Foday Saybana Sankoh (17 October 1937 – 29 July 2003) was the founder of the

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

rebel group

Revolutionary United Front The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surv ...

(RUF), which was supported by Charles Taylor-led NPFL in the 11-year-long

Sierra Leone Civil War The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberia, Liberian dictato ...

, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. An estimated 50,000 people were killed during the war, and over 500,000 people were displaced in neighboring countries.

Early life and career

Foday Sankoh was born on 17 October 1937, in the remote

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

of Masang Mayoso,

Tonkolili District Tonkolili District is a district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Magburaka. The other major towns include Masingbi, Yele, Mile 91, Bumbuna, Yonibana, Matotoka. Mathora, Magbass and Masanga. To ...

in the Northern part of

to an

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

Temne father and a Loko mother. Sankoh was the son of a farmer. Sankoh attended primary and secondary school in

Magburaka Magburaka is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Tonkolili District in the Northern Province, Sierra Leone, Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Its population was 16,313 in the 2004 census. and a current estimate of 40,313. It is ...

and took on a number of jobs in Magburaka before he joined the Sierra Leone army in 1956. He undertook training in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In 1971, then a corporal in the Sierra Leone army, he was cashiered from the army's signal corps and imprisoned for seven years at the Pademba Road Prison in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

for taking part in a mutiny. On his release he worked as an itinerant photographer in the south and east of Sierra Leone, eventually coming in contact with young radicals. Sankoh and confederates Rashid Mansaray and Abu Kanu solicited support for an armed uprising to oust the APC government. They then traveled to Liberia, where they reportedly continued recruiting and served with

Charles G. Taylor Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor (born 28 January 1948) is a former Liberian politician and convicted warlord who served as the 22nd president of Liberia from 2 August 1997 until his resignation on 11 August 2003, as a result of the Second Liberi ...

National Patriotic Front of Liberia The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) was a Liberian rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 1989 to 1996. Leadership The military aspects of NPFL were led by Charles Taylor, a former governme ...

(NPFL).

Civil war

On 23 March 1991, the RUF, led by Foday Sankoh and backed by Charles Taylor, launched its first attack in villages in

Kailahun District Kailahun District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital city, capital and largest city is the town of Kailahun. The second most populous city in the district is Segbwema. Other major towns in Kailahun District includ ...

in the diamond-rich Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. The RUF became notorious for brutal practices such as

mass rape Mass sexual assault is the collective sexual assault of individuals in public by a group. Typically acting under the protective cover of large gatherings, victims have reported being groped, stripped, beaten, bitten, penetrated and raped. Egy ...

s and

amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

s during the civil war. Sankoh personally ordered many operations, including one called "Operation Pay Yourself" that encouraged troops to loot anything they could find. After complaining about such tactics, Kanu and Mansaray were

summarily executed A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes include ...

. In March 1997, Sankoh fled to

, where he was put under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

and then imprisoned. From this time until Sankoh's release in 1999,

Sam Bockarie Samuel Sam Bockarie, widely known as Mosquito (2 October 1964 – 5 May 2003), was a Sierra Leonean politician and army commander who served as a leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Bockarie was infamous during the Sierra Leone Civil ...

performed the task of director of military operations of the RUF. During the ten-year war, Sankoh broke several promises to stop fighting, including the

Abidjan Peace Accord The Abidjan Peace Accord was a treaty signed in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire on 30 November 1996 to try to bring an end to the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002). (document download required) The two main signatories were President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah ...

and the

Lomé Peace Accord Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

signed in 1999. Eventually the

and

ECOMOG The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work ...

intervened with their own small, but professional, military forces, and the RUF was eventually crushed.

Arrest and charges

Sankoh was later arrested on 17 May 2000 after his soldiers gunned down a number of protesters, killing 19 people, including journalist Saoman Conteh, outside his

home on 8 May 2000. His arrest led to massive celebrations throughout Sierra Leone. Sankoh was handed to the British. Under the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

of a UN-backed court, he was indicted on 17 counts for various war crimes, including use of

child soldiers Children (defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child as people under the age of 18) have been recruited for participation in military operations and campaigns throughout history and in many cultures. Children in the military, includ ...

and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

, including

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

enslavement Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

and

sexual slavery Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership rights, right over one or more people with the intent of Coercion, coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activities. This include ...

Death

Sankoh died in hospital of complications arising from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

whilst awaiting trial on the night of 29 July 2003. In a statement by the UN-backed war crimes court, chief prosecutor David Crane said that Sankoh's death granted him "a peaceful end that he denied to so many others". He was buried in his hometown of Magbruka in the northern province of Sierra Leone.

References

External links

BBC obituaryGraphic Photos of AtrocitiesEconomist obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sankoh, Foday 1937 births 2003 deaths Sierra Leonean rebels Sierra Leonean military personnel Vice-presidents of Sierra Leone People indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone African warlords Temne people People from Tonkolili District People of the Sierra Leone Civil War Revolutionary United Front politicians Heads of government who were later imprisoned Sierra Leonean people who died in prison custody