Research Journal 6 :R.U.F Revolutionary United Front: Noel

The civil war in Africa began in 1991 and it has been one of the most brutal. The R.U.F which stands for the Revolutionary United Front, the group campaigned against president Momoh. This is the rebel group that was started by Foday Saybana Sankoh who was a former student activist. Sankoh later teamed up with Charles Taylor, and together they founded the RUF. Soon attacks started around Sierra Leone and Liberia, in a short period of time they had control of eastern Sierra Leone.
During the spring of 1992 the president was thrown out of power but the rebels. Even though they overthrew the president they still campaigned against the new military junta. In 1994 the RUF had also taken over the diamond mining areas. With this major advance by 1995 the RUF had control of almost all of the country's economic resources and taken many lives with them. They were not done yet their next move was Freetown. In 1996 Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was elected  president and signed a peace accord with Sankoh. Unfortunately the peace did not last long and Kabbah was deposed and there were some leaders that formed the AFRC ( Armed  Forces Revolutionary Council). This also included members from the RUF, they were in control of the country. The country soon fell into a downward spiral and government institutions and banks were shut down along with rape and murder happening everyday. After this happened troops from the ECOMOG (Economic Community Cease-Fire Monitoring Group) which had many soldiers from many different countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Gambia, Mali, and Sierra Leone. They intervened the AFRC and the RUF and in 1998 Kabbah returned to Freetown to take control of the country. Meanwhile ECOMOG still attacked the RUF and the AFRC.
In 1997 Sankoh was turned over to the government and was sentenced to death. Shortly after this the RUF engaged in the bloodiest endeavor which was "Operation No Living Thing". During this they RUF dismembered, abducted and murdered hundreds even thousands on people in the country. In July of that year there was another peace accord made- the Lome Agreement. This proposed that there would be a power-sharing plan and it gave Sankoh and the rebels a role in the government. However this would be in exchange for disarmament of the AFRC and the RUF. Even though this agreement was signed the RUF still continued to attack civilians and attack UN peacekeeping troops. Sankah was recaptured in 2000. The UN got involved with this whole situation around 2000, they started to deploy troops to the rebel-heavy areas and started to secure key areas in the country as well as trying to negotiate with the rebels. There was an disarmament of the RUF forces in 2001, then the civil war was declared over in 2002. In 2002 Sankoh died before he ever went to trial, he died of natural causes.
The ones fighting in this civil war were children, sometimes as young as 7, these kids were kidnapped. Not only were these kids forced to be killers but they became drug addicts as well. Kids were abducted to carry loot and military equipment for them, girls were also taken only for the purpose of rape.Taking drugs like cocaine was basically essential while training, along with raping women and girls. A lot of the kids fighting attacked their own villages and killed their families while being under the influence of drugs. These kids were brainwashed and had no idea what a real family is or how to live without violence or drugs. Many of these kids have outbursts of anger/rage and a want to kill. Along with the many horrible things they faced they also saw other kids who were killed because they wouldn't kill their families or friends.

The flag of the R.U.F. Has a lion in the middle  and about says Revolutionary United Front and in the green it says Power and Wealth to the people

1.  http://www.britannica.com/topic/Revolutionary-United-Front
2. https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/203/39429.html
3. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094419