FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, June 30, 2000 — With a semblance of peace restored in the nation's capital, Ruby Pearce, Executive Secretary of the Bible Society in Sierra Leone (BSSL), recently spoke about her experiences early last year, when rebel forces invaded the city.
Mrs Pearce was in her home at the Methodist Boys' High School, located in the eastern part of the city, when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) seized control in January 1999. Rebels surrounded the school and set up a checkpoint outside the school gates, shooting anyone who tried to leave from any other exit.
"We were virtually under house arrest," said Mrs Pearce. "If we tried to leave by the main gate to buy food we would be robbed and sent back. This went on for 17 days. At night, they came into the school compound and forced everyone outside. We had to stand there all night and sing, clap and dance for them till morning.
Rebels Loot and Burn Homes
"On the sixteenth night they entered the administration section of the school where 100 people had been sheltering - people had come to the school from the surrounding areas for security because their own homes had been destroyed. The rebels then forced the people out and took up defensive positions in the block. We were fortunate - we were able to walk into town and get to safety."
During the occupation of the capital many people were forced to empty their homes of all they possessed and carry them to wherever the rebels indicated. Then they had to pour petrol onto their own homes and set them alight. If they protested, they were shot and burnt in their own house. If they fell carrying the looted goods, they were also shot.
Mrs Pearce recalled, with sorrow, one such incident involving a friend and colleague, the Rev Franklin Vincent. "The personal tragedy of Mr Vincent, who is our Bible Society treasurer, affected us all very deeply" said Mrs Pearce. "He is a Creole and the presiding elder at the American Episcopal Church in Freetown. The rebels made him set fire to his own home. When his son protested he was beaten and then thrown into the burning house. It would be bad enough if this were an isolated case but it is so common here in Freetown. Everyone knows someone who suffered in this way."
The full extent of the damage to the people of Sierra Leone will not be known until fighting has ceased and the authorities have sent teams to all parts of the country to assess the situation. United Nations troops are preventing the rebels from moving back towards Freetown. Many displaced people are sheltering with friends or relatives in the city and no one knows the numbers of refugees who have crossed the border into neighbouring Guinea and Liberia.
Source: United Bible Societies
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