A Long Way Gone Part 9

1800 Freed slaves from Jamaica arrive in Freetown.

1808 Sierra Leone becomes a British crown colony. The British government uses Freetown as its naval base for antislavery patrols.

1821a"1874 Freetown serves as the residence of the British governor, who also rules the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and Gambia settlements.

1827 Fourah Bay College is established and rapidly becomes a magnet for English-speaking Africans on the West Coast. For more than a century, it is the only European-style university in western sub-Saharan Africa.

1839 Slaves aboard a ship called the Amistad revolt to secure their freedom. Their leader, Sengbe Pieha"or Joseph Cinque, as he becomes known in the United Statesa"is a young Mende man from Sierra Leone.

1898 Britain imposes a hut tax in Sierra Leone, decreeing that the inhabitants of the new protectorate be taxed on the size of their huts as payment for the privilege of British administration. This sparks two rebellions in the hinterland: one by the Temne tribe and the other by the Mende tribe.

1951 A const.i.tution is enacted by the British to give some power to the inhabitants, providing a framework for decolonization.

1953 Local ministerial responsibility is introduced, and Sir Milton Margai is appointed chief minister.

1960 Sir Milton Margai becomes prime minister following the completion of successful const.i.tutional talks in London.

April 27, 1961 Sierra Leone becomes independent, with Sir Milton Margai as its first prime minister. The country opts for a parliamentary system within the Commonwealth of Nations. The following year, Sir Milton Margaias Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), which led the country to independence, wins the first general election under universal adult franchise.

1964 Sir Milton Margai dies, and his half brother Sir Albert Margai succeeds him as prime minister.

May 1967 In closely contested elections, the All Peopleas Congress (APC) wins a plurality of the parliamentary seats. Accordingly, the governor general (representing the British monarch) declares Siaka Stevensa"APC leader and mayor of Freetowna"the new prime minister. Within a few hours, Stevens and Albert Margai are placed under house arrest by Brigadier David Lansana, the commander of the Republic of Sierra Leone Military Forces (RSLMF), on grounds that the determination of office should await the election of the tribal representatives to the house. Another group of officers soon stages another coup, only to be later ousted in a third coup, the asergeantsa revolt.a 1968 With a return to civilian rule, Siaka Stevens at last a.s.sumes office as prime minister. However, tranquility is not completely restored. In November, a state of emergency is declared after provincial disturbances.

1971 The government survives an unsuccessful military coup. Also, a republican const.i.tution is adopted, and Siaka Stevens becomes the first president of the republic.

1974 Another failed military coup is launched against the government.

1977 Students demonstrate against government corruption and embezzlement of funds.

1978 The const.i.tution is amended, and all political parties, other than the ruling APC, are banned. Sierra Leone becomes a one-party state, with the APC as its sole legal party.

1985 Siaka Stevens retires and appoints Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh the next president of Sierra Leone. Momohas APC rule is marked by increasing abuses of power.

March 1991 A small band of men who call themselves the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), under the leadership of a former corporal, Foday Sankoh, begin to attack villages in eastern Sierra Leone, on the Liberian border. The initial group is made up of Charles Tayloras rebels and a few mercenaries from Burkina Faso. Their goal is to rid the country of the corrupt APC government. Fighting continues in the ensuing months, with the RUF gaining control of the diamond mines in the Kono district and pushing the Sierra Leone army back toward Freetown.

April 1992 A group of young military officers, led by Captain Valentine Stra.s.ser, launches a military coup that sends Momoh into exile. They establish the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) as the ruling authority in Sierra Leone. The NPRC proves to be nearly as ineffectual as the Momoh government at repelling the RUF. More and more of the country falls into the hands of the RUF fighters.

1995 The RUF holds much of the countryside and are on the doorstep of Freetown. To control the situation, the NPRC hires several hundred mercenaries from private firms. Within a month, they have driven the RUF fighters back to enclaves along Sierra Leoneas borders.

1996 Valentine Stra.s.ser is ousted and replaced by Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio, his defense minister. As a result of popular demand and mounting international pressure, the NPRC, under Maada Bio, agrees to hand over power to a civilian government via presidential and parliamentary elections, which are held in March 1996. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, a diplomat who worked at the UN for more than twenty years, wins the presidential election under the banner of the SLPP.

May 1997 Kabbah is overthrown by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), a military junta headed by Lieutenant Colonel Johnny Paul Koroma, and the junta invites the RUF to partic.i.p.ate in the new government.

March 1998 The AFRC is ousted by the Nigerian-led ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) forces, and the democratically elected government of President Kabbah is reinstated.

January 1999 The RUF launches another attempt to overthrow the government. Fighting reaches parts of Freetown again, leaving thousands dead and wounded. ECOMOG forces drive back the RUF attack several weeks later.

July 1999 The Lom Peace Accord is signed between President Kabbah and Foday Sankoh of the RUF. The agreement grants the rebels seats in a new government and all forces a general amnesty from prosecution. The government has largely ceased to function effectively, however, and at least half of its territory remains under rebel control. In October, the UN Security Council establishes the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) to help implement the peace agreement.

April/May 2000 Violence and rebel activity return, most notably when RUF forces hold hundreds of UNAMSIL personnel hostage, taking possession of their arms and ammunition. In May, members of the RUF shoot and kill as many as twenty people demonstrating outside Sankohas house in Freetown against RUF violations. As a result of these events, which violate the peace agreement, Sankoh and other senior members of the RUF are arrested, and the group is stripped of its position in the government. In early May, a new cease-fire agreement is signed in Abuja. However, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) does not resume, and fighting continues.

