SUMMARY

The one-party governments of Sierra Leone, and also the various military regimes that have held power since the country’s independence, have all made use of varying degrees of repression against the civilian population. The governments have sought to silence the democratic opposition, the press and other dissidents through violent means.

From the start until the end of the Government of Sierra Leone's armed conflict with the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) (see Government of Sierra Leone - RUF), and the many military defeats that followed, civilians have also been harassed and attacked by undisciplined and disloyal elements of Sierra Leone’s armed forces. These elements have sometimes collaborated and colluded with rebel forces, for reasons of looting, plunder and self-enrichment.

The Government of Sierra Leone is however not recorded as a one-sided actor until 1997, when government power is seized in a coup by the AFRC (Armed Forces Revolutionary Council), working together with the RUF. Following on this coup the AFRC/RUF junta made moves to solidify its hold on power, killing civilians it deemed to be supportive of the democratically elected President Kabbah, as well as taking part in acts of gratuitous violence. It is likely that the preceding military regimes in Sierra Leone also killed more than 25 civilians in one calendar year, but the lack of reliable news reporting makes it difficult to determine beyond a doubt that this was so.

The Government of Sierra Leone first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1991, when the one-sided violence resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in July that year when government forces killed 44 civilians in Momajo village, claiming that they were RUF and NPFL supporters.