions of outside assistance havehelped Sierra Leone begin to recover. Much of the recovery will depend onthe success of the government's efforts to limit corruption by officials,which many feel was the chief cause for the civil war. A key indicator of

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Diamond Miners
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guineahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineralshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mininghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamondshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_diamondhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_diamondhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_growthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_corruptionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guineahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineralshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mininghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamondshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_diamondhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_diamondhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_growthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_corruption


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success will be the effectiveness of government management of itsdiamond sector.

When did the BAD begin?

The Sierra Leonean civil war began in March 1991, when theRevolutionary United Front (RUF) entered Sierra Leone fromLiberia, launching a rebellion to overthrow the one-party rule of theAll Peoples Congress (APC). The RUF accused the APC, which had

been in power since 1967, of rampant corruption, nepotism, andfiscal mismanagement. Despite the fact that Sierra Leone is

extremely resource-rich, with large deposits of diamonds, gold,rutile, and bauxite, it is estimated to be one of the poorest countriesin the world. From 1991 until the present, the RUF has fought withgreat brutality to overthrow the successive governments of bothmilitary and elected civilian regimes. Since the outbreak of the war,the country has been marked by instability.

Later in 1996, however, multi-party elections were held and

won by Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, head of the Sierra Leone People'sParty (SLPP), who pledged to bring about an end to the war. Aftercoming to the negotiating table in Abidjan, the RUF and Kabbah'sgovernment signed a peace agreement in November 1996, theAbidjan Accord, which called for a cease-fire, disarmament,demobilization, and the withdrawal of all foreign forces. The cease-fire, however, was broken in January 1997 when serious fighting

broke out in southern Moyamba District.

We all know that the major scope people are following todayis MONEY.So,in the next pages we will see how this affects peopleand violate their rights.

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ABUSES COMMITTED BY RUF REBELS

People here say the more you shed blood, the more diamondsyou get. Now we are shedding less blood, so we have fewerdiamonds," said a diamond dealer, known only as 'Little'.

So, what conclusion should we draw from this? In SierraLeone BLOOD means MONEY,so life doesnt mean anything fordiamnond dealers. We have a problem,in fact a human right isviolated. You will ses how things happen...

Systematic Targeting of CiviliansThe rebel occupation of Freetown was characterized by thesystematic and widespread perpetration of all classes of grosshuman rights abuses against the civilian population. Civilians weregunned down within their houses, rounded up and massacred on thestreets, thrown from the upper floors of buildings, used as humanshields, and burned alive in cars and houses. They had their limbs

hacked off with machetes, eyes gouged out with knives, handssmashed with hammers, and bodies burned with boiling water.Women and girls were systematically sexually abused, and childrenand young people abducted by the hundreds.

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The rebels made little distinction between civilian and militarytargets. They repeatedly stated that they believed civilians should be

punished for what they perceived to be their support for the existinggovernment. Thus, the rebels waged war against the civilian

population through the perpetration of human rights abuses. Whilethere was some targeting of particular groups, such as Nigerians,

police officers, journalists, and church workers, the vast majority ofatrocities were committed by rebels who chose their victimsapparently at random. The arbitrary nature of these attacks served tocreate an atmosphere of complete terror. Some victims wereattacked for resisting rape or abduction, trying to flee, trying to

protect a friend or family member, or refusing to follow instructions

to dance or make music on the streets, but most described beingchosen for execution or mutilation at random, often without beingasked a single question.

It is difficult to ascertain the level of seniority within the RUFat which the perpetration of human rights abuses was ordered,though the widespread participation in abuses suggests that theymust have been authorized at a high level within the RUF'scommand structures. Victims and witnesses frequently overheard

commanders on the ground give orders to perpetrate atrocities, andthere are very few accounts of individual combatants orcommanders trying to halt the abuses. When witnesses reported thatindividual combatants did object and try to halt the abuses, thoseobjecting were often met with death threats from their fellow rebels.The atrocities were often planned and premeditated. Victims andwitnesses describe well-organized operations to round up civilianswho were later executed, attacked with machetes, or raped. On

several occasions rebels gave advance warning that atrocities wereto be committed later.

