International Justice & Rehabilitation in Post-War Sierra Leone - Thesis Example

Sierra Leone is a small republic founded in 1842 on the West Coast of Africa (Grover, 2009 p1). It is bordered to the north and east by Guinea, to the South by Liberia and to the South-West by the Atlantic Ocean. The country plunged into the civil war which lasted throughout most of the 1990s. In the heat of the Sierra Leonean War in 1997, AFROL News announced that about 5,400 children were involved in the war and this was in sync with the UN's official figures. After the war, it was reported that Sierra Leone's conflict involved about 6,914 child soldiers (Facts of Sierra Leone, 2011).

These children were recruited to take part in the Sierra Leonean Civil War that lasted between 1991 and 2001 (Sillinger, 2003: p3). The root of the Sierra Leonean Civil War and the recruitment of child soldiers has a strong and deep root in international relations. The connection between the Sierra Leonean Wars and international relations has a strong connection with the diamond deposits of the country. Diamonds are found in approximately a third of Sierra Leone's territory (Levy, 2003 p2) Up until the late 1980s, Sierra Leone produced about $90m worth of diamonds each year (LeVert, 2007 p81).

This figure represents the official value of diamonds that was exported through the legally accepted route of the Government Diamond Office and this could be just a fraction of the actual figure (Forde, 2011 p21). Primarily, British and South African companies have been at the forefront of the exploration of the country's diamonds and other minerals (Hirsch, 2007 p18). Multinationals from these countries were granted legitimate rights to mine and export the country's diamonds for several years after the country gained independence from Britain in 1960. 1.3 Sierra Leone's Conflict & Child Soldiers The country's first government led by Sir Milton Margai handed over power peacefully to Siaka Stevens who also handed over power to Major General Joseph Momoh in 1985.