This study is focusing on the child soldiers in Sierra Leone since they were the principal elements who fought the war and had a major impact on the society. To a great extent the Revolutionary United Front and Sierra Leone Armed Forces approached and used similar policies towards child soldiers during the civil war from 1991 to 2002 such as the recruitment strategy, daily activities and living conditions. However differences were present concerning the goals and motivation of both units. In 1991, the country of Sierra Leone erupted into a civil war between two opposing units. It is on March 23rd, 1991, that the Revolutionary United Front attempted a coup d’etat on the government of Joseph Momoh, Sierra Leone’s president putting the country into peril (Pariona).The coup allowed the Revolutionary United Front to start taking control of areas such as Mattru Jong, Kamator, Mogbwemo and Bonthe District (Beah 3). The belligerents of the war were the Revolutionary United Front and the Sierra Leone Armed Forces which throughout the war made great use of the child soldiers to fight for them. A child soldier is a child under the age of 18 which was either recruited or abducted by an armed group. Child soldiers ended up being involved in acts of violence with weapons and take upon adult tasks such as spying, suicide bombing, cooking and sexual acts. The Revolutionary United Front, a group of armed rebels were determined on taking over Sierra Leone’s government in order to obtain natural resources since Sierra Leone was rich in diamond mines, political and financial power by launching a guerrilla war (Shepler). After the end of the Cold War in 1991, Sierra Leone which had been relying on the Soviet Union and the United Stated for financial support and the education of children dropped. Sierra Leone was a very undeveloped country and was going through a very slow economic growth. The rebels saw this as an advantage and economic opportunity which is why children were the direct target. Their education was very limited and they were cheap which didn’t require rebels to spend big amounts of money. The Revolutionary United Front made first use of children through abduction. The Sierra Leone Armed Forces in response to the guerrilla attack decided also to make use of child soldiers but through forms of recruitment. Children were recruited or abducted to fight in the civil war was mainly because they were easy to manipulate and didn’t require heavy financial resources especially for the Revolutionary United Front. Children ended up being extremely valuable for both units since they composed the majority of the team and fulfilled adult duties. Throughout the war, around 6000 children were conscripted to the war (Denov). The Revolutionary Front kept on growing in strength which became a national problem for the country and the Sierra Leone army which was also weak in infrastructure. Children were therefore perceived as ‘Weapons of Choice’ by both units (Da Silva).
Recruitment and goals for child soldiers
To a great extent the recruitment of child soldiers was similar between the Revolutionary United Front and the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. Both units applied similar strategies which were caused by different reasons. Sierra Leone was a country that economically wasn’t doing well. With the war beginning, children were the only cheap source for armed groups to have fighters. This was due to a poor political system and failed education system which was the consequence of the end of the Cold War (Dudenhoefer). In 1991, Sierra Leone couldn’t rely anymore on the United States and the Soviet Union which for many years was helping with financial support (Dudenhoefer). Education was therefore limited, resulting for some children not being able to access school anymore. Children ended up playing in the streets which was a perfect location for vulnerable children to be abducted by rebels. The Revolutionary United Front used the vulnerability of children to change their worldview perceptions which was changed by a more extremist point of view with a radical political organization (Vellaccio). This led to children being influenced very fast which resulted in the development of a child into a soldier which later on would commit atrocities and have their childhood taken away for good. The armed group of rebels abducted children under the age of 7 with the purpose of turning them into soldiers that would eventually torture and kill (Goodwin). The Sierra Leone Armed Forces performed differently with it came to the causes of recruitment for child soldiers. Child soldiers were going to fight by the side of adults with practice. Since it was Sierra Leone’s army duty to fight the rebels, gathering up as many citizens as possible would perhaps show unity which could eventually be successful. The children were intended to join the armed forces through their own willingness to fight the rebels. If they weren’t volunteering, they would end up being recruited by the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. The reasons for the recruitment of child soldiers from the Sierra Leone Armed Forces is that they wanted a complete eradication of the rebels that was terrorising the country. People were being killed, burned, tortured and raped. The recruitment of children would maximize their forces by also showing sign of patriotism and loyalty to the country. The causes of the recruitment policy for child soldiers were by far different for the Revolutionary United Front and the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. However their recruitment strategies were very ressemblent one to another.
