Amputees Bring Conflict in Sierra Leone Home to Congressmen
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The senseless mutilation of innocent civilians in Sierra
Leone's nine-year conflict was plainly seen in Congress September 26
as eight victims of forced amputations spoke of their experiences
before the House Subcommittee on African Affairs.
House Subcommittee Chairman Ed Royce (Republican of California),
addressing a public hearing entitled "Sierra Leone's Youngest Victims:
We Can't Ignore," said: "The Sierra Leoneans with us today have
experienced unparalleled brutality. What distinguishes the war in
Sierra Leone -- which has been called the most brutal war of the new
century -- is the reprehensible tactic of systematic amputations used
by the RUF [Revolutionary United Front] rebels, who proudly undertook
'Operation No Living Thing' a few years back."
Sitting at the witness table before Royce and his panel were six
children and two adults, all grotesquely mutilated by RUF thugs. They
were brought to the United States for the fitting of prosthetic
devices by The Friends of Sierra Leone, a non-governmental
organization (NGO) established by former Peace Corps volunteers.
Millie Day, president of the group, who addressed the lawmakers, said,
"These are very special people," adding, "Let this day be a turning
point in the future of Sierra Leone."
The unfortunates are among the estimated 20,000 Sierra Leoneans who
have had limbs hacked off in the civil war being waged over who will
control the diamond-producing areas of the West African nation.
The horror and poignancy of their condition was perhaps best brought
home by Tommy Foday, a 47-year-old who leaned forward on the witness
table on the stumps of his arms. Foday told the panel that moments
before mutilating him, his RUF attackers told him, "We know you are a
driver, so we'll cut off your arms so that you'll never drive again."
Asked by Chairman Royce why RUF practiced such terror on innocent
civilians, Muctar Jalloh, a 27-year-old student who lost an arm and an
ear to rebels, said he thought one reason for their savagery was
"because we voted for a democratically elected government." He said
that sometimes after committing their atrocities rebels would say:
"Now go to the U.N. [United Nations]. They will provide limbs for
you."
Jalloh, speaking through an interpreter, said that Sierra Leone's war
"is not tribal and it is not religious. It is, simply, largely a war
over control of diamonds -- little pieces of rock that people around
the world like to wear on their fingers and hang from their ears. As
you can see, because of these rocks I no longer have an ear or five of
my fingers."
Saying he was not a politician, Jalloh added: "I am here to ask you to
do everything in your power to protect the youngest and most innocent
of God's creation from this terrible manifestation of man's worst
greed. For if you allow this new form of systematic and widespread
terrorism to be tolerated in Sierra Leone, it can happen again in some
other country in the future."
Asked if his people wanted the U.N. peacekeeping force, now numbering
about 13,000 troops, in Sierra Leone, Jalloh said: "Absolutely.
They've done a very good job. We welcome them."
For House International Relations Committee Chairman Ben Gilman, who
also attended the hearing, the Sierra Leoneans embodied "the power and
resilience of the human spirit. These children have been shockingly
abused and yet their will and their joy for life remain intact. Let us
learn from them to see their world as it is, rather than as we might
wish it to be, for it is our world as well. Let us leave for others
the high-sounding rhetoric of paper-thin peace accords and the
so-called 'mainstreaming' of rebel leaders, that instead we may
recognize the horror that continues to haunt their land."
The unfathomable cruelty of the RUF atrocities also could be seen in
the injuries they inflicted on two four-year-olds whose heads were
barely visible above the witness table. Memunatu Mansaray was just
2-1/2 when she encountered RUF troops, who cut off her arm in the town
of Kissy, during RUF's January 1999 invasion of Freetown. Her
companion, Mohamed Conteh, had his left leg and right foot cut off by
the rebels.
The sight provoked Senator John Kerry to say: "Every American should
take note of what is taking place here today. The thuggery and sheer
barbarism of what is happening [in Sierra Leone] ought to steer
everyone to work to bring it to an end."
The United States is the largest single donor of humanitarian aid to
Sierra Leone. Between 1991 and 1998, it provided more than $254
million in food, medical, and shelter assistance to those who were
victims of the conflict. In fiscal year 1999, the U.S. government
furnished almost $35 million in assistance, including funding for a
nationwide child tracing and assistance program.
The United States government has been in the political forefront as
well, bringing the Sierra Leonean crisis to the special attention of
the U.N. Security Council, which voted to send a peacekeeping force to
enforce provisions of a peace accord signed by RUF and the Sierra
Leone government in Lome last year. The United States has also
undertaken a partnership with the Nigerian government to train and
equip as many as five battalions of African ground forces to be used
as a peace-building force in the embattled nation.
Also present at the hearing were student representatives from St.
James and John School in the city of Baltimore, which raised $1,400 to
help pay for the Sierra Leoneans' air travel to the United States for
medical treatment.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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