It is difficult to establish how many civilians were killedduring the rebel incursion. The Senior Government Pathologistregistered the burial of 7,335 corpses of people who were killed as a

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rebels gathered twenty-four of our neighbors who'd sought refuge inour house and put them under gunpoint in the back room. When theone called Dave came downstairs after having killed everyone, heasked for a lantern and said, I'm not going to waste my bullets on

these people let me set this place alight. In fact, they'd already setthe upstairs and part of the downstairs on fire.

Then he sprayed kerosene on the civilians, closed the doorand as he was leaning on it told them that those who paid 1,000leones [U.S.50 cents] each to the rebel waiting at the window, would

be set free. The civilians then started handing out the 1,000 leones toa few rebels waiting there. One girl came to the window and begged,

saying she didn't have any money and the rebel collecting the moneyshot her in the face. Then, as the fire was really blazing, the rebels,announced they were leaving but instead positioned themselvesaround the back door with their guns pointed at the only exit andwaited. However, the fire was too intense and those trapped insidewere no longer able to move through the hall to get to the back door.By that time the people were really screaming and choking for air atthe window. After about ten minutes the rebels finally left, thinkingthe people would burn to death, and my friend and I rushed to find

an axe and break through the bars of the window and let everyoneout.

Burning AliveThere were frequent accounts of the particularly sadistic

practice of burning people alive. Children and the elderly seemed tobe particularly vulnerable. There were a few documented cases ofchildren being thrown into burning fires and many accounts of

elderly people being left behind in a burning house as their childrenand grandchildren were forced to flee in haste. The pleas by otherfamily members to retrieve their children or elderly parents weremost often met with threats of death.

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One witness described an incident in which a thirteen-year-oldboy who was accused of having washed the clothes and shined theboots of ECOMOG soldiers at a checkpoint was later recognized byone of the rebels and thrown into a burning fire in the business

district. Another incident involved a businessman who was forced atgunpoint into his Mercedes Benz and burned alive.

The Use of Games to Maximize TerrorAtrocities were sometimes perpetrated within the context of

games, in which the element of terror was maximized through theuse of deception or teasing. Victims were sometimes given a choiceas to how they wanted to be killed gunshot, machete, or burned

alive, or were forced to listen to the rebels arguing over whatatrocity to commit against them. Utilizing an old tactic they'demployed in past offensives, the rebels dressed up in ECOMOGuniforms, trying to illicit a favorable reaction, and would then catchthe civilians who would later be punished.

After setting a house on fire, the rebels were witnessedpositioning themselves near the entrances and then shooting atcivilians as they tried to escape. Similarly, after killing civilians, therebels were witnessed laying ambushes around the corpses, waitingfor their relatives to retrieve them. There were numerous accounts ofrebels who promised not to kill, rape or abduct an individual if thefamily would raise a given sum of money, but, upon receipt of themoney, would commit the atrocity anyway.

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This boy has lost his both hands,whichwere cut by a machete in their game.


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Chapter II - Children of conflict in Sierra

Leone

Children in sierra Leone have a song calledWhen shall I seemy home?.This means that they are on a razor-edge which can givethem only the hope of coming back home.

What is a conflict diamond?

Conflict diamonds are diamonds that originate from areas

controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate andinternationally recognized governments, and are used to fundmilitary action in opposition to those governments, or incontravention of the decisions of the Security Council.

Child soldiers(by Mike Wessels)

While in Sierra Leone a couple of summers ago, I visitedGrafton Camp, a facility for recently demobilized child soldiersoperated by UNICEF and local partners. Many of the boys, rangingfrom nine to 16 years of age, had killed people as they fought in a

"It has been said that war is the price ofpeace Angola and Sierra Leone have already

paid too much. Let them live a better life."

Ambassador Juan Larrain, Chairman of the MonitoringMechanism on sanctions against UNITA.

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civil war that paused with a fragile cease-fire in 1995. The campdirector said that when the youths had been given drugs-most likely,amphetamines-while soldiering, they "would do just about anythingthat was ordered." Some, he added, were proud of having been

effective killers. These boys, who had shortly before been willing tokill and who had never received an adequate foundation of moraldevelopment, danced with enormous energy and played cooperativegames under the supervision of the camp's counselors. As I watched,it was sobering to think that under certain conditions, practically anychild could be changed into a killer.

