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In an effort to speed up the disarmament of rival combatants in the eastern district of Kono, UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) officers have been meeting directly with the commanders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the pro-government Civil Defence Forces (CDF) rather than depending on their political leaders to the job.
“We want the disarmament in Koidu and Bonthe to be energised so that we can get it off our back,” Daniel Opande, the UNAMSIL Force Commander, told reporters in Freetown on Tuesday.
Lt-Gen Opande said UNAMSIL patrols and military observers frequently distributed leaflets to RUF and CDF commanders on the ground, urging them to inform their men of the disarmament process and to report to reception centres. Past practice has been to leave this task solely to the political and military leaders of the two groups but, he added, “we have found out that in most cases that does not work.”
Although disarmament has been rapidly completed in the Kambia and Port Loko Districts, some 60 Km north of Freetown, it has been a much slower process in diamond-rich Kono. Both sides have repeatedly told UNAMSIL they are willing to disarm but the CDF, having to do so in the heart of RUF territory, has been cautious because, it says, the RUF has ambushed its men in the past.
Official disarmament in Kono began on 2 July and is due to end on 28 July.
Up to 9 July, just 30 RUF and 47 CDF fighters had turned in their weapons.
Another 122 CDF had done so in Bonthe, in the south of the country.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
