Refworld Case Law Collection Survey
Sierra Leone: Forcible recruitment of members of the Mende tribe
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 5 August 1999 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | sle32530.E |
| Reference | 7 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Sierra Leone: Forcible recruitment of members of the Mende tribe, 5 August 1999, sle32530.E, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad7658.html [accessed 11 January 2017] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Several reports indicate that the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), Civil Defence Forces (CDF) (kamajors) have engaged in the forcible recruitment child soldiers (United Nations 3 June 1998; AI Nov. 1998; The Economist 13 Dec. 1998; HRW July 1998; UNHCR Nov. 1998). Amnesty International and UNHCR further both state that the kamajors recruit mainly in the south-eastern part of the country and are closed allied to the government of President Kabbah (ibid., 14-15;AI Nov. 1998, 13), butUNHCR specifies that the kamajorsare mainly from the Mende ethnic group (14). For additional information on the involvement of the Mende in kamajors, please consult SLE29357.e of 22 May 1999 and SLE30980.E of 19 January 1999.
According to Human Rights Watch, "in the period of February through June 1998 alone, the AFRC/RUF abducted an unknown number of civilians, probably in the thousands, including a substantial percentage of children for use as combatants, forced laborers, or sexual slaves " (July 1998).
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that between 4000 and 6000 children equally divided between the rebel forces and civil defence militias (kamajors) (The Economist 13 Dec.1998; AFP 2 Oct. 1998).The children with the rebels of the RUF were abducted, and reportedly given drugs to make them fearless in battle, while female children were forced into sex slavery(AI Nov. 1998, 35; The Economist 13 Dec. 1998).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
Amnesty International (AI). November 1998. Sierra Leone: 1998 - A Year of Atrocities Against Civilians. (AI Index 51/22/98). London: Amnesty International.
The Economist [New York]. 13 December 1998. "Child Soldiers: Under-age Killers." (NEXIS)
Human Rights Watch. July 1998. "New Regime, But Continued Human Rights Violations: Despite Promises, the Use and Abuse of Child Soldiers Continues in Sierra Leone."
United Nations. 3 June 1998. "Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Should be Pilot for War Children Project." (Africa News/NEXIS)
United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) (Geneva). November 1998."Background Paper on Refugees and Asylum Seekers from Sierra Leone." UNHCR: Centre for Documentation and Research.
