Making and maintaining peace in Sierra Leone: the role of religion, courts, and community

Lynch, Kenneth ORCID: 0000-0002-5296-2864, Hobson, Jonathan ORCID: 0000-0001-8081-6699 and Bangura, Kabba Santigie (2020) Making and maintaining peace in Sierra Leone: the role of religion, courts, and community. In: Social Vulnerabilities Conference 2020, 15/07/2020, University of Gloucestershire.

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Abstract

Making the transition from war to peace and establishing justice is a challenging but vital condition of long term peacebuilding in post-conflict societies. This paper explores this post-conflict issues in Sierra Leone which suffered from a decade long civil war (1991-2002) after the neglect and corruption of the 1980s that combined have left the country languishing in poverty by most global measures. This research explores the role of different peace making and maintaining institutions in post-conflict Sierra Leone through the analysis is taken from a series of 50 interviews s conducted across the country and across social, cultural, tribal, religious and economic boundaries. It examines the role of three different sites of peace-making and maintaining. Firstly, the role of courts and particularly the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone that ran from January 2002 to December, 2013, convicting 23 people for crimes committed during the war, including former Liberian President Charles Taylor the first African head of state to be convicted for war crimes. Secondly, the Inter Religious Council and the role it played in helping to establish peace during the civil war and its ongoing role in mediating community conflict and supporting peace. Finally, the role of community-based organisations, typified by the group Fambul Tok, a community restorative-justice agency working across the country to mediate conflict and support local and peaceful resolution to conflict. This presentation outlines the research process and some of the initial findings from the interviews.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human geography. Human ecology. Anthropogeography H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences
Research Priority Areas:	Place, Environment and Community
Depositing User:	Jonathan Hobson
Date Deposited:	13 Aug 2020 13:42
Last Modified:	31 Aug 2023 08:24
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/8593

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