133:
as the central leaders of the CDF and the most responsible for the crimes after a thorough investigation by the Court, which took the testimonies of thousands of victims. The trial began in July 2004 and concluded in
September 2006. Before sentences could be handed out Samuel Hinga Norman died of natural causes during surgery in Dakar, Senegal. Fofana and Kondewa were found guilty of the charges of murder, pillage and the use of child soldiers and were sentenced to six and eight years respectively. In 2008 the appeal court changed the sentencing and gave Fofna fifteen years and Kondewa twenty years to be served out in Rwandan prison.
95:
East, Lieutenant Tom Nyuma. The CDF increased its prominence and influence following the election of the Sierra Leone People's Party into office in 1996, which was largely composed of Mende members. Sam Hinga Norman, the Regent Chief of Jiama-Bongor chiefdom, became a key figure in the kamajor movement and was appointed as the SLPP's Deputy
Minister of Defense. The CDF was widely viewed as the de facto security force for the SLPP, and would come into direct conflict with the military after the military's ousting of the SLPP government in May 1997. In coordination with the Nigerian-based
112:
108:
Leone. In the offensive of
January 1999 the CDF was accused of committing upwards of 180 executions of captured RUF members without validating their guilt. Furthermore, around the towns of Bradford and Moyamba, members of the Kamajors posed as rebels and launched multiple attacks on the civilian population that included robbery and indiscriminate murder. There have also been countless accounts of CDF abuses on children as well as the indoctrination and forced subordination of child soldiers.
94:
The militia groups became increasingly consolidated as civilians came to distrust the military, which they saw as being as dangerous as the rebel groups. They soon fell under the influence and direction of academic Dr Alpha
Lavalie and the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) Secretary of State
132:
to bring those responsible for the greatest crimes in the country's civil war to be prosecuted. Among the 13 convictions that were handed out were three prominent CDF members. The three men indicted were Allie
Kondewa, Moinina Fofana and Samuel Hinga Norman. Each of these men had been decided upon
107:
The CDF committed a vast number of atrocities and human rights abuses during the Sierra
Leonean civil war. During the war, while fighting alongside the Nigerian ECOMOG troops, the CDF was either complicit or directly responsible for many of the events brought before the Special Court for Sierra
90:
is used to refer to the Mende belief in "specialized hunters empowered to use both firearms and occult 'medicines' in pursuit of big game" and against all other forces that threatened Mende villages. In Mende culture, the identity of the kamajors is synonymous with protection, and represented a
82:
was first coined in between 1997 and 1998 by expatriate Sierra
Leoneans in Monrovia. The title encompassed "disparate militias previously referred to by ethnically coded titles". The CDF included soldiers from the militia groups the Kuranko tamaboro, the Mende kamajoisia, the Temne gbethis and
313:
96:
308:
91:
similar meaning when community defense militias mobilized in reaction to the Sierra
Leonean government's failure to defeat the rebel forces of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
258:
Hoffman, Danny. "The
Meaning of a Militia: Understanding the Civil Defence Forces of Sierra Leone." African Affairs 106.425 (2010): 636-62. Oxford Journals. Web. 8 Dec. 2010. <
245:
Hoffman, Danny. "The
Meaning of a Militia: Understanding the Civil Defence Forces of Sierra Leone." African Affairs 106.425 (2010): 636-62. Oxford Journals. Web. 8 Dec. 2010. <
206:
Hoffman, Danny. "The Meaning of a Militia: Understanding the Civil Defence Forces of Sierra Leone." African Affairs 106.425 (2010): 636-62. Oxford Journals. Web. 8 Dec. 2010. <
193:
Hoffman, Danny. "The Meaning of a Militia: Understanding the Civil Defence Forces of Sierra Leone." African Affairs 106.425 (2010): 636-62. Oxford Journals. Web. 8 Dec. 2010. <
180:
Hoffman, Danny. "The Meaning of a Militia: Understanding the Civil Defence Forces of Sierra Leone." African Affairs 106.425 (2010): 636-62. Oxford Journals. Web. 8 Dec. 2010. <
167:
Hoffman, Danny. "The Meaning of a Militia: Understanding the Civil Defence Forces of Sierra Leone." African Affairs 106.425 (2010): 636-62. Oxford Journals. Web. 8 Dec. 2010. <
154:
Hoffman, Danny. "The Meaning of a Militia: Understanding the Civil Defence Forces of Sierra Leone." African Affairs 106.425 (2010): 636-62. Oxford Journals. Web. 8 Dec. 2010. <
99:(ECOMOG), the CDF was able to reinstate the SLPP to power in March 1998, and would be officially constituted until the civil war was officially declared over in January 2002.
