The conflict in sierra leone and the engagement of the united nations the conflict in sierra leone dates from march 1991 when fighters of the revolutionary united front ruf launched a war from the east of the country near the border with liberia to overthrow the government. War in liberia sarah left explains the causes and history of the bloody west african conflict that has left 200,000 liberians dead in 14 years of fighting. Finally, the conclusions section v reflect on the analytical perspectives together with the experiences in sierra leone. Binnehkamara is a qualified barrister and sits as a magistrate in freetown.
It is over five years since the end of the civil war and, at this distance in time, it is easy to play. Western area of sierra leone, were administered to barristers, civilpublic servants, civil society activists, media practitioners, students etc. According to the authors investigation into the impact of the media, top military commanders claimed that the derogatory reportage. The end of the twentieth century saw an adverse escalation in armed conflict.
Newspaper coverage of a sierra leone war crimes trial taylor. This article argues that traditional media reportage of the national question in nigeria has been more divisive than uniting. Peak times for listening to the radio are between 6 am and 10 am and. A political history by david harris examines 225 years of the countrys history and fifty years of independence, placing statesociety relations at the centre of this investigation of those who have tried to rule or change sierra leone. Conflict and the role of the media international media support. Media and conflict in sierra leone global media journal. Request pdf newspaper coverage of a sierra leone war crimes trial. The western media perspective of a barbaric africa. During the war, which started in 1991 and lasted for 11 years, thousands were killed or lost. The role of postconflict justice in statebuilding and nation building 2. No sierra leonean media outlet invested in insurance against loss of life or expensive equipment, and war. Sierra leone, ranging from physically rehabilitating media institutions to training personnel. Sierra leone is a relatively small country, 71, 740sq. A manual for journalists reporting conflict in west africa.
The influence of religious crises have been enormous the world over. Sensational media reporting sensational media reporting arouses peoples emotions and the danger is that such reportage may elicit emotionally violent response. Expansion of the sierra leone broadcasting service to give national coverage, with full. The women who bear the scars of sierra leones civil war in sierra leones civil war, young girls were captured, raped and forced to take up arms.
In making its findings and preparing its report, the commission took into account information gathered through a variety of means. Improving media coverage of conflict and peacebuilding in west africa brought together eighteen print, radio, television, and online journalists who report on conflict and peacebuilding in the subregion. Newspaper coverage of a sierra leone war crimes trial. On 23 march 1991, armed conflict broke out in sierra leone a country on the coast of west africa made up of just 4. History of the conflict in sierra leone sierra leone was originally settled by foreigners when the british established freetown, the current capital of sierra leone, as a refuge for freed slaves. Radio is the most common and trusted media in sierra leone with 85% of population having access to the radio and 72% listening daily in 2007. Liberia is vulnerable to cross border conflict and spillovers of violence, driven by the political alliances of elites. There are important bird sanctuaries that are being protected and managed with gef and other donor funding. Western media coverage of the civil war in sierra leone. Udezo abstract the need for conflict resolution in our society is crucial. How has the media in sierra leone been responding to this opportunity. Media coverage of the ebola virus disease in four widely. This opening provided new opportunities for the media through enhancing their role in the process of sociopolitical developments. This is believed to have affected the development of the war and its outcome.
A continuation of conflict by other means the most controversial trial conducted by the special court for sierra leone. Journalism in conflict and postconflict conditions nordic council. For me, the subregion, for years constituted the heartbeat of politics in subsaharan africa. An excerpt from a caritas training manual on reconciliation and healing april. His thesis is entitled media reporting of war crimes trials and civil society responses in post conflict sierra leone. He has years experience as a print journalist and lectures on communications and law at the university of sierra leone, fourah bay. Electoral victory and defeat have become emotional as candidates invest a lot of resources to prosecute their campaigns. It borders guinea in the north and northeast, and liberia in the east and southeast. The devastating elevenyear armed conflict in sierra leone was characterized by extreme brutality and widespread human rights abuses against civilians. The civil war in sierra leone raged from 1991 to 2002. Table 1 below provides a chronology of the conflict in sierra leone. Press coverage of ugandas military intervention in the south sudan conflict. With diverse language and cultural groups and a dispersed geography, the regions media have struggled to develop effective communication channels to serve the region.
Africa, fewer exist that look at either sierra leones trc or the scsl. The number of women elected to parliament in 2002 was. This ranges from a few macrolevel conflict analysis papers often produced or funded by international actors, ngos, or think tanks to a wealth of literature at the and microlevels of analysis that focusmeso on. Sierra leone covers an area of 71,740 km, approximately the size of ireland. Since the end of the cold war there have been countless conflicts that have involved the deaths of millions of people and the suffering and displacement of millions more. Sankoh died in prison of natural causes in 2003, while awaiting trial. Conflict in sierra leone has been so tenacious precisely because of this cycle of impunity, said takirambudde.
