in pictures | sierra leone civil war (1991 - 2002)

© IPPSL | International Professional Partnerships for Sierra Leone, Inc. 2011

In Pictures : Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002)

IN PICTURES :Sierra Leone Civil War

Slideshow designed byMATTHEW BLANCHARDCommunications & DesignIPPSL Board Associatehttp://www.ippsl.org/ © 2011 IPPSL, Inc.

CONTRIBUTORS :

http://www.ippsl.org/



CHILD SOLDIERS

Sierra Leone plunged into

a decade of civil war

starting in the 1990’s –

and many of the soldiers

were children.

Many were forced to take

up arms when their

villages were overrun;

making children kill their

own families was a

favorite militia tactic.



CHARLES TAYLOR

He was one of several

warlords battling it out in

a bitter civil war, which

killed hundreds of

thousands of Liberians

and ruined a once

prosperous economy.

A rebel group led by the

notorious Foday Sankoh

began attacking Sierra

Leone from territory

controlled by Taylor,

plunging the country into

a brutal, 10-year conflict.



REBEL LEADER

A little known ex-army

corporal – Foday Sankoh –

launched an insurgency

from neighboring Liberia

under the banner of the

Revolutionary United

Front, or RUF.

Instability led to a series

of coups in Sierra Leone

that saw at least four

leaders toppled between

1992 and 1997.



REFUGEES

More than a million

people, in a country of

less than five (5) million,

were displaced by the

fighting.

Some fled into

neighboring countries,

such as Guinea, to escape

the violence.



MAIMINGS

Both the rebels &

government militias were

known for their brutality

and often maimed

civilians. They were

notorious for chopping of

hands & legs.

An estimated 50,000

people died during the

war and untold thousands

were permanently

scarred.



YOUNG VICTIMS

Not even children were

spared.

Today, the Sierra Leone

citizen sector leaders are

beginning to institute an

ambitious agenda of broad

reform, rehabilitation,

advocacy & activism all in

hopes of repairing the

mutilation and mayhem

that devastated the youth

of the nation

Alas, it is a vibrant,

resilient youth population

that will grow into the

leaders of tomorrow.



WAR ENDS

It took months for the

fighting to end, with Foday

Sankoh declaring that the

UN had no business in

Sierra Leone. In the Spring

of 2000, hundreds of UN

troops were taken

hostage.

But Sankoh was captured

in May and the UN troops

were rescued in July.

Britain sent forces to help

cement the peace.



ELECTIONS

The war was officially

declared over at the

beginning of 2002, paving

the way for elections in

May of that year.

People queued for hours

to vote, and President

Tejan Kabbah – who was

elected in 1996 and

deposed a year later – was

returned to power.

Again, in 2007, the queue

at the polls ran for miles,

in an atmosphere of

anticipation for the

election of E. Bai Koroma.



JUSTICE?

Victims of the war turned

out to vote in large

numbers.

A Truth & Reconciliation

Commission, an Anti-

Corruption Commission

and a Special Court were

established by the newly

elected government.

Sankoh died in May 2003

before he could stand

trial, and other key figures

are dead, missing or in

exile. But, a number of

leaders are being tried by

the court, including

Charles Taylor.



CLINGING ON…

When President of Liberia,

Mr. Charles Taylor, went to

Ghana for peace talks, a

UN-backed court issued a

warrant for his arrest over

his alleged role in the

brutal 10-year war in

Sierra Leone.

He said he would step

down if it would ensure

peace; however, details

were not agreed upon.

Rebellion in Liberia

ensued and continued.



PRAYERS

Despite his attempts to

seek divine intervention,

diplomatic pressure from

the UN and West Africa did

not let up.

In the end, once

peacekeepers arrived,

Taylor had no choice but

to step down.

He went into exile in

Nigeria in August 2003, as

part of a deall to end two

long civil wars.

He now faces charges of

war crimes in the Hague.


LOGO GRAPHIC & HISTORY of Partnership (2007-2009)

PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM

In the fall of 2007, public officials requested

colleagues abroad to develop an international

internship program focused on public sector

reform for the government of Sierra Leone.

IPPSL, Inc. co-founders answered this call, and in

the summer of 2008 conducted a feasibility study

in Freetown, which aimed to evaluate first-hand

the opportunities, politics and logistics that

would confront the Partnership.

Upon completion of this study, IPPSL submitted a

Concept Paper detailing the nature & proposed

operations of the Partnership to the Public Sector

Reform Unit. IPPSL's proposal received Sierra

Leone Cabinet approval on March 25, 2009. In

turn, IPPSL was incorporated as a United States

501(c)3 nonprofit, on September 30, 2009.


LOGO GRAPHIC & MISSION STATEMENT

…to support the progress of Sierra Leone’s public

sector development through technical assistance,

fellowships with government agencies, and other

international professional partnerships.

in pictures | sierra leone civil war (1991 - 2002)

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