Submission Type
Poster
Abstract
This research explores the effects of the use of children in the Sierra Leonean civil war. Specifically, I will be analyzing how the use of children in warfare in Sierra Leone from 1995-2000 has been used as a tool of genocide. Genocide is a heavily researched topic with many cases; however, the Sierra Leonean civil war has not been classified as a genocide of any category. My goal is to prove that the Revolutionary United Front utilized policies pertaining to the destruction of children to institute a genocide. The long journey to disarm rebel groups, rescue captive children, and punish rebel leaders was a drawn-out process that has only recently come to a close within the international community. With this research, I am hoping to educate the scholarly community on the case of Sierra Leone, change the way we view genocide, and use the UN Genocide Convention to recognize the policies of the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone as genocidal tactics. The academic community needs to acknowledge that the Sierra Leonean civil war was a genocide that left the nation in a decaying state.
Child soldiering as genocide: The case of Sierra Leone
This research explores the effects of the use of children in the Sierra Leonean civil war. Specifically, I will be analyzing how the use of children in warfare in Sierra Leone from 1995-2000 has been used as a tool of genocide. Genocide is a heavily researched topic with many cases; however, the Sierra Leonean civil war has not been classified as a genocide of any category. My goal is to prove that the Revolutionary United Front utilized policies pertaining to the destruction of children to institute a genocide. The long journey to disarm rebel groups, rescue captive children, and punish rebel leaders was a drawn-out process that has only recently come to a close within the international community. With this research, I am hoping to educate the scholarly community on the case of Sierra Leone, change the way we view genocide, and use the UN Genocide Convention to recognize the policies of the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone as genocidal tactics. The academic community needs to acknowledge that the Sierra Leonean civil war was a genocide that left the nation in a decaying state.
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