Black ops ii, being trained by cubans to fight in the civil war against the americanallied unita. Typically, this classification includes children serving in noncombatant roles such as cooks or messengers, as well as those serving in combatant roles. Orphaned by the civil war in sierra leone, ishmael beah told his own story in a long way. Some angolan child soldiers appear during the first level of call of duty. Childhood deployedexamines the reintegration of former child soldiers in sierra leone.
The rights group has documented abductions of children as recently as early may. The revolutionary united front ruf and child soldiers. War and the crisis of youth in sierra leone by krijn peters. In africa, child soldiers have fought or are fighting in angola, liberia. The narratives of the sierra leonean youth demonstrate that their life. Inside the war provides readers with an detailed overview of the 19912002 civil cluding descriptions of sierra leones culture and prewar history, a yearbyyear account.
Both the child soldiers and other children involved had lasting effects from the war, both physical and mental. A former child soldier imagines tomorrow in sierra leone. Conscription of teens who are probably raised to think of it as a rite of passage into the space police is a little different than most child soldiers. The three most senior surviving leaders, issa sesay, morris kallon and augustine gbao, were convicted in february 2009 of war. Child soldiers global report 2008 coalition to stop the. Jason cowley on african child soldiers books the guardian. Download file to see previous pages lightweight assault weapons increased these childrens lethality while others participated in politically motivated, though unstructured, violence like planting bombs or hurling rocks. Like these boys have no idea what a childs play is, childhood is an. Oct 25, 2012 the sierra leone civil war was the result of varied interactions between structural problems in sierra leone society which increased grievances among people and, accordingly, led to the emergence of the ruf. Children also served as messengers and porters, and young girls were. Exchild soldiers literary bestseller is factually flawed. Memoirs of a boy soldier 2007 is a memoir written by ishmael beah, an author from sierra leone. Children are chosen to be soldiers because they are easily manipulated. During the conflict, both the national army and the revolutionary united front ruf, a rebel group.
The dates dont add up, say critics of acclaimed book by orphaned survivor of sierra leones war. Beah ran away from his village at the age of 12 after it was attacked by rebels. Cambridge core comparative politics child soldiers by myriam denov. It later developed into a political party, which still exists today. Civil war broke out in sierra leone in 1991 and lasted more than a decade. In the 1990s, liberia was torn apart by a civil war in which child soldiers fought for the guerrilla leader charles taylor. Child soldiers in sierra leone refers to the roughly 10,00014,000 children who fought between 1991 and 2002 in the sierra leone civil war. Virtually unnoticed in the catalogue of horrors emanating from sierra leones brutal civil war is the forcible conscription of children. May 01, 2007 the child soldier, of sierra leone, who witnessed and committed war atrocities talks about his new book.
Child soldiers global report 2008 coalition to stop the use of child soldiers most child soldiers are between the ages of and 18, though many groups include children aged 12 and under. Child soldiers have been responsible for some of the most brutal and violent acts in wartime. He is a former child soldier whose account of being a cocaineaddicted killer forced to fight in sierra leones civil war was a literary sensation. In place of a text that has every right to be a diatribe against sierra leone, globalization or even himself, beah has produced a book of such selfeffacing humanity a long way gone transports us into the lives of thousands of children whose lives have been altered by war, and it does so with a genuine and disarmingly emotional force. The sole owner, financier, publisher and chief executive officer ceo is the rev. Civil war crippled sierra leone between 1991 and 2002, forcing the. Drawing upon indepth interviews and focus groups with former child soldiers of sierra leones rebel.
The ruf were the first to use child soldiers and the greatest violators of this crime throughout the civil war. Child soldiers in sierra leone 1488 words bartleby. The core of the book is made up of three chapters on different historical and geographical examples of conflict and different models of youth participation in political violence. Cocorioko is produced in somerset, franklin township, new jersey, usa and brookfields, freetown, sierra leone. To be a boy forced to bear arms in an adult conflict is to be a prisoner of war of a terrible kind. Nearly half of the revolutionary united front ruf, and a quarter of the governmental armed forces consisted of children aged 814 years old. From 1991 to 2002, sierra leone was embroiled in a devastating civil war, fought primarily between the revolutionary united front ruf and sierra leone army sla.
Their objective was to invade sierra leone, launch a guerilla war, and. The book provides a broad overview on child soldiering as a global phenomenon, an introduction to the civil war in sierra leone, and an. More than 300,000 soldiers under the age of 18 are fighting in conflicts in 41 countries around the world. In class, we have viewed two films representing the. Taking children out of war is simple compared to the task of taking war out of children and, as this book brilliantly demonstrates, it is a task for which we are all responsible. Child soldiers by myriam denov cambridge university press. Christian science monitor in place of a text that has every right to be a diatribe against sierra leone, globalization or even himself, beah has produced a book of such selfeffacing humanity that refugees, political fronts and even death squads resolve themselves back into the faces of mothers, fathers and siblings. Ishmael beah was born in 1980 in sierra leone, west africa. John maderesarah crichton booksfarrar, straus and giroux.
