Abstract
The Sierra Leonean civil war was exceptionally brutal; during the conflict, in this small country with just over 6 million inhabitants, an estimated 70,000 people lost their lives and 2.6 million were displaced.1 The war became known for widespread atrocities, including forced recruitment of child soldiers and extensive incidents of rape, sexual slavery and amputations of limbs. In addition to the outward manifestations of violence, the conflict left less tangible but still pervasive legacies. Incidents of localised violence caused deep rifts within many communities, and, in politically marginalised areas, state violence reinforced the mistrust of political institutions and government structures. As many combatants were disenfranchised youth, the conflict featured a high degree of violence targeted against specific authority figures, made relations between generations more fraught and tore apart the social fabric.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
M. Kaldor (2006) ‘Case-Study; Sierra Leone. Evaluation of UNDP Assistance to Conflict-Affected Countries’ (New York: United Nations Development Programme), p. 6.
W. Schabas (2003) ‘The Relationship between Truth Commissions and International Courts: The Case of Sierra Leone’, Human Rights Quarterly 25(4), 1035–1066.
W. Schabas (2012) ‘Partners in the Search for Truth: The Truth Commission and the Special Court’, Studies in Transnational Legal Policy 45, 155–170.
C. C. Jalloh (ed.) (2014) The Sierra Leone Special Court and Its Legacy: The Impact for Africa and International Criminal Law (New York: Cambridge University Press), p. 5.
See R. Shaw (2005) ‘Rethinking Truth and Reconciliation Commissions: Lessons from Sierra Leone’, Special Report, United States Institute of Peace, p. 8.
R. Shaw (2002) Memories of the Slave Trade: Ritual and the Historical Imagination in Sierra Leone (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
T. Kelsall (2005) ‘Truth, Lies, Ritual: Preliminary Reflections on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone’, Human Rights Quarterly 27(2), 361–391
and T. Kelsall (2009) Culture Under Cross Examination: International Justice and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
For instance, S. Buckley-Zistel, T. Koloma Beck, C. Braun and F. Mieth (eds) (2013) Transitional Justice Theories (London: Routledge);
P. de Greiff (2012) ‘Theorising Transitional Justice’, in M. S. Williams, R. Nagy and J. Elster (eds) Transitional Justice (New York: New York University Press), pp. 31–77;
R. Teitel (2011) Humanity’s Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
R. Shaw and L. Waldorf (eds) (2010) Localizing Transitional Justice: Interventions and Priorities after Mass Violence (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press).
C. Sriram (2004) Confronting Past Human Rights Violations: Justice vs. Peace in Times of Transition (New York: Frank Cass).
See also R. Kerr and E. Mobekk (2007) Peace and Justice: Seeking Accountability after War (London: Polity Press).
R. Mac Ginty (2011) International Peacebuilding and Local Resistance. Rethinking Peace and Conflict (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
See also O. P. Richmond (2009) ‘Eirenism and a Post-Liberal Peace’, Review of International Studies 35(3), 557–580.
See, for instance, P. Gready, J. Boesten, G. Crawford and P. Wilding (2010) ‘Transformative Justice — A Concept Note’, available at: http://www.wun.ac.uk/ fles/transformative_justice_-_concept_note_web_version.pdf; P. Gready and S. Robins (2014) ‘From Transitional to Transformative Justice: A New Agenda for Practice’, International Journal of Transitional Justice 8(3), 339–361.
R. Mani (2007) Beyond Retribution: Seeking Justice in the Shadows of War (Cambridge and Maldon, MA: Polity Press), p. 18.
Kelsall, ‘Truth, Lies, Ritual’; and R. Shaw (2010) ‘Linking Justice with Reintegration? Excombatants and the Sierra Leone Experiment’, in Shaw and Waldorf (eds) Localizing Transitional Justice.
See E. Brahm (2007) ‘Uncovering the Truth: Examining Truth Commissions Success and Impact’, International Studies Perspectives 8, 28–29.
