The United Nations Mission In Sierra Leone - Essay Example

? UNAMSIL: A Success Story in Peacekeeping UNAMSIL: A Success Story in Peacekeeping Introduction United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was established in response to the turmoil in the country that lasted for 11 years. The major mandate of the mission was to disarm the fighters and enforce the terms outlined by the Lome Peace Agreement. Unlike the other efforts in resolving the conflict, UNAMSIL came with a serious military power. 1 In order to understand and evaluate the success of UNAMSIL, this paper will provide a brief background of the conflict and thereafter give a detailed account of the success story of this peacekeeping mission. This Sierra Leone conflict began after the fighters of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front (NPF) started an assault on the east of Sierra Leone back in March 1991, just a few kilometers from the common border with Liberia. 2 The aim of the attack was to overthrow the government of Joseph Momoh. Sierra Leone army tried to defend the government with the support of Military Observer Group (ECOMOG). However, the following year the government army overthrew Momoh’s government. Despite the change of guard in Sierra Leone, the RUF continued its assault. This conflict lasted for 11 years and left an estimated of over 75,000 people dead and thousands of others were subjected to brutal treatment such as rape, amputations, mutilations, and sexual slavery, among other atrocities. 3 At the beginning of 1995, the UN Secretary General appointed Mr. Berhanu Dinka, an Ethiopian national to help broker a peaceful settlement in Sierra Leone. 4 Dinka worked with the help of the Organization of African Union (OAU) and Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) to resolve this conflict and bring the country back to civilian rule. Mr. Dinka’s effort, together with ECOWAS and OAU, seemed to bear fruit as of February 1996, just a year after the war. Parliamentary and presidential elections were held, and the army ceded power to the winner, Alhaji Dr. Ahmed Tejan Kabbah. However, RUF refused to take part in the elections and declined to recognize Mr. Kabbah’s win. Their refusal to participate or accept the presidential and parliamentary election fuelled the war further. 5 In November 1996, Mr. Dinka, with the help of OAU and ECOWAS, assisted in the negotiation of peace agreement between the government and RUF, commonly known as the Abidjan Accord. 6 However, the accord was not implemented immediately as it was derailed by another coup d’etat 6 months later. At this time, the army also joined RUF and formed a ruling junta, forcing the president and his government to seek asylum in Guinea. A new Special Envoy tried to persuade the military junta to cede power, but he failed. This forced the United Nations Council to impose sanctions on the rulers and allowed ECOWAS to implement the embargo using its military wing. 7 On October 23, 1997, a sub-committee of ECOWAS dealing with Sierra Leone met a delegation of the junta and held talks in Conakry, which led to the signing of a peace deal. This deal called for a ceasefire that was to be monitored by ECOMOG together with the UN military observers. On November 5, 1997, President Kabbah provided a communique accepting the new deal and said his government would work with ECOWAS, ECOMOG, UN, and the UNHCR to implement the new deal. However, although the junta said it was committed to the agreement, it criticized some provisions of the agreement. This brought many questions than answers and as a result, the agreement was not implemented. 8 Due to continued conflict between the rebels and the government, the UN Security Council gave nod for the establishment UNAMSIL (United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone). The mandate of the mission was to help the government and the rebels to honor the Lome Peace Agreement. On February 7, 2000, the Security Council revised the mandate of UNAMSIL by adding more tasks. The military component was increased from 6,000 to 11,000. In addition, the council authorized increase in civil activities, support for police, administrative assistance, as well as technical support as specified by the UN Secretary General. 9 UNAMSIL is a good example of successful mission of bringing peace and order in a country devastated by war. 10 The mission also serves as an example for the United Nations initiatives for peace-building efforts across the world. Within the course of its duty, the Mission was able to achieve several victories including disarming ex-fighters and reorganizing the police force. In addition, the Mission was able to rehabilitate infrastructure that had been destroyed by war, and it brought government services to local communities. Further, UNAMSIL was able to assist in holding national elections and put a stop to illegal trade in diamonds. At the time of the war, rebel fighters used money from the sale of “blood” or “conflict” diamonds to buy weapons, which exacerbated the conflict. 11 It is important to note that the Mission seemed not to succeed because at one point in May 2000, it almost collapsed after rebel Revolutionary United Front kidnapped and took hostage about 500 UNAMSIL peacekeepers from Zambia in Makeni and deserted the ceasefire. 12 Several groups in Sierra Leone organized demonstrations in Freetown, calling for the immediate release of the peacekeepers. RUF soldiers, under the command of Foday Sankoh, opened fire and killed 21 demonstrators. This action caused Sanko to run away, but he was captured ten days later and imprisoned. Other representatives of RUF were also arrested, effectively bringing the end of the power sharing agreement less than a year after it was signed. This turn of events brought to question the credibility of the peacekeepers and the Mission as well. 13 Outraged by the turn of events in Sierra Leone, the international community together with the UN put more pressure on the rebels to honor the agreement. A ban was also placed on RUF financiers. Shortly afterwards, UNAMSIL started a new mediation effort that brought the two rivals back to the negotiating table. Consequently, the Mission brought in extra troops to supervise the ceasefire while at the same time disarming fighter from the two camps. The United Kingdom took the responsibility of reorganizing the army. The UK has played an important role as it took responsibility of restoring peace after RUF disowned the ceasefire. On the other hand, UNAMSIL, together with other international organizations took part in the training and organizing of the police force. 