But today, it is even more sobering to see once again how

easily children who have been denied education and trained forfighting are manipulated by local political leaders. Fighting hasresumed in Sierra Leone following a May coup, and many of thecombatants are under 18. They have become part of a continuingcycle of violence. It is knows that children have no fear and dowhatever they are demanded. In this DIAMOND business ,they are

perfect to do the uglypart which means killing others.

EVERY CHILD MUST BE PROTECTED AGAINST

WEAPONS ,GUNS , WARS OR ANY KIND OF VIOLENCE.

But , for children in Sierra Leone, this right seemsunavailable. A little diagram of their porpose will follow.

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for release

To find my family

for food

for my father for my brothers

TO STAY ALIVE

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Real stories

There are an estimated three hundred thousandchild soldiers around the world. Every year the

number grows as more children are recruited for usein active combat.

Here you can read children explain how they becamesoldiers, what stops them from leaving and how somehave managed to build new lives for themselves.

'When shall Isee myhome?'

the

children'ssong in

Sierra Leone

'I was

recruited byforce.'

Zaw Tun's

Terrified

Children are used in wars taking placein Sierra Leone, Liberia, Congo, Sudan,Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Burma.

In the civil war in Sierra Leone childrenfight for both the rebels - the

Revolutionary United Front (RUF) andthe pro-government local militia, the

Kamajors. The Kamajors do much ofthe front-line fighting for the

government and the West Africanpeace-keeping force, ECOMOG.

Often after the RUF attacks a villagethey abduct the surviving children. Thechildren, many of whom have seen

their parents slaughtered, are thenremoved to special camps. Those

children who escape often join theKamajors who give them shelter andfood.

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story(In Burmese)

Read ZawTun's story

(In English)

For the last 50 years there has beenconflict in Burma between the

government and rebel ethnicminorities. 15-year-old Zaw Tun fought

in the Burmese army.

Captive

In the RUF camps inSierra Leone, the

traumatised childrenare held and 'trained'

usually for about twoor three months.

The children are toldthey will be killed ifthey disobey orders or

try to escape.

Often they undergo abrutal initiation andhave to kill or maimthose who have

attempted to flee.

'If you cry

againwe'll kill

you'Abu's

story

'When we

aredancing

we shoot'David's

juju song

In the Kamajors

the children areinitiated into

'secret societies'.By following the

rules of these'societies' the

boys are told thatthey will gain

magical powers.

They come tobelieve that the

'juju' (magic) willprotect them and

stop the enemybullets.

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CombatThe development of lighter weapons

- such as the AK47 - means that

boys as young as eight can bearmed.

The smallest boys are placed closestto the enemy. In war, they are said

to be fearless. Children are often

less demanding soldiers than adults.They are cheaper to keep as they

eat less and are easier tomanipulate.Both sides believe the

unpredictability of small children

makes them better fighters.Some are sent into battle high on

drugs to give them courage.

The Burmese military regime alsouses children in combat. The

children work as slave labourers,

carrying army supplies or workingon government construction

projects.

'I stoned him'Mohammed

admitshe killed

'We weredrugged andordered to

move forward'

Myo Win's story(In Burmese)

Read Myo Win'sstory

(in English)

'I was forced to

Threats

In combat children are oftencaptured and threatened. Theyfight for whoever controls them inorder to stay alive.

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join them'Mohammed's

story

In continuous civil war there aremany children who have oftenfought for both sides.

DreamsAlthough the war

continues in SierraLeone, some children

have managed toescape.

But often childrenwho have been

forced to kill andslaughter in their

own villages cannot

return home.

Children who join the

RUF are ostracisedby their families and

fear they will behunted down by themilitia.

'If you're

happy'the

children'ssongs and

dreams

More thananything, the

former childsoldiers want

peace and thechance to go to

school.

Many of the girlsdream ofbecoming nurses.Some of the boys

want to be priests.

Hope

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Rehabilitation of the child soldiers is a difficult process. Thechildren have been brutalised and have carried out killings.They have wielded life-and-death power over adults often in theirlocal communities. The armies using them have fed, clothed and

given them shelter.

There are projects in Mozambique, Angola and Somalia helping

former child soldiers.At the Marka Militia Rehabilitation Center in Somalia, Abdi istraining to be a fisherman. In Sierra Leone Rose works at anorphanage for escaped soldiers. However, for the majority of childsoldiers in Sierra Leone as long as the civil war continues they will

be forced to fight.

