1. Blood Diamonds and Civil War
Sierra Leone
Blood Diamonds and Civil War

2. The Civil War
Starting in 1991 and ending in 2002, a civil war broke out in the West African country of Sierra Leone.
The war was started when the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) attacked in an effort to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government.
The fighting lasted eleven years and left over 50,000 people dead.

3. Blood Diamonds
Blood diamonds closely relate to the cause of the civil war. For example:
The unfair benefits of mining diamonds made many regular Sierra Leoneans angry.
Under the government of Siaka Stevens revenue from the diamonds only benefited him and his associates.
When his deal with DeBeers went South in 1984, he lost direct control of the mines.
And as a result, by the late 1980’s most diamonds sold in Sierra Leone were illegally smuggled and traded.

4. Blood Diamonds Continued
Blood diamonds also kept the war going, the RUF sold and traded diamonds for weapons and artillery for their cause.

5. Ishmael Beah
Ishmael Beah was a child who was forced to become a child soldier at the age of thirteen after his entire family was murdered during the civil war.
He was a soldier for two years
before he was taken away by
UNISEF and put in a rehabilitation
home in Freetown, the capital of
Sierra Leone.

6. End of the War
The situation in Sierra Leone got so bad as it progressed that the UN was forced to intervene, and pressured Great Britten to send troops to help out.
Guinean bombing raids were made on RUF bases.
The UN also demanded that Liberia expel all RUF members from the country, halt financial aid and stop the diamond trade.
All these factors and more led to the end of the RUF and the war.

7. Winners of the War
After the war ended, many Sierra Leoneans were able to return to their homes for the first time since they were evacuated.
The UNMISL (United Nations Mission In Sierra Leone) also left a peak of 17,800 soldiers in the country, and slowly withdrew them until they finally left in December They were then replaced by the UNIOISL (United Nations Integrated Office In Sierra Leone)

8. The Victims of the War
While things were relatively good once the war ended, there was no ignoring the 50,000 people killed. Along with the countless others that were forced to fight in the war, watched their families die, had limbs cut off and raped, the bad heavily outweighs the good at the end of the war.

9. After the War
The Lome Peace Accord called for a Truth and Reconciliation commission to come into effect to help bring war criminals to justice.
Diamond revenue from Sierra Leone has also increased exponentially since the end of the war. But sadly, more than fifty percent of diamonds coming from Sierra Leone are still being mined and traded illegally.