Sierra Leone: Sexual Violence Widespread in War

Embargoed for Release:
Thursday, January 16, 2003
At 00:01 GMT
(For Thursday's newspapers)

Sierra Leone: Sexual Violence Widespread in War

(New York, January 16, 2003) - The widespread and systematic use of rape
and other sexual violence during the ten-year civil war in Sierra Leone
is documented in a new Human Rights Watch report released today.

The 75-page report, "We'll Kill You If You Cry:" Sexual Violence in the
Sierra Leone Conflict, presents evidence of horrific abuses against
women and girls in every region of the country by the rebel
Revolutionary United Front (RUF), as well as other rebel, government and
international peacekeeping forces.

"In this report, we have documented unimaginable atrocities against
women in Sierra Leone," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of
the Africa division at Human Rights Watch. "The people responsible for
these crimes must be held accountable." Takirambudde also said the
victims of sexual violence urgently need help to regain their health and
reintegrate into their communities.

The Human Rights Watch report, which is based on hundreds of interviews
with victims, witnesses and officials, details crimes of sexual violence
committed primarily by soldiers of various rebel forces -the RUF, the
Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), and the West Side Boys. The
report also examines sexual violence by government forces and militias,
as well as international peacekeepers.

Throughout the armed conflict in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2001,
thousands of women and girls of all ages, ethnic groups, and
socioeconomic classes were subjected to widespread and systematic sexual
violence, including individual and gang rape, and rape with objects such
as weapons, firewood, umbrellas and pestles. These crimes of sexual
violence were generally characterized by extraordinary brutality and
frequently preceded or followed by other egregious human rights abuses
against the victim, her family and her community. The rebels abducted
many women and girls, who were subjected to sexual violence as well as
being forced to perform housework, farm work and serve as military
porters.

The rebels sought to dominate women and their communities by
deliberately undermining cultural values and community relationships,
destroying the ties that hold society together. Child combatants raped
women who were old enough to be their grandmothers, rebels raped
pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, and fathers were forced to watch
their daughters being raped.

To date there has been no accountability for the thousands of crimes of
sexual violence or other appalling human rights abuses committed during
the war in Sierra Leone.

"The war in Sierra Leone became infamous for the amputation of hands and
arms," said Takirambudde. "Rape may not be visible in the same way, but
it is every bit as devastating."

The United Nations has established a Special Court for Sierra Leone
(SCSL) and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to investigate
human rights violations committed by all parties during the war. Human
Rights Watch has urged both the SCSL and TRC to make sexual violence and
sexual slavery a top priority, and investigate and prosecute
gender-related crimes as crimes against humanity or war crimes.

Human Rights Watch also urged that the domestic legal system be revised
to ensure that crimes of sexual violence are prosecuted in a sensitive
manner.

The lack of attention to conflict-related sexual violence means that few
assistance programs have been established for women and girls who were
subjected to sexual violence, including sexual slavery. Survivors not
only live with the severe physical and mental health consequences of the
abuses suffered, but also fear ongoing non-conflict-related sexual
violence, largely perpetrated with impunity. International donors and
nongovernmental organizations should work together with the government
of Sierra Leone to establish programs (health care, education, adult
literacy, skills training, trauma counseling and income-generating
schemes) that will help to rehabilitate the survivors of sexual
violence.

During the embargo period, the report "We'll Kill You If You Cry:"
Sexual Violence in the Sierra Leone Conflict will be available online at
http://docs.hrw.org/embargo/sierleo0103/index.htm #TopOfPage with the
username: 'slreport' and the access-code: 'violence2k3'.

After the embargo period, the report will be online at
http://hrw.org/reports/2003/sierraleone/.

For further information, please contact:
In London, Bronwen Manby: +44-207-713-2789
In New York, Peter Takirambudde: +1-212-216-1834

--
Jeff Scott
Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
Phone: +1-212-216-1834
Fax: +1-212-736-1300
http://www.hrw.org/africa/index.php
en français, http://www.hrw.org/french/africa/