DATE=1/28/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-42469
TITLE=SIERRA LEONE / REBELS
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: REBELS FIGHTING SIERRA LEONE'S GOVERNMENT HAVE BEEN
ACCUSED OF COMMITTING ATROCITIES AGAINST CIVILIANS THROUGHOUT THE
COUNTRY. MANY OBSERVERS SAY THE REBELS ALSO LACK A COHERENT
POLITICAL AGENDA. BUT THE REBELS SAY THESE CHARGES ARE SIMPLY
PART OF A GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN TO SMEAR THEIR
REPUTATION. VOA'S JOHN PITMAN HAS BEEN TALKING TO BOTH SIDES
RECENTLY, AND FILED THIS REPORT ON THE REBELS' "IMAGE" PROBLEM.
TEXT: THROUGHOUT SIERRA LEONE'S EIGHT-YEAR-LONG CIVIL WAR, REBEL
SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF KILLING, MUTILATING, RAPING AND
KIDNAPPING CIVILIANS.
WHILE THERE IS PLENTY OF EYEWITNESS EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE
CHARGES AGAINST REBEL SOLDIERS, REBEL OFFICIALS SAY THE BLAME FOR
THESE ATROCITIES SHOULD NOT FALL ON THEIR TROOPS ALONE.
OMRIE GOLLEY IS (THE R-U-F'S) POLITICAL ADVISOR TO THE REBELS
KNOWN BY THE INITIALS R-U-F, THE REVOLUTIONARY UNITED FRONT. HE
CONCEDES THAT REBEL SOLDIERS MAY HAVE COMMITTED ATROCITIES AT THE
BEGINNING OF THE WAR. BUT HE SAYS IT IS NOT OFFICIAL R-U-F
POLICY TO TARGET CIVILIANS.
IN AN INTERVIEW WITH V-O-A IN THE IVORY COAST, MR. GOLLEY SAID
GOVERNMENT LOYALISTS -- ESPECIALLY THE KAMAJOR MILITIAS -- ARE
ALSO GUILTY OF CRIMES AGAINST CIVILIANS. HE SAID THE R-U-F
BELIEVES IT WOULD BE VINDICATED, IF THE ATROCITIES WERE
INVESTIGATED BY INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS.
/// GOLLEY ACT ///
THE R-U-F HAVE BEEN UNFAIRLY ATTACKED IN RECENT TIMES BY
THE GOVERNMENT ... IN RESPECT TO THESE ATROCITIES. THE
GOVERNMENT HAS CONSISTENTLY TOLD THE PRESS ... THAT THE
R-U-F HAVE BEEN PRINCIPALLY INVOLVED IN THIS QUESTION OF
ATROCITIES. WHAT WE ARE SAYING IS THAT THIS IS AN
UNFAIR ALLEGATION, AND THAT A MOVEMENT WITH SOME
IMPARTIALITY COMING INTO THIS COUNTRY WOULD VERIFY THIS.
/// END ACT ///
INDEPENDENT OBSERVERS SAY THERE MAY BE SOME TRUTH TO THE REBELS'
COMPLAINT THAT THEY HAVE BEEN UNFAIRLY SINGLED OUT FOR BLAME.
PETER STRANDBERG IS A SWEDISH JOURNALIST WHO SPENT TIME WITH THE
REBELS IN 1998. HE SAYS HE DID NOT FIND ANY EVIDENCE THAT
REBEL LEADERS WERE SANCTIONING THE ATROCITIES.
/// STRANDBERG ACT ///
BASICALLY, THEY CLAIM THAT THEY COULD NOT SURVIVE IN THE
JUNGLE FOR NINE YEARS WITHOUT VERY MUCH -- WITHOUT ANY
FOREIGN SUPPORT, IF THEY CUT THE HANDS AND HEADS OFF THE
CIVILIAN POPULATION. THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GO
FROM THE BORDER, IN THE EAST, TO NEARLY CAPTURE
FREETOWN, IF THEY KILLED CIVILIANS ALL THE TIME.
/// END ACT ///
BUT MR. STRANDBERG ADDS THAT ALTHOUGH ATROCITIES ARE PROBABLY NOT
OFFICIAL POLICY, THERE ARE DIVISIONS WITHIN THE REBEL MOVEMENT
WHICH ITS COMMANDERS CANNOT ALWAYS CONTROL.
AMONG THESE GROUPS ARE MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY JUNTA WHICH
OVERTHREW PRESIDENT AHMAD TEJAN KABBAH IN 1997. JOURNALIST PETER
STRANDBERG SAYS MANY OF THESE EX-SOLDIERS MAY BE TAKING REVENGE
ON CIVILIANS FOR NOT SUPPORTING THEIR COUP.
/// OPT /// RECENT EYEWITNESS REPORTS FROM FREETOWN BACK UP THIS
THEORY. SEVERAL CIVILIANS WHO HAD THEIR HANDS AMPUTATED SAID
THEIR ATTACKERS TOLD THEM THEY WERE BEING PUNISHED FOR SUPPORTING
PRESIDENT KABBAH'S GOVERNMENT. /// END OPT ///
FOREIGN SOLDIERS MAY ALSO BE INVOLVED IN SIERRA LEONE'S WAR.
LIBERIA AND BURKINA FASO HAVE BOTH BEEN ACCUSED OF PROVIDING
SOLDIERS AND TRAINING TO THE REBELS -- ALLEGATIONS BOTH COUNTRIES
HAVE DENIED.