Both the Revolutionary United Front and Sierra Leone Armed Forces used similar recruiting strategies by playing with the emotions of children that were dealing with family losses and destruction of infrastructure due to the war in order for the adult fighters to obtain what they wanted (Maclay). Rebels played with the emotions of children since many of them had lost family members in riots and attacks on villages which had been committed by the rebels themselves (Vellaccio). Rebels took advantage of the vulnerability of children and their innocence in order to be perceived as the good person. The person that would presume to be the ‘existing model of education’ which later on in the eyes of child soldiers would fill in the void of their losses (Vellaccio). Rebels were practically selling themselves as the new family members of small children which had lost everything. More lies coming from the rebels mouths assured the survival of children. The Revolutionary United Front explicitly stated to the youngsters that by joining them they were assured to survive (Maclay). If they were to refuse, death would of been the next stop. By fear and incomprehension, young children immediately chose joining the rebels. There was no other solution apart from death. Another strategy used by the rebels which still played with the emotions and naivete of children was to trick them. Many children out of the ones who weren’t abducted were tricked into believing that the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front had magic powers which eventually would lead them to a better life (Chennery). Children kept on being absorbed into the lies of the rebels which sometimes still had bad consequences for the children which would end up being beaten. In the case of civilians, once children were recruited, threat was guaranteed. Every civilian in villages and towns were living with fear, never knowing when an attack could occur. In very similar ways to the Revolutionary United Front, the Sierra Leone Armed Forces policy concerning the recruitment strategy of child soldiers during the war, was to take advantage of the trauma that children were dealing with, which resulted in them playing with their emotions (Vellaccio). The government's force recruited children or even asked children to volunteer fight in the war, since for them it was normal to be patriotic and fight evil. The government’s force used manipulation as a main strategy to gain recruits (Beah). Terrible memories were brought back to children concerning the relatives when they would mention the atrocities committed by the rebels. Ishmael Beah was an alibi of the situation since himself was recruited by the Sierra Leone Armed Forces when he was fleeing his village after a rebel attack. He is extremely valuable to my investigation since he is a primary source with his book, since he was a child soldier recruit during the civil war. Ishmael exposes the war and its cruelties in his book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier that allowed for more in depth in my research. Beah recalls a saying that a Sierra Leone Army officer remarked when he was recruiting children we he said ‘This is your time to revenge the deaths of your families and make sure more children do not lose their families’ (188). The officer was firing up the children with anger and no pity. For them the only reason to join the Army would not necessarily be to fight for their country but most importantly avenge their parents and brothers deaths. Killings and torture of the rebels from the children of the Army was the cause of their participation. Once recruited, children needed to be formed into warriors. The Army taught children how to use weapons and what their purpose was. The chiefs of the Army would give lessons to the children in order to maximize their chances of defeating the rebels, especially if an ambush were to occur (Vellaccio). The way the performed was hiding in bushes in order to prepare for an ambush. The Revolutionary United Front also performed exactly in that way when preparing for an attack on a village and innocent citizens. Children were taught to use weapons such as AK – 47 rifles through demonstrations on trees and models in order to see their potential and effect on the future victim (Vellaccio). Similar to the Sierra Leone Armed Forces, the rebels made psychological hardening exercises part of the training once recruited. Both units had no ethics put into place with the one and only focus, to kill (Vellaccio). Children were used as puppets, since so many had ended up being alone and made good use for the adult soldiers. Their policies of recruitment strategy was extremely similar by playing with the mindset of children. Once recruited and a former child soldier, duties for each individual came into place.