For instance, L. Gberie (2005) A Dirty War in West Africa: The RUF and the Destruction of Sierra Leone (London: Hurst);
D. Harris (2013) Sierra Leone: A Political History (London: Hurst);
M. D. Jackson (2004) In Sierra Leone (Durham: Duke University Press);
W. Reno (1995) Corruption and State Politics in Sierra Leone (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press);
P. Richards (1996) Fighting for the Rainforest: War, Youth and Resources in Sierra Leone (Oxford: International African Institute). The Sierra Leonean TRC report also offers an outstanding history of the domestic antecedents of the civil war and of the effects of the Conflict on Sierra Leone.
K. Manson and J. Knight (2009) Sierra Leone (Chalfont St Peter: Bradt Travel Guides). See also Harris, Sierra Leone.
C. Fyfe (1962) A Short History of Sierra Leone (London: Longmans, Green and Co), p. 12.
C. Mahony (2003) Access to Justice for the Ordinary Citizen in Sierra Leone, Paper presented at the National Democratic Institute Governance workshop, Freetown.
M. Mamdani (1996) Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism (London: Fountain, David Philip & James Currey).
F. Cooper (2002) Africa Since 1940, The Past of the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
See also W. Reno (1997) ‘Privatizing War in Sierra Leone’, Current History 96(610), 227–230.
TRC Report, Vol. 2, pp. 46, 65, 79; D. Keen (2005) Conflict and Collusion in Sierra Leone (Oxford: James Curry), p. 25.
National Long-Term Perspective Studies (2008) ‘Principles, Methodology and Application in Sierra Leone’, available at: http://www.uniqueservers.net/vision2025/chapter2.doc
TRC Report, Vol. 3A, p. 79; P. Griffiths (2003) The Economist’s Tale (London: Zed Books).
National Long-Term Perspective Studies, Principles, Methodology and Application; Quirk et al. (1987) Floating Exchange Rates in Developing Countries: Experience with Auction and Interbank Markets (Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund);
J. Weeks (1992) Development Strategy and the Economy of Sierra Leone (New York: St. Martin’s Press), p. 133; Keen, Conflict and Collusion, p. 26.
TRC Report, Vol. 2, pp. 12–14. Chris Mahony co-authored the TRC Report chapter ‘The historical antecedents to the Conflict’. See also Keen, Conflict and Collusion; I. Abdullah (2004) Beyond Greed: Memo on the Sierra Leone Conflict, Paper prepared for conference on The Economic Analysis of Conflict: Problems and Prospects, Washington, DC, 19–20 April.
TRC Report, Vol. 3A, pp. 187, 197, 203; D. Francis (1999) ‘Mercenary Intervention in Sierra Leone: Providing National Security or International Exploitation?’, Third World Quarterly 20(2), 319–338.
C Avant (2005) The Market for Force: The Consequences of Privatizing Security (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 85;
A. Vines (1999) ‘Gurkhas and the Private Security Business in Africa’, in J. Cilliers and P. Mason (eds) Peace, Profit or Plunder? The Privatization of Security in War-Torn African Societies (Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies), p. 130.
EO deployed 150 to 200 men and a helicopter gunship; see P. Singer (2003) Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press), p. 104; Keen, Conflict and Collusion, p. 151; Francis, ‘Mercenary Intervention’, pp. 319–338; TRC Report, Vol. 3B, p. 68.
I. Douglas (1999) ‘Fighting for Diamonds — Private Military Companies in Sierra Leone’, in Cilliers and Mason (eds) Peace, Profit or Plunder, pp. 179–180.
UN (1997) Report of the Secretary General on Sierra Leone, S/1997/80, 7; L. Gberie (1997) ‘The May 25 Coup d’Etat in Sierra Leone: A Militariat Revolt?’, Africa Development 22(3&4), p. 159.
C. Schocken (2002) ‘The Special Court for Sierra Leone: Overview and Recommendations’, Berkeley Journal of International Law 20, p. 436.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2015 Kirsten Ainley, Rebekka Friedman and Chris Mahony
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ainley, K., Friedman, R., Mahony, C. (2015). Transitional Justice in Sierra Leone: Theory, History and Evaluation. In: Ainley, K., Friedman, R., Mahony, C. (eds) Evaluating Transitional Justice. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137468222_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137468222_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-69147-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-46822-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Intern. Relations & Development CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)