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Civil War cont...

The Civil War

Kidnapped Child Soldiers

RUF

The Revolutionary United Front was lead and founded by ex-army corporal Forday Sankoh.

As the death tolls rose, people around the world were starting to realize what was really going on. They realized that when they were buying a diamond they were funding a civil war in Africa. Sierra Leone even tried to hire a private army to win the war, which they did until they left. The next major even was the signing of the Lome peace accord. Once the RUF broke this agreement later the UN and British forces stepped in and conquered the forces and arrested Sankoh for crimes against humanity.

The civil war began in 1991 when the RUF (Revolutionary United Front), invaded from Liberia and took control of the most eastern diamond mines because the corrupt government of Sierra Leone was keeping all the countries mineral wealth for themselves. From that point it became a long and brutal war. The RUF would use these "conflict diamonds" to buy arms and ammunition. The RUF used brutal tactics to amputate and mutilate civilians.

Blood Diamonds now

  • Once the international community took notice of what was happening, the UN place an embargo on all conflict Diamonds.
  • Nowadays in Sierra Leone, legalized diamond mining and selling has flourished.

Victims of RUF amptation

Conclusion

Blood Diamonds

Diamonds and human greed are ultimately what drove this horrible civil war.

A "blood diamond" is a diamond that is mined and sold out of a war zone, whose profit is used to finance military action.

Mining camp in Sierra Leone

What do blood diamonds have to do with Sierra Leone?

  • Diamonds were discovered in eastern Sierra Leone in the late 1870's.
  • Since the discovery it has produced even more than the previous leader India.
  • In the 1960's the illegal smuggling of diamonds started to flourish.
  • And by the 1990's it was even supported by the corrupt government.

Sierra Leone Blood Diamonds

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