British Military Intervention in The Sierra Leone Civil War - Ceasefire

Ceasefire

In late 2000, the Sierra Leone government – supported by the British, UNAMSIL, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – entered into talks with the RUF and, on 10 November, signed a ceasefire. The ceasefire – which was initially scheduled to last 30 days, but later extended by a further 90 days – provided, among other provisions, for UNAMSIL to deploy throughout the entire country (it had previously been prevented from operating in many RUF-controlled areas), the return to UNAMSIL of weapons and equipment seized by the RUF, and for the RUF to enter the DDR process. Further progress was made in May 2001, when the RUF agreed to a simultaneous disarmament with the Civil Defence Force, a militia group loyal to the government.

The RUF was also under pressure from other angles. It was heavily dependent on Sierra Leone's south-eastern neighbour Liberia, led by Charles Taylor, and derived the majority of its income from the sale of diamonds (which became known as blood diamonds) smuggled through Liberia. In May 2000, the international community embargoed Liberian diamonds and shortly afterwards, the RUF began large-scale disarmament. By September, over 16,000 militia members (including around 6,500 RUF) had been through the DDR process and the combatants in the diamond-producing areas had all disarmed.

The last STTT, formed around 2nd Battalion, The Light Infantry, left Sierra Leone at the end of September 2001. Approximately 8,500 SLA personnel were trained by the STTTs, which were replaced by the International Military Assistance and Training Team (IMATT) – an organisation formed of personnel from multiple countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United States, with the UK providing the largest contingent as well as an infantry company for force protection. The STTTs also formed a small special forces unit within the SLA – the Force Reconnaissance Unit (FRU) – to provide a morale boost and to give soldiers something to which thy could aspire. Later in the same year, the British Army advised the Sierra Leonean government during a restructure of the country's armed forces into a unified command, which became the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces in early 2002.

By March 2002, over 50,000 people had been through the DDR process and the RUF had been entirely disarmed. British forces were sent to the area in March 2003 to ensure stability while several prominent people – including Charles Taylor of Liberia, cabinet minister Samuel Hinga Norman, and several former RUF leaders – were arrested on suspicion of war crimes and indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.