Daily activities and living conditions of child soldiers
To a great extent the lives of child soldiers from both units had a similar policy when it came to their daily routine which were divided in domestic and combat activities. Once a child was conscripted to the war, his life took an unpleasant turn which divided up their daily routine between domestic activities such as cooking and combat activities such as murder. Girls were mainly involved in the domestic activities for the Revolutionary United Front as well as the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. For both units their policy involving conscripted girls was the same. Girls had the greatest responsibility when it came to the acts in kitchen. They would prepare and cook meals for the men who had just been at war. Their duty was also to do the laundry of everyone and wash the dishes (Denov). Some men would simply qualify them as unpaid mades. Young girls didn’t have the choice of revolting against this. It was their duty to work for the armies, if they wanted a minimum of care and assure their chances of survival. In the Sierra Leone Armed Forces, girls had the duty to take care of the younger boys to fill in the role of a women since most of them had lost their mother. For this factor, the Revolutionary United Front didn’t care that much about taking care of a child’s education since to some extent they were the ones who took away the education of children in Sierra Leone. The Revolutionary United Front was particularly rough with women concerning domestic activities. Girls were also present for mens pleasure which resulted in many girls being raped during that time period. Sexual slavery was a very popular domestic activity in which men took often part in (Denov). One of Ishmael friend’s which was captured by the Revolutionary United Front was forced to have intercourse with his mother if he wanted to spare both of their lives (Beah 177). This reflected one of the many horrors that children had to do by obligation from elders with more power. Rebels envisioned that being horrendous would make them even more powerful, almost under a form of terrorism. Some girls would reflect the power of a rebel once she became a ‘wife’ (Denov). Rebels saw this as enjoyment and a form of loyalty concerning girls while actually they were afraid for their lives. The Sierra Leone Armed Forces didn’t make use of girls in that way as a habit but many of them were assaulted discreetly. When it came to boys involved in domestic activities, their duties weren’t as deadly as the ones who participated in combat activities. They were in charge of fetching firewood, go to the river to pick up buckets of water to allow citizens of villages to wash themselves, cook and drink (Denov). Some of them helped out the fighters as assistants by carrying the munitions of the combatants (Denov). The Sierra Leone Armed Forces divided its troupe in two, to have a steady balance between combat and domestic activities. Boys who were selected in the domestic activities tended to be weaker than the others, this was in fact quickly determined by a Sierra Leone commander’s just by eyesight when recruiting boys. However, some recruits that seemed to be special to commanders took part in both roles which is why gradually through the war, some children were promoted into higher positions such as the leader of his unit including him in combat activities (Beah 125).
The combat activities that both units put in place separately to a great extent were similar since they used many methods in common to defeat one another. The combat activities were the most important and significant activity that a child could participate in. Children turned into soldiers were fighting for their army in order to achieve a goal. The Revolutionary United Front goal which drove their dreadful actions was to take over Sierra Leone’s government and resources. Since the Sierra Leone Armed Forces got involved in order to defeat them, wrecking the government's army was also part of the agenda if their main goal was to be achieved. The Sierra Leone Armed Forces goal was simple, consisting of a complete eradication of rebels which were traumatising and destroying the country. Even though, they both had different goals, their policy of combat activities involving child soldiers were very ressemblent. Frontline fighting was one of the most common strategies used by both units along with ambushing (Denov). Through frontline fighting, units were showing how powerful they were by advancing the closest to their opponent. This was mainly driven by a sense of nationalism. Children were taught through little education how to frontline fight which is why ambushing resulted also in more effective. The Revolutionary United Front made great use of guerrilla style tactics inspired by Maoist models then the Sierra Leone Armed Forces did since they didn’t have as sophisticated material as them (Vellaccio). Sierra Leone villages which were targeted by the rebels and protected by the government’s army were often near to high vegetation either being it a field of a particular crop or a forest. Therefore the landscape of the country was an advantage to both units which performed similarly through ambushing on regular basis in the forest. Trees were a great way for child soldiers of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces and Revolutionary United Front to spy on their opponent which would classify them on a spying mission either to ear drop on a next attack or simply wait for the right moment to attack (Denov). Combat activities of child soldiers were significantly aggressive and gruesome that resulted in huge war crimes from both units. The Revolutionary United Front throughout the war was known for their no mercy killings. Thousands of people had been decapitated or amputated of their legs, ears, arms and even sometimes lips which resulted in mutilations (Pariona). A very common area of amputation from the child soldiers abducted by the Revolutionary United Front was to make a limb amputation on an elder man (Vellaccio). Men were very targetted for that area because if their limb was gone, they would not have anymore household power (Vellaccio). Children were very significant in this area of combat since they were the ones to perform the amputations, this leading to the whole population to start fearing children and losing trust for everything. This was one very negative effect of the war. In Sierra Leone, respecting elders and having good behavior was mandatory but since the war had started, people started changing and society started targeting children as murders since they reminded them of all of the massacres (Beah 33). The Sierra Leone Armed Forces used cruel tactics on the rebels that were similar to theirs. The government’s army would take pride and enjoyment by killing a rebel which had dishonored its country. Ishmael which was recruited by the Army remembers a commander saying to him : ‘Visualize the enemy, the rebels who killed your parents, our family, and those who are responsible for everything that has happened to you’ (Beah 112). For children which were the ones committing the highest number of crimes, this was a form of motivation for them in which the commanders used great pleasure to play with their mindset. Young child soldiers of the government and the rebels committed high crimes which were completely against the Geneva Convention which was established in 1949 in order establish human rules during a war (Sesay). These war crimes were driven by the living conditions that child soldiers were confronted to live with, if hope for survival. The population was drowned into bloodshed. Blood was present on every corner, every avenue and street reflecting the atrocities committed by both units during the civil war.
