Sierra LeoneDuring Sierra Leone’s civil war, child combatants armed with pistols, rifles, and machetes actively participated in killings and massacres, severed the arms of other children, participated in rapes, and beat and humiliated elderly people. Often under the influence of drugs, they were known and feared for their impetuosity, lack of control, and brutality. Human Rights Watch documented instances in which children recruited to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) were compelled to commit abuses under threat of death or as a result of being drugged. Abubakar, a 17 year old RUF child soldier demobilized in March 2000 was abducted outside the demobilization camp and forced to rejoin the RUF later that same year:
Abubakar and others were often forced to commit abuses. In Rogberi Junction, their commander ordered them to burn down the entire town after a counterattack on the RUF by government helicopters. He finally managed to sneak away from the RUF and return to the demobilization camp, which was evacuated to Freetown soon after. The RUF frequently gave their fighters drugs, marijuana, and alcohol. Many witnesses believe that most of the group’s atrocities were committed while fighters were under the influence of these substances. Lynette, 16, was abducted and held by the rebels for several days during which time she was given drugs in her food, and witnessed other abductees being lined up and injected with drugs. She recounted:
See: Getting Away with Murder, Mutilation, Rape: New Testimony from Sierra Leone, July 1999, http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/sierra/index.htm#TopOfPage and “Sierra Leone Rebels Forcefully Recruit Child Soldiers,” May 2000, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2000/05/31/sierra505.htm |