Civil Defense Forces
The Civil Defense Forces (CDF) were a paramilitary organization during the civil war (1991-2002) in Sierra Leone, West Africa . As a civil defense force, it supported the country's elected government against the rebel groups Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).
history
The term Civil Defense Forces was first used by exiled Sierra Leoneans in Liberia at the height of the civil war in 1997 . It should take ethnic references from the names of the individual groups and suggest a form of togetherness. The CDF comprised the paramilitary units of the Kuranko (Tamboro), Mende (Kamajors), Temne (Gbethis and Kapras) and Kono (Donsos). The largest single group of the CDF were the Kamajors , who saw themselves protected by magical powers like protective shields.
Over the years, the CDF gained more and more respect among the population, as the regular Sierra Leone Armed Forces were accused of brutality and atrocities. The 1996 elections, which Mende won in particular, gave the CDF more political power. CDF leader Sam Hinga Norman was named Deputy Secretary of Defense. At that time, the CDF was considered the de facto house army of the Sierra Leone People's Party . After the fall of the elected government, the CDF succeeded in handing power back to the SLPP in 1998 with the help of Nigerian troops from ECOWAS (ECOMOG).
In 2002 the civil war ended.
Atrocities and Consequences
The CDF committed numerous atrocities, human rights violations and war crimes during the civil war . Among other things, she is said to have been responsible for at least 180 executions of RUF rebels in 1999. The Kamajors in particular have raided villages, terrorized the civilian population and recruited child soldiers .
Three of the leading members of the CDF, Samuel Hinga Norman , Moinina Fofana and Allieu Kondewa were tried before the Special Court for Sierra Leone for war crimes and crimes against humanity . Hinga Norman died of natural causes before the 2007 sentence. Fofana and Kondewa were sentenced to six and eight years in prison, respectively, for murder and child recruitment. In 2008 the sentence was increased to 15 or 20 years. Both were transferred to Mpanga Prison in Rwanda and released early in 2015 and 2018, respectively.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Danny Hoffman: The Meaning of a Militia: Understanding the Civil Defense Forces of Sierra Leone , In: Oxford Journals, African Affairs 106.425, 2010, pp. 636-662.
- ^ A b Sierra Leone, Human Rights Development. Human Rights Watch . Retrieved June 19, 2019.