Liberated Zone (Sierra Leone)
Liberated Zone | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–2002 | |||||||||
 RUF Party flag
 Coat of arms
| |||||||||
| Status | Quasi-state[1] | ||||||||
| Capital | Kono (RUF stronghold from 1992 on)[2][3] | ||||||||
| Leader of the Revolutionary United Front | |||||||||
• 1991–1997 | Foday Sankoh | ||||||||
• 1997–1999 | Sam Bockarie[4] | ||||||||
• 1999–2000[5] | Foday Sankoh | ||||||||
• 2000 | Vacant | ||||||||
• 2000–2002 | Issa Sesay[6] | ||||||||
| Spokesperson of the Revolutionary United Front | |||||||||
• Unknown | Fayia Musa,[7] Gibril Massakoi[8] and Omrie Michael Golley[9] | ||||||||
| Establishment | Sierra Leone Civil War | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 23 March 1991[10][2][11][12][13] | ||||||||
| 17 May 2000 | |||||||||
• Disestablished | 18 January 2002[18] | ||||||||
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| This article is part of a series on the |
| Sierra Leone Civil War |
|---|
| Personalities |
| Armed forces |
| Key events |
| Attempts at peace |
| Political groups |
| Ethnic groups |
| See also |
The Liberated Zone refers to the territory that the Revolutionary United Front controlled, the RUF itself called their areas "Liberated Zone".[19][20]
Territory
[edit]The Revolutionary United Front started their takeover of territories at the start of the Sierra Leone Civil War on 23 March 1991, in one month they took almost all of the Eastern Province.[21][22] They took over areas in which diamond mines existed, mostly in the east, they put their sight on these areas to finance themselves.[27] With the diamonds they bought weapons from Charles Taylor, or soldiers were trained in exchange.[28][29] In early 1995 the RUF moved within several miles of Freetown.[30] In 2000 the RUF almost controlled all of Sierra Leone, except for the capital city Freetown.[28][25][31]
Governance
[edit]From 1991 until 1995, the Liberated Zone was under limited martial rule.[19][32]
Military
[edit]Recruitment
[edit]The RUF took advantage of the refugees, who were abandoned, starving, and in dire need of medical attention, by promising food, shelter, medical care, and looting and mining profits in return for their support. When this method of recruitment failed, as it often did for the RUF, youths were often coerced at gunpoint to join the ranks of the RUF. After being kidnapped or forced to join, many child soldiers learned that the complete lack of law – as a result of the civil war – provided a unique opportunity for self-empowerment through violence and thus continued to support the rebel cause.[33][34][35]
Economy
[edit]Diamond mining
[edit]Some people that lived in the Liberated Zone were forced to work in diamond mines.[36] The estimated of the volume of RUF diamonds vary widely, from $25 million per annum to $125 million, with this the RUF military activity sustained.[37]
Health care
[edit]The Liberated Zone claimed that they provided limited health care, similar to other sectors like schooling, housing and seedlings.[19] The US Department of State reported in 2000 that the people don't have access to the most basic social services like health care and education.[28]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Working Paper 10 - 'The Middlemen': War Supply Networks in Sierra Leone and Angola" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2021.
- 1 2 3 "Sierra Leone - The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) - Trying to influence an army of children" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2022.
- ↑ Dickey, supra note 27, at 9
- ↑ "Bockarie died a wanted man". BBC News. 8 May 2003.
- 1 2 "'I am the scorpion. I captured the lion'". The Guardian. 18 May 2000.
- ↑ "CNN.com - Sierra Leone govt says RUF rebels have new leader - August 21, 2000". CNN.
- ↑ "RUF Leader Foday Sankoh's Intransigence Caused A Delay In Ending The Sierra Leone Conflict, Defense Witness Says | International Justice Monitor". Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Sierra Leone: RUF gets new leader - Sierra Leone | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Ex rebel official accused of bid to overthrow government". Thenewhumanitarian.org. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Revolutionary United Front (RUF) | Britannica". Britannica.com. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
- ↑ "Sierra Leone After the End of the Armed Conflict". Journals.openedition.org. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- ↑ Mitton, Kieran (February 2018). "Elite Bargains and Political Deals Project: Sierra Leone Case Study" (PDF). Stabilisation Unit. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
- ↑ Gerdes, Felix. "Civil War and State formation The political Economy of War and Peace in Liberia" (PDF). Campus. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
- ↑ Simmons, Ann M. (18 May 2000). "Sierra Leone Guerrilla Chief Is Captured". Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ "Released UN troops return to Sierra Leone; rebel leader captured - Sierra Leone | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 17 May 2000.
- ↑ Brown, Derek (17 May 2000). "Who is Foday Sankoh?". The Guardian.
- ↑ [5][14][15][16]
- ↑ "Footpaths to Reintegration - Armed Conflict, Youth and the Rural Crisis in Sierra Leone". Archived from the original on 10 March 2014.
- 1 2 3 "Footpaths to Democracy - Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone - Sierra Leone Web". Federation of American Scientists.
- ↑
- Abdullah, Ibrahim (2004). Between Democracy and Terror: The Sierra Leone Civil War. Dakar: Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa. ISBN 978-2-86978-123-8. OCLC 58843520.
- "Sierra Leone profile – Timeline". BBC News. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
- "Democracy By Force?: Lessons from the Restoration of the State in Sierra Leone" (PDF). blogs.shu.edu.
- "The situation in Sierra Leone" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2024.
- ↑ "Sierra Leone Civil War". globalsecurity.org.
- ↑ "Sierra Leone: From Cease-Fire to Lasting Peace?". Refworld.org. 1 January 1997. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- ↑ "Revolutionary United Front (RUF) | Britannica". Britannica.com. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
- ↑ "Revolutionary United Front (RUF)". globalsecurity.org.
- 1 2 "Why the war in Sierra Leone is far from won - Sierra Leone | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 1 September 2000.
- ↑ "Sierra Leone And Conflict Diamonds: Establishing A Legal Diamond Trade And Ending Rebel Control Over The Country's Diamond Resources" (PDF). Retrieved 4 May 2026.
- ↑ [23][2][24][25][26]
- 1 2 3 "10/11/00: Susan E. Rice, Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on African Affairs". 1997-2001.state.gov.
- ↑ "Pressure Makes Diamonds". cashfordiamondsusa.com.
- ↑ "Revolutionary United Front". Encyclopedia of Terrorism. 2003. doi:10.4135/9781412952590.n371. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
- ↑ "Ex-rebel RUF party bows out of Sierra Leone polls". Reuters. 9 August 2007.
- ↑ "Footpaths to Democracy - Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone - Sierra Leone Web". Archived from the original on 15 August 2000. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ Gberie, Lansana (2005). A Dirty War in West Africa: The RUF and the Destruction of Sierra Leone. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21855-1. OCLC 67774535.
- ↑ "Der Krieg in den Köpfen". Deutschlandfunk Kultur. 19 August 2009.
- ↑ "Sage Reference - The SAGE Encyclopedia of Terrorism - Revolutionary United Front" (PDF). Sk.sagepub.com. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- ↑ "Sierra Leone". Whywar.at. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- ↑ "Report of the Panel of Experts on Sierra Leone Diamonds and Arms". globalsecurity.org.