[Nic Name]

FAQs

It has been described as one of the most brutal conflicts in recent times: the war in Sierra Leone. It raged for 9 years and reached a climax when rebels invaded the capital Freetown on January 6, 1999. Human rights organisations have described the human rights abuses that took place over the next three weeks as among the most serious in modern-day warfare. Many people in the provinces have known nothing more than unimaginable brutality for the past 9 years.

In July 1999, the government and the main rebel group, the RUF, signed a formal peace accord. It includes a blanket amnesty for all human rights violations committed during the war, even for crimes against humanity. Human rights organisations have protested, but after 9 years of war, many Sierra Leoneans yearn for only one thing: peace.

Radio Netherlands' Eric Beauchemin was in Sierra Leone in November and December 1999.