OBSERVERS SAY THE RELATIVE YOUTH OF MANY REBEL SOLDIERS MAY ALSO
CONTRIBUTE TO THE ANARCHY WHICH SEEMS TO RULE IN AREAS CONTROLLED
BY THE R-U-F. //OPT// VICTIMS OF ALLEGED REBEL ATROCITIES SAY
THEIR ATTACKERS WERE OFTEN JUST BOYS WHO WERE HIGH ON MARIJUANA
OR DRUNK. //END OPT//
THE KILLINGS AND MUTILATIONS HAVE OVERSHADOWED THE REBEL'S
POLITICAL AGENDA -- WHICH SOME CRITICS SAY IS ALREADY UNFOCUSED.
R-U-F POLITICAL ADVISOR OMRIE GOLLEY SAYS HE BELIEVES THE REBELS
DO HAVE AN AGENDA. //OPT// HE'S EVEN PUT A LUCRATIVE CAREER AS A
COMMERCIAL LAWYER ON HOLD TO SUPPORT IT. //END OPT//
/// SECOND GOLLEY ACT ///
THE R-U-F WANTS A POLITICAL-ECONOMIC-AND-SOCIAL
STRUCTURE WHICH TAKES AWAY THE PROBLEMS THAT HAVE
AFFLICTED SIERRA LEONE IN PAST DECADES ... WHAT THE
R-U-F IS SAYING (IS THAT) THIS IS THE RESULT OF ECONOMIC
MISMANAGEMENT, OF NEPOTISM AND OF CORRUPTION.
/// END ACT ///
//OPT// MR. GOLLEY SAID HIS JOB IS TO ARTICULATE THE R-U-F'S
POLITICAL AGENDA. BUT HE WOULD NOT GIVE ANY SPECIFIC DETAILS
ABOUT WHAT AN R-U-F GOVERNMENT MIGHT DO TO TACKLE THE COUNTRY'S
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS.
SWEDISH JOURNALIST PETER STRANDBERG SAYS THE R-U-F APPEARS TO BE
BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF WHAT HE CALLS "RADICAL" MARXIST IDEAS.
/// SECOND STRANDBERG ACT ///
AS I SEE IT, IT (THE R-U-F) IS A VERY NATIONALISTIC,
PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT WITH SOME RADICAL IDEAS -- FORMER
MARXIST IDEAS ABOUT CONTROLLING THEIR OWN MINERAL
RESOURCES, THE DIAMONDS AND THE GOLD.
/// END ACT /// //END OPT//
//OPT// R-U-F ADVISER OMRIE GOLLEY SAYS THE REBELLION DOES
ESPOUSE SOME MARXIST IDEAS, BUT HE ADDS THE GROUP ALSO BELIEVES
IN FREE MARKET ECONOMICS AND FREE TRADE. //END OPT//
SIERRA LEONE'S REBELLION HAS ITS ROOTS IN POPULAR DISSATISFACTION
OVER PAST GOVERNMENTS' ECONOMIC POLICIES -- POLICIES WHICH THE
COUNTRY'S POOR SAY DIRECTED MOST OF THE PROFITS FROM DIAMOND
MINING INTO THE POCKETS OF GOVERNMENT MINISTERS AND FOREIGN
CORPORATIONS.
ACCORDING TO MR. STRANDBERG, THE REBELLION'S FOUNDER, FODAY
SANKOH -- WHO IS CURRENTLY FACING A DEATH SENTENCE IN A
GOVERNMENT JAIL -- IS SEEN BY MANY AS A CRUSADER FOR THE RIGHTS
OF THE POOR, AND SOMETHING OF A FATHER FIGURE FOR THOUSANDS OF
YOUNG, UNEMPLOYED MEN AND BOYS WHO RALLIED TO HIS CAUSE.
THE REBELS SAY DIAMOND MINING IS THE "ROOT OF ALL EVIL" IN SIERRA
LEONE, AND CLAIM NOT TO BE EXPLOITING THE MINES IN AREAS THEY
CONTROL.
BUT THIS CLAIM HAS BEEN REJECTED BY PRESIDENT KABBAH'S
GOVERNMENT, WHICH SAYS THE R-U-F IS GUIDED BY SELF-INTEREST, NOT
PATRIOTISM. SEPTIMUS KAIKAI IS THE PRESIDENT'S SPECIAL ADVISER.
/// KAIKAI ACT ///
THERE ARE NO ISSUES FOR THESE PEOPLE. THEY DO NOT HAVE
A POLITICAL AGENDA. THEY DO NOT HAVE A RELIGIOUS
AGENDA. THERE IS NO SOCIAL AGENDA. WHAT THEY ARE
SIMPLY DOING IS PERSONAL -- PERSONAL AGGRANDIZEMENT,
SELFISHNESS ON THEIR PART, JUST TO AMASS WEALTH.
/// END ACT ///
THE DEBATE OVER THE DEPTH OF THE REBELS' AND THE GOVERNMENTS'
INVOLVEMENT IN THE ATROCITIES AGAINST CIVILIANS MAY NEVER BE
RESOLVED.
//REST OPT// HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS AND SOME PEOPLE IN THE UNITED
NATIONS HAVE CALLED FOR AN INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL FOR
SIERRA LEONE, WHERE, AT LEAST, THESE QUESTIONS WOULD BE ADDRESSED
IN AN OPEN FORUM.
PERHAPS MORE DIFFICULT, HOWEVER, WILL BE THE TASK OF PARENTS
THROUGHOUT SIERRA LEONE, WHO WILL HAVE TO EXPLAIN THE PAST TO
CHILDREN WHO HAVE LOST HANDS OR FEET TO ANOTHER GENERATION'S
POLITICAL AGENDA. (SIGNED)
NEB/JP/PCF
28-Jan-99 2:27 PM EST (1927 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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