"We hid in the nearby bushes and listened to gunshots and the screamed of men, women and children" (Beah 93).
The civil war left Sierra Leone absolutely chaotic with no proper orders. The rebels does not spare women, children or elders from the indiscriminate killings. In "a long way gone", Beah notices rebel's unbelievable rudeness and violence to the elders, for people in Sierra Leone is known for respecting their elders. Every civilians are subjected to killing; RUF presented no mercy. The rebels rape any women they like and sometimes they force civilians to rape their own family. The sexual slavery is prevalent and one of the boys in the "a long was gone" tells his friends how he witnessed his sister being raped by several rebels continuously.
RUF sets civilians as their major targets to convey their antagonism against the Sierra Leone government. They find civilians useful in the war they have created; they use civilians as numbers to "ensure their future existence".
"They needed to use civilians as a shield against the military"(Beah 24).
"One of the main aims of the rebels when they took over a town was to force the civilians to stay with them, especially women and children. This way they could stay longer, as military intervention would be delayed" (Beah 24).
The insurgents in Sierra Leone considers civilians as crucial 'tools' to win the war against their government. By using civilians as human shields, they protect themselves and reserve their numbers. They also use women and children as their hostage to delay the military intervention. It is awful to see how the rebels use lives to fortify their strength. They claim themselves as freedom fighters, but are they really? Are they truly fighting for freedom when women, children and elders are exploited till the day they die? Are they honestly bringing freedom by coercing women to become sex slaves and drugging children to become their unconscious puppets? It saddens my heart to perceive how the term "liberty" is abused to justify the most abhorrent violence.
No comments:
Post a Comment