323:
83:
kapras, and the Kono donsos. The goal of the overarching title was to create a sense of unity and prerogative between the independent militias.
318:
40:
293:
51:
ethnic group. The Kamajors believed in many magical ways of defending themselves, such as rituals to create bulletproof skin.
55:
36:
111:
28:
59:
86:
The largest group involved with the CDF was the kamajoisia, or kamajors. Traditionally, the title
32:
288:
259:
246:
207:
194:
181:
168:
155:
129:
67:
63:
302:
125:
48:
24:
272:
233:
220:
44:
110:
271:"Africa 10." Home | Human Rights Watch. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. <
232:"Africa 10." Home | Human Rights Watch. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. <
219:"Africa 10." Home | Human Rights Watch. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. <
294:
Action by Churches Together description of CDF and Kamajors
97:
Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group
314:
Military units and factions of the Sierra Leone Civil War
260:
http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/106/425/639.full
247:
http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/106/425/639.full
208:
http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/106/425/639.full
195:
http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/106/425/639.full
182:
http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/106/425/639.full
169:
http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/106/425/639.full
156:
http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/106/425/639.full
31:(1991–2002). It supported the elected government of
309:Paramilitary organisations based in Sierra Leone
54:Three leaders of the CDF were indicted at the
273:https://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k/Africa-09.htm
234:https://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k/Africa-09.htm
221:https://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k/Africa-09.htm
8:
43:(AFRC). Much of the CDF was made up of the
115:School destroyed by Sierra Leone Civil War
16:Paramilitary organization in Sierra Leone
147:
7:
324:1991 establishments in Sierra Leone
128:was set up in cooperation with the
47:group, which is part of the larger
41:Armed Forces Revolutionary Council
14:
70:(military commander of the CDF).
27:organization that fought in the
289:Description of Kamajors and CDF
124:In 2003 the Special Court for
56:Special Court for Sierra Leone
1:
319:Rebel groups in Sierra Leone
340:
37:Revolutionary United Front
35:against the rebel groups
66:(second in command) and
116:
29:Sierra Leone Civil War
114:
80:Civil Defense Forces
58:, more specifically
21:Civil Defense Forces
62:(head of the CDF),
60:Samuel Hinga Norman
117:
33:Ahmed Tejan Kabbah
331:
276:
269:
263:
256:
250:
243:
237:
230:
224:
217:
211:
204:
198:
191:
185:
178:
172:
165:
159:
152:
339:
338:
334:
333:
332:
330:
329:
328:
299:
298:
285:
280:
279:
270:
266:
257:
253:
244:
240:
231:
227:
218:
214:
205:
201:
192:
188:
179:
175:
166:
162:
153:
149:
144:
139:
122:
105:
76:
17:
12:
11:
5:
337:
335:
327:
326:
321:
316:
311:
301:
300:
297:
296:
291:
284:
281:
278:
277:
264:
251:
238:
225:
212:
199:
186:
173:
160:
146:
145:
143:
140:
138:
135:
130:United Nations
121:
118:
104:
101:
75:
72:
68:Allieu Kondewa
64:Moinina Fofana
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
336:
325:
322:
320:
317:
315:
312:
310:
307:
306:
304:
295:
292:
290:
287:
286:
282:
274:
268:
265:
261:
255:
252:
248:
242:
239:
235:
229:
226:
222:
216:
213:
209:
203:
200:
196:
190:
187:
183:
177:
174:
170:
164:
161:
157:
151:
148:
141:
136:
134:
131:
127:
119:
113:
109:
102:
100:
98:
92:
89:
84:
81:
73:
71:
69:
65:
61:
57:
52:
50:
46:
42:
38:
34:
30:
26:
22:
267:
254:
241:
228:
215:
202:
189:
176:
163:
150:
126:Sierra Leone
123:
106:
93:
87:
85:
79:
77:
53:
25:paramilitary
23:(CDF) was a
20:
18:
120:Indictments
303:Categories
137:References
103:Atrocities
39:(RUF) and
78:The term
88:kamajors
45:Kamajors
283:Sources
74:History
275:>.
262:>.
249:>.
236:>.
223:>.
210:>.
197:>.
184:>.
171:>.
158:>.
142:Notes
49:Mende
19:The
305::
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