May 2000 The situation in the country has deteriorated to such an extent that British troops are deployed in Operation Palliser to evacuate foreign nationals. They stabilize the situation and are the catalyst for a cease-fire and the end of the civil war.

2001 A second Abuja Peace Agreement is signed to set the stage for a resumption of DDR on a wide scale. This brings about a significant reduction in hostilities. As disarmament progresses, the government begins to rea.s.sert its authority in formerly rebel-held areas.

January 2002 President Kabbah declares the civil war officially over.

May 2002 President Kabbah and his party, the SLPP, win landslide victories in the presidential and legislative elections. Kabbah is reelected for a five-year term.

July 28, 2002 The British withdraw a 200-man military contingent that had been in the country since the summer of 2000, leaving behind a 105-man-strong team to train the Sierra Leone army.

Summer 2002 Both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Special Court begin to function. The Lom Accord calls for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to provide a forum for both victims and perpetrators of human rights violations to tell their stories, and to facilitate genuine reconciliation. Subsequently, the Sierra Leonean government asks the UN to help set up a Special Court for Sierra Leone, which will try those who abear the greatest responsibility for the commission of crimes against humanity, war crimes and serious violations of international humanitarian law, as well as crimes under relevant Sierra Leonean law within the territory of Sierra Leone since November 30, 1996.a November 2002 UNAMSIL begins a gradual reduction in personnel, from a peak level of 17,500.

October 2004 The Truth and Reconciliation Commission releases its final report to the government, although widespread public distribution is delayed until August 2005 because of editing and printing problems. The government releases a white paper in June 2005, accepting some and rejecting or ignoring a number of other recommendations. Civil society groups dismiss the response as too vague and continue to criticize the government for its failure to follow up on the reportas recommendations.

December 2005 The UNAMSIL peacekeeping mission formally ends, and the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) is established, a.s.suming a peace-building mandate.

March 25, 2006 After discussions with the newly elected Liberian president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria says that Liberia is free to take Charles Taylor, who has been living in exile in Nigeria, into custody. Two days later, Taylor attempts to flee Nigeria, but is apprehended and transferred to Freetown under UN guard by nightfall on March 29. He is currently incarcerated in a UN jail, awaiting trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) on eleven counts of war crimes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

I never thought that I would be alive to this day, much less that I would write a book. During this second lifetime of mine, a lot of remarkable individuals have given meaning to my life, opened their hearts and doors to me, supported and believed in me and all my undertakings. Without their presence, this book wouldnat have been possible. My immense grat.i.tude to my family: my mother, Laura Simms, for her tireless work to bring me here, for her love and advice, for providing me a home when I had none, and for allowing me to rest and enjoy the last moments of what was left of my childhood; my aunts, Heather Greer, Fran Silverberg, and Shantha Bloemen, for your good listening, kind hearts, generosity, love, emotional support, all the meaningful moments, and everything; my sister, Erica Henegen, for your trust, honesty, and love, and for all those insightful long nights we spent grappling with the reasons for our existence; and Bernard Matambo, my brother, for your friendship and intelligence, for our common dreams and unremitting strength to carry on and enjoy every moment of our lives, and for making all those long nights at the library meaningful and unforgettable. Thanks, Chale. My cousin Aminata and my childhood friend Mohamed, I am so very happy to have you back in my life and indebted to you for bringing those happy memories of a past that you and I share.

I am indebted to Marge Scheuer and the entire Scheuer family for your ceaseless financial support, which enabled me to complete my studies and accomplish things beyond my dreams. Thank you so much. My grat.i.tude to everyone at the Blue Ridge and Four Oaks Foundations, to Joseph Cotton and Tracey for looking after me as your little brother and setting me straight, to Mary Sobel for checking in and making sure all is well, and to Lisa, for everything.

I am very grateful to a lot of professors at Oberlin College. Professor Laurie McMillin gave me the confidence I needed to start writing seriously. I am indebted to Professor Dan Chaon for his patience, tutelage, confidence, honesty, friendship, and support in making this book a reality. Thank you, Dan, you taught me well and made sure that I completed this book. My grat.i.tude to Professor Sylvia Watanabe, for all your support, friendship, and good counsel, and for your unceasing quest to enrich my creative life; and to Professors Yakubu Saaka and Ben Schiff, for your good advice, always.

My dear friends Paul Fogel and Yvette Chalom: thank you for your unceasing care for my well-being, for your advice, for opening your house to me during the writing of this book, and for being two of my early readersa"your comments helped tremendously to shape this work. I am very grateful for everything. Thank you, Priscilla Hayner, Jo Becker, and Pam Bruns, for your encouragement, friendship, and insights on the earlier drafts.

I am very lucky to have Ira Silverberg as my agent. Thank you for all your insightful advice, your friendship, and your patience with explaining the workings of the publishing world. Without you I would have gotten easily frustrated. My editor, Sarah Crichton, thank you so very much for all your hard work. I am grateful for your honesty, your careful and compa.s.sionate treatment of this deeply personal and emotionally charged material, and all the gossip before and after each meeting that helped to lighten things. I love working with you and I learned so much from this process. Thank you to Rose Lichter-Marck for following up and making sure I didnat procrastinate, and my grat.i.tude to everyone at Farrar, Straus and Giroux for all your hard work and friendship.

My friends Melvin Jimenez, Matt Moore, Lauren Hyman, and Marielle Ramsay, thanks for your friendship, for keeping in touch, and for understanding that I needed time away from everyone to complete this work. To everyone who has opened their hearts or doors to me, thank you so very much.

Last, I am very grateful to Danile Fogel for all your emotional support: your love, patience, and understanding during the writing of this book. Without your friendship and care, it would have been more difficult to embark on this journey, especially while at Oberlin College.

SARAH CRICHTON BOOKS.