Another issue

In order to obtain better results,rebels give children all kindof drugs such as amphetamines which make them more courageousand willing to kill. This drugs affect their rationality and turn theminto little war machines which doesnt care whether the die or stayalive.

One of the childrens rights is :

Every child has the right to be protected against dangerous

substances such as drugs or any other substance which may affecthis/her health

Rebels are just trying to reach their targets and get more andmore money . They just dont care about their little soldiers. So,

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another violation of childrens rights is present in Sierra Leone.(alsoin other countries from Africa)

Chapter III- International response

The United Nations

The United Nations' initial reaction to the 1997 military coupby the Armed Forces Ruling Council was to condemn it and to placesanctions against the government formed by the rebels. The United

Nations Security Council commended ECOWAS on its efforts torestore the ousted government of President Tejan Kabbah and urgedmember states to assist ECOMOG with financial and logisticalsupport. It also condemned the atrocities perpetrated by the rebels,in particular against women and children. The Security Council alsomade the determination that the crisis in Sierra Leone constituted a

threat to international peace and security in the region under ChapterVII of the U.N. Charter, and that it would remain actively seized ofthe matter.

In July 1998, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approveda resolution to establish the United Nations Observer Mission to

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Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL), increasing the United Nations' militaryobserver presence already in the country from approximately ten toseventy officers, along with civilian support and medical staff.UNOMSIL's mandate includes responsibility for monitoring and

helping ECOMOG with the implementation of a program for thedisarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of combatants (theDDR program); reporting on the security situation; monitoringrespect for international humanitarian law, including at disarmamentand demobilization sites; and advising the government of SierraLeone and local police officials on police practice, training, re-equipment, and recruitment, in particular on the need to respectinternationally accepted standards of policing in democratic

societies.

As RUF forces approached Freetown in late December 1998,the U.N. and other international agencies and foreign governments

began withdrawing their staff from the country. On January 6, as therebels entered the city, UNOMSIL completed its evacuation. Therelocation to Conakry, the capital of neighboring Guinea, wasfollowed by a substantial reduction in the number of staff, in

particular military and civilian police. On March 3, the decision was

made to allow the return of a limited number of staff to Freetown.

On June 4, 1999, the U.N. secretary-general released his sixthreport on UNOMSIL. The report noted a resurgence in rebelatrocities against civilians in recent months; the secretary-general'sfifth report, issued in March, described similar atrocities committedduring the rebel invasion and occupation of Freetown in January.Both reports also noted serious allegations that members of

ECOMOG and the CDF had carried out summary executions ofsuspected rebels. The secretary-general described the worsening ofan already desperate humanitarian situation across much of thecountry, noting that 2.6 million Sierra Leoneans, nearly half the

population, were out of reach of humanitarian agencies, and that

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even where there was access, humanitarian efforts were still unableto reach all those in need.

The secretary-general also noted that ECOMOG had

confirmed the involvement of the governments of Liberia andBurkina Faso in the shipment and delivery of arms to the forces ofthe RUF. Accordingly, the secretary-general had proposed thedeployment of ECOMOG troops and U.N. personnel along theSierra Leone border. Welcoming the proposal in principle, theexecutive secretary of ECOWAS had responded that U.N. logisticalsupport would be necessary, including helicopters, communications,and ground transportation.

As of June 4, 1999, UNOMSIL consisted of twenty-fourmilitary observers, including two medical personnel, as well astwenty-nine international and twenty-four national staff members.The secretary-general's sixth report stated that it was planned todeploy additional observers up to the maximum of seventy set byU.N. Security Council resolution 1181 of July 13, 1998, to increasethe civilian staff by two political officers, and to restore the humanrights section to its previous staffing level of five persons. The

secretary-general drew the attention of the Security Council to thefact that, depending on the progress of the peace talks, it might well

be necessary to deploy a sizeable number of infantry and otherobservers, along with the necessary equipment and militarylogistical support, if the U.N. were to deploy effectively to assist inthe implementation of an eventual peace agreement. The secretary-general also envisage[d] a significant expansion of the civilian

personnel, including those engaged in political, human rights and

logistical support functions. On June 11, 1999, the Security Councilextended the mission of UNOMSIL for a further six months, untilDecember 13, 1999.