The domestic and combat activities of child soldiers from both units to a great extent were were similar since their living conditions were very ressemblent in the way the adults decided to treat the children. The living conditions of child soldiers during the war is the factor which is the most ressemblent between the two belligerents of the war. Adults made an extensive use of drugs on children which started affecting their mental and physical conditions (Denov). The Sierra Leone Armed Forces although was against the rebels and their way of dealing with children, used the approach of drugs and war to transform the children. Child soldiers of both units were confronted to smoke marijuana and other drugs such as sniffing brown brown and cocaine with gunpowder (Beah 121). Sniffing brown brow was the most used drug by the government’s army but both units made great use of marijuana on children. Drugs were the favorite method of ‘indoctrination’ for both units since it didn’t require much effort. The drug would eventually do its job. In order to emphasize the effect on the mind, war movies were brought in handy to give a demonstration of what an actual war looks like (Beah 124). Since the children were introduced to drugs and watching war movies, there was very little understanding of the seriousness of situation. Watching those types of movies and taking drugs became exciting and a daily routine. Lynette a 16 year old abducted by the rebels remembers that they would put powder in her food and that shortly after she would feel dizzy (Human Rights Watch). Humans Rights Watch is a valuable source since it provides me with different perspectives of children in Sierra Leone during the war, however it also has a limitation which consist of not having a specific author that gathered up all of that information, which to some extent limits his credibility. Unconsciousness through drugs for girls was a great way for rebels to commit rape. This was a hidden form of training for the innocent children that soon were transformed into killing machines since they had also been completely brainwashed (Beah 135). The child soldiers living conditions were focused on intimidation, drugs and trauma (Vellaccio). Both units used drugs as way to play with the conscious of children individually by reminding the death of parents in order to push them to commit crimes also be perceived as the ‘New Father’ (Vellaccio). The Sierra Leone Armed Forces and Revolutionary United Front used harsh manners to obtain what they wanted. The Revolutionary United Front would tattoo the initials of ‘RUF’ on the chest of fighters in order for the children to understand clearly who they belong to (Maclay). Commanders of both units made similar daily demonstrations of killings even though children had already access to war movies. A young fighter abducted by the Revolutionary United Front remembers a particularly gruesome scene where a woman prisoner got her neck hacked with the machete, and her child being killed in the same way (Sesay). Children were transformed in that way in order to help adults fight a war when in fact the Sierra Leone civil war turned into a child’s war, where children were the one committing the highest crimes and tortures under the orders of elders (De Hoyos). The living conditions of a child soldier were only behind the scenes which meant that civilians weren’t able to understand why the changement in behavior of children was so negatively radical. Both units had such hate towards one another that taking into consideration the life of a child wasn’t a priority. Many children were beaten even though they hadn’t done anything bad by commanders as a way to make them very angry and envious which eventually would be numbed by all of the killings (Vellaccio). Very often when a child went to war he was under under the influence of drugs which is why children were immune to killing (Hedkvist).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the child soldiers policies adopted by the Revolutionary United Front and Sierra Leone Armed Forces during the Sierra Leone civil war which started in 1991 and ended in 2002 were to a great extent similar. Nevertheless, both units had differences in terms of their goals once the war began and the causes of the recruitment. Their policies concerning child soldiers were similar throughout the whole war including the living conditions children dealt with through the usage of drugs, intimidation and trauma such as beatings which were meant to prepare them for war and immune to all of their killings. Their daily activities were divided into domestic and combat activities which were similar. Girls in both units were mainly useful in the kitchen and sadly also for men’s pleasure which resulted in many girls being raped and assaulted throughout the war in both units. The boys who didn’t participate in the combat activities were often classified as the weaker, unable to fight a war which is why they were the one to go fetch wood and water, even carry munitions for another child soldier while he was going to war. When it came to combat activities, both units had very similar approaches and methods of attacking one another. Ambushing was very common which had at first initiated with the Revolutionary United Front by using a guerrilla style approach. Throughout my investigation I had many sources which were either primary or secondary that helped me complete my investigation. The primary source that was the most valuable to me was the book of Ishmael Beah which was himself a child soldier recruit of the government’s army allowing me to go into depth about the conditions and live of a child soldier during the Sierra Leone civil war. I had numerous secondary sources such as the investigation of Denov and Vellaccio which were valuable since they covered all the important factors involving the children during the war such as their living conditions, recruitment strategy, aim of both groups, their training and the war crimes. Both resources allowed to understand all the phases of the war involving children. The limitation of both sources is that they were of descriptive nature, therefore allowing me to have no examples of their detailed descriptions.