14 The efforts of UNAMSIL at disarming the fighters were clearly fruitful, since as of 2002 more than 75,000 fighters had surrendered their firearms. 15 The government announced an end to the war. After restoring order in the country, the next step for the Mission was to organize the country’s general election. The Mission provided logistical and public information support throughout Sierra Leone, which led to the first ever free and fair elections in the country. Two years after the elections, the Mission also provided support to the local government elections. The Mission can be said to have been extremely successful as it completed its duties as assigned by the UN Security Council. 16 Because of its effort, over 500,000 refugees as well as internally displaced persons were able to return to their homes without being pushed or being persuaded. It also helped the government start functioning well. The government was able to exercise its authority and provide services to areas that had been previously controlled by the rebels. In addition, the Mission was able to provide training to the police force. UNAMSIL also constructed various police stations and reconstructed others that had been destroyed by the rebels. This indeed was a remarkable achievement for the Mission. 17 The Mission did not stop after building and training the police force. UNAMSIL conducted monitoring and training sessions on human rights for the people of Sierra Leone. The Mission was also instrumental in the establishment of the Special Court of Sierra Leone. The special court was expected to try the people who were most responsible for the 11-year-old war. After the major conflict, it is important that people come together and seek reconciliation and forgiveness or amnesty. Indeed, the Mission was helpful in helping the Sierra Leone government establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that was mandated to seek ways of healing the wounds brought about by the war. This effort bore fruit as it helped bring together the victims and the perpetrators of worst cases of human rights violations to seek reconciliation. 18 The efforts of UNAMSIL in bringing the country back to normalcy are indeed inspiring. This is because the Mission conducted several projects aimed at assisting the country recover after the war. The Mission, in collaboration with several UN bodies, launched numerous income generating activities that would see thousands of jobless people start earning a living. Ex-fighters were now able to work and support their families. In addition, the Mission reconstructed schools, clinics and raised funds for agricultural activities. Far-flung areas also benefited from medical campaigns sponsored by the Mission. 19 Although UNAMSIL did a lot of work in the construction of Sierra Leone, the country still faced many difficulties. The country was still fragile and needed to take strong actions to deal with the root causes that led to the war. Moreover, the country needed to take concrete steps to instill a culture of respect for human rights. Another challenge was that the country still relied heavily on donor funding. In addition, a disproportionate amount of income derived from mining of diamond still went to the wrong hands instead of going to the government’s coffers. On the other hand, several thousand of youth, despite reintegration efforts, were still without any meaningful employment. In summary, the restoration of peace and harmony had still to show tangible economic returns and social benefits to millions of the poor people. 20 Faced with this reality, the UN Security Council brought in a new mission—the United Nations Integrated Office for Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL). The mandate of this new mission was to assist in the consolidation of peace in Sierra Leone. The mandate of the new mission was to cement UNAMSIL’s gains and assist the government to reinforce and strengthen its human rights record. The mission was also mandated to work with the government to help it realize the Millennium Development goals and improve transparency. 21 Works Cited Aedebajo, Adekeye. Liberia’s Civil War: Nigeria, ECOMONG, and Regional Security in West Africa. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002. Bernath, Clifford, and Sayre Nyce. Refugees International: Report on the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone. (October 2002). Accessed October 30, 2011. http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/73A45C6906FE65D185256C56006E104C-ri-sil-18oct.pdf. Binningsbo, Helga Malmin, and Kendra Dupuy. Power Sharing and the Civil War in Sierra Leone. (September 6, 2009) : 1-17. Accessed October 30, 2011. http://www.svt.ntnu.no/iss/helga.binningsbo/card/Binningsbo_Dupuy_Aegis_October09.pdf. Ibrahim, Abdullah. Between Democracy and Terror: the Sierra Leone Civil War. Dakar: Council for the development of Social Science Research in Africa, (2004). Joshi, VV. United Nations mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL): Medical deployment and experiences. Ind J Aerospace Med 47, no, 1 (2003) : 51-62. Accessed October 30, 2011. http://medind.nic.in/iab/t03/i1/iabt03i1p51.pdf. Thusi, Thokozani, and Sarah Meek. Disarmament and Demobilisation (n.d.), 23-38. Accessed October 29, 2011. http://www.iss.co.za/pubs/monographs/No80/Chap1.pdf. UNAMSIL Background. Peace and Security Section of DPI and Department of Peacekeeping Operations. (2000). Accessed October 30, 2011. http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/unomsil/UnomsilB.htm. United Nations Missions in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL and UNAMSIL). (n.d.). Accessed October 30, 2011. http://politybooks.com/up2/casestudy/UNOMSIL_and_UNAMSIL_case_study.pdf. Read More