The United Kingdom, European Union, and United States

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The United Kingdom has provided more assistance to the

ECOMOG and Sierra Leonean government forces than any othergovernment from outside the region, and has also been the largestnational donor to Sierra Leone of reconstruction aid andhumanitarian assistance, committing more than ,30 million in totalto Sierra Leone since the restoration of President Kabbah in March

1998. The assistance the U.K. has provided has included trainingand equipment for a new Sierra Leonean army.

The U.K.'s record on Sierra Leone has been tarnished by thegovernment's handling of contacts between the government ofPresident Kabbah and a U.K.-based private security company,Sandline International, during 1997 and 1998, which included thesupply of a shipment of arms to Sierra Leone in late February 1998

in breach of the U.N. arms embargo (which applied to governmentas well as rebel forces). In February 1999, the House of CommonsSelect Committee on Foreign Affairs issued a report, itself based onan investigation ordered by Foreign Secretary Robin Cook andcarried out by Sir Thomas Legg Q.C. Both the Legg report and theForeign Affairs Committee were highly critical of both the Foreignand Commonwealth Office and the foreign secretary, though theyconcluded that the violation of the embargo was due toincompetence and mismanagement rather than intent.

According to the U.S., its policy towards the crisis in SierraLeone is designed to achieve four goals: increase international

support for ECOMOG; help ECOWAS leaders coordinate anegotiated settlement; curtail external support for the rebel forces;

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and provide humanitarian relief. To that end, the U.S. provided U.S.$3.9 million in equipment and logistical support to ECOMOG, andcontributed over U.S.$55 million in humanitarian assistance in1998. In 1999 it committed U.S.$5 million for logistical support and

medical supplies and planned to seek approval for a further U.S.$5.8million from Congress. In May 1999, the U.S. government promisedto double its commitments to assist ECOMOG and the SierraLeonean Government. The U.S. has also condemned externalsupport for the rebels from Liberia. However, in a letter datedFebruary 4, 1999 sent by seven members of the U.S. Congress toPresident Clinton, the members expressed dismay by the limitedU.S. support for the efforts of ECOMOG.

Through the European Community Humanitarian Office(ECHO), the E.U. has been an important donor of non-foodhumanitarian aid to Sierra Leone, having contributed over 20million ECUs (over U.S.$22 million) by 1998, mostly to support theactivities of international humanitarian nongovernmentalorganizations (NGOs). In November 1998, the E.U. made a grant of860,000 ECU to the OAU partly to support any post-conflictreconstruction that it undertakes in Sierra Leone. In April 1999, the

E.U. approved Euro 5 million to cover emergency aid for displacedpersons in Sierra Leone (and Guinea). The E.U. states that it hasgiven Sierra Leone more than 111 million ECUs (U.S. $140 million)in emergency aid and for reconstruction of infrastructure andrehabilitation of victims of the war.

Final remarks

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Child or adult,rebel or civilan , we must all RESPECT humanrights. They were created by HUMANS for HUMANS.

Maybe I could have dealt more with poverty but I know thisis a problem a lot of countries are faced with. In my view, povertycan be solved completely. Nevertheless,there is something whichwill always be an issue and which represents the END ofeverything: DELIBERATE CRIME. People fightwherever,whenever....but children,why children? Will they have achildhood anymore,will they play,will they dream ?

Maybe some will,with the exception of children soldiers,whocan be considered already adults .Once they are kidnapped,theyforget who they were and they are trained for their new job: killer.Society must take measures against such activities which have avery high level of destructiveness.

Finally, I nourish the hope such cases of violation will openpeoples eyes while reading this project.

Bibliography

1.Daily reports in Sierra Leone,23.03.2005

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2.Gandul newspaper, 3.03.2004

3.Global issues on Discovery Channel

4.BBC Channel Online

5.http://pangaea.org/street_children/africa/armies.htm

6.www.descopera.ro

7.Jurnalul National newspaper, 18.05.2006

8.Africa.Discover us on Discovery Channel
http://pangaea.org/street_children/africa/armies.htmhttp://pangaea.org/street_children/africa/armies.htmhttp://pangaea.org/street_children/africa/armies.htm

Documents

Children of conflict in Africa