Cnn is the 16th member of the security council boutros ghali, 1995. Resourceconflict links in sierra leone and the democratic. The commission has divided the sierra leone conflict into three phases. It was the experience of sierra leone that led robert kaplan to coin the term the coming anarchy. Media sector sierra leones media sector has diversified at a remarkable rate over the past 10 years. Sierra leone media and conflict assessment search for common. The media has been accused of contributing in the worsening state of insecurity and conflicts escalation in nigeria due to their pattern of reportage which primarily aim at maximizing profit by manipulating the audience. The outbreak has had a devastating effect in the region, killing nearly 4,000 people in sierra leone alone. Introduction the west african subregion has several unique features in terms of politics on the african continent, both historically and in contemporary times. Media reporting of war crimes trials and civil society. A proliferation of radio stations nationwide, television service established in some provinces, and a plethora of newspapers published daily and weekly in freetown.
In sierra leone, the environmental causes and consequences of war have been prominent for the past 20 years. Preexisting issues of poverty, political conflict and the legacy of the war have come to the fore in the wake of the crisis, and the situation in sierra leone remains fragile. That religion in nigeria has not only become sensitive in nature, but that it has resulted to violent crises leading to huge. Since the end of the civil war in 2002, sierra leones media landscape has. Farmers of sierra leone require support to facilitate community participation in forest management. Access to media is also determined by geographic location and gender see figure 1.
The trcs impact on statebuilding and nationbuilding 3. Thereafter, the three phases are analysed as follows. Print resources keen, david 2005 conflict and collusion in sierra leone. Concepts and methods of conflict resolution and peace building. Overview of traditional media in sierra leone access to traditional media radio, tv and print varies greatly in sierra leone. Conflict and the role of the media 5 part one part one conflict, the modern world and the media conflict is one of the defining features of the modern world. Sierra leone covers an area of 71,740 km, approximately. Full coverage of the freetown peninsula, good coverage of. The level of penetration of radio varies between districts, from 96% in the urban part of the western area, to 65% in kailahun, and is higher in the main towns than in rural areas. Traditionally, the source of political power in sierra leone is in patronage.
It is important to see in what other ways sierra leone is mentioned during this time periodnamely, within the context of neighboring liberias conflict, as well as in discussions of the role of western, especially american, intervention in. Leone journalism, ranging from physically rehabilitating media institutions to training the personnel. Still apparent is the damage to water infrastructure and agricultural infrastructure in rural areas, as well as the impacts of maintenance neglect. Concepts and methods of conflict resolution and peace. Although the conflict has been over for more than a decade, this western african country is still struggling to recover from the bloodshed and violence that left more than 50,000 people dead. His thesis is entitled media reporting of war crimes trials and civil society responses in postconflict sierra leone. The influence of media coverage of religious crises in. According to mcquail 3 when looking at influence of mass media ones focus should rather be on comparing media reality and social reality in certain situations since the diatribe of influences stream from source of media content, consumers of media contents to shape of media contents. In sierra leone, the unproductive nature of the media, in terms of ethics, style and professionalism is often blamed upon government functionaries. Neubauer, expert from slovenia, said that women in sierra leone had been playing an important role in resolving the conflict there.
Binnehkamara a thesis submitted to the university of bedfordshire in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy. The women who bear the scars of sierra leones civil war. As we approach the millennium, with the triumph of the united states over russia, capitalism over socialism and the market over planning, the depiction of africa through the centuries has not changed considerably. This will segue into the postconflict challenges and opportunities faced by sierra leone, as well as a discussion of relevant policy recommendations made by economists. Those responsible for torture and mutilations should not walk away scotfree. The effect of mass media campaign on family planning includes abstract and chapter one, complete project material available the effect of mass media campaign on family planninga case study of residents of enuguabstractthis project ia a survey on the effect of mass media campaign on family planning as it concerns its adoption by the families by the families in. To say that media reports of religious crises cause serious religious tension around the world is an understatement. It has a population of approximately five million people. History has shown that this method has led to many peace agreements that were either effective or ineffective. The journalists came from seven west african countriesgambia, ghana liberia, mali, nigeria, senegal, and sierra leone. The findings, which reflected the perceptions of people from large swathe of opinions in sierra leone, appeared to have dovetailed with those of the sos re presentatives across the country. Imperatives for religious leaders in nigeria benson o. It is imperative because no two people perceive a particular thing exactly in.