It is a very important contribution to our understanding of. Boys 42% were more likely than girls 28% to have been trained as soldiers. Exchild soldiers literary bestseller is factually flawed world news. Social studies sierra leone child soldiers dbq kestrels. Brutalised, warravaged and druggedup, the child soldiers of sierra leone and sudan have become a shocking symbol of todays violent. In sierra leone child soldiers committed acts of rape, mutilation and mass killings of civilians. Facts about child soldiers in sierra leone borgen project. The book deals with child soldiers in sierre leone in the 80s and 90s. Freetown the rebel revolutionary united front ruf of sierra leone is forcing children, including demobilized child soldiers, to join its ranks and engage in combat, human rights watch said today. The issue of child soldiers has become an increasing global concern. After a decadelong civil war, whose media images of ak47toting child soldiers and atrocities committed against civilians shocked a world already stunned by genocide in rwanda and the former yugoslavia, sierra leone. The book is a firsthand account of beahs time as a child soldier during the civil war in sierra leone 1990s. Child soldiers are no different from child criminals.
This book goes more deeply into an understanding of ruf fighters their beliefs and their atrocities than previous studies. Briefing notes about child soldiers in sierra leone in 1991, the revolutionary united front ruf attacked sierra leone in an attempt to obtain diamonds and. The rehabilitation of child soldiers in sierra leone in conflict resolution and peace education in africa, august 2003. Nowhere has this been more evident than in sierra leone during its 11year civil war. A former rebel of the revolutionary united front ruf of sierra leone gibril massaquoi, has been arrested in tampere, finland over an allegation that he committed war. The sierra leone civil war 19912002 was a civil war in sierra leone that began on 23 march 1991 when the revolutionary united front ruf, with support from the special forces of charles taylors national patriotic front of liberia npfl, intervened in sierra leone in an attempt to overthrow the joseph momoh government. The book deals with child soldiers in sierre leone in the 80s and. While the use of child soldiers is a widespread phenomenon in global conflicts, the case of sierra leone. Child soldiers sierra leones revolutionary united front comparative. The child soldier, of sierra leone, who witnessed and committed war atrocities talks about his new book. A former child soldier imagines tomorrow in sierra leone ishmael beah was 12 when he was orphaned by sierra leones civil war and recruited as a child soldier. Child soldiers is a remarkable insight into the inner workings of armed groups in sierra leones 19912002 war. Exchild soldiers literary bestseller is factually flawed the dates dont add up, say critics of acclaimed book by orphaned survivor of sierra leones war barbara mcmahon in sydney.
Here, firstperson interviews with female soldiers, interview data. Sierra leone rebel official arrested in finland over war. Although diamonds seemingly played a significant role in financing the war once it started, diamonds more likely contributed to corrupting. Ishmael beah, 26, went through that extraordinarily horrific struggle as a child in sierra leone. No one who reads this remarkable book about the making and unmaking of child soldiers in sierra leone will remain unchanged. Sierra leone, in particular, has struck an interest because of the many films and readings that try to depict this story of the civil war. If you are old enough to carry a gun, you are old enough to be a soldier tomodho amid the familys maize crop at his familys home in pibor, south sudan. A long way gone is one of the most important war stories of our generation. Female soldiers in sierra leone harvard university. Standing up for child survivors of sexual abuse in sierra. Based on eighteen months of participantobserver ethnographic fieldwork and ten years of followup research, the book. The sierra leone civil war 19912002 was a civil war in sierra leone that began on 23 march 1991 when the revolutionary united front ruf, with support from the special forces of. Hence, to the rebels of sierra leone, children were the perfect weapon for war. Sierra leone rebels forcefully recruit child soldiers.
Sierra leone is no place to be young the new york times. For child soldiers in sierra leone, there is no easy way. Comparable numbers of male and female former child soldiers were beaten, threatened with murder, shot, deprived of food, and forced to take drugs. Author, former child soldier and unicef advocate for children affected by war ishmael beah holds a baby girl during a visit to ola during childrens hospital in freetown. Girls and boys experienced almost equallyhigh rates of abuse by armed groups. Child soldiers in africa refers to the military use of children under the age of 18 by national armed forces or other armed groups in africa. The plight of children in sierra leone is well documented and studies. In what was once the poorest country on earth, the 11year civil war threw the lives of. After reading this book you will realize that inaction is no longer an option, we. A long way gone transports us into the lives of thousands of children whose lives have. But they describe a world of atrocities committed against children and sometimes by children. The term child soldier does not only include those who carry a gun and fight.
491 27 64 67 229 1071 1055 1146 1176 654 258 865 44 1453 923 946 1171 1322 713 706 1261 853 637 1008 1477 1205 109 1192 458 1168 1337 55 777 183 1103 1290