This document describes the structure and variables for the data file from the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission. To protect the privacy of the people who suffered or reported violations, all personal identifying information about the victims or witnesses of the violations described in the data has been removed. Some statements included the names of the perpetrators alleged to be responsible for the violations described therein. Consistent with the TRC policy on the naming of perpetrators, such details are also excluded.
The unit of analysis for each record in this structure is the violation:
- Each violation was of a particular type, and happened at a particular time and place.
- Each violation was committed by unknown, one, or several organizational perpetrators.
- The violation was committed against zero or one named (individually identified) victims, and zero or more anonymous (unidentified) additional victims. Violations against anonymous individuals and groups have been filtered from the data so each record refers to an individual for whom, at a minimum, the first name or family name were given.
Note that where more than one perpetrator group is reported as responsible for a violation this implies collaboration between the factions. The exception to this is the Forced Displacement (FODI) violation as victims may be fleeing from fighting between factions e.g. abandoning their homes to escape conflict between the SLA and ‘rebels’ or the Kamajors and RUF.
To some degree, the statement giver’s perceptions of perpetrator responsibility are likely to be a little more subjective for the Looting (LOOT) and Property Destruction (DEST) violations because these violations may have happened in their absence without their encountering the perpetrators directly. Similarly for Forced Displacement (FODI) because people often fled because of fear of perpetrator groups believed to be in the area rather than because of a direct encounter.
The definitions of the various violation types considered by the TRC are given in the Violations Vocabulary. This is available This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Also see the Methodology section for notes on some specific coder led interpretations of the violation definitions.
In order to count the number of violations recorded in the dataset, users should simply count records. A violation may have been committed against one or many persons in the same place at the same time, with the data containing one record per victim. Where statements described a violation being committed against more than one person, the records share the same actid. The variable actorid identifies unique victims, so in order to count victims, the user should count the unique values of actorid. Note that the value of actorid is repeated where a victim suffered more than one violation. A victim may suffer the same type of violation more than once on separate occasions, applying the counting rules given in the violations vocabulary.
Violation variables
Variable name |
Variable type |
Description |
| roleid | long | Unique identifier for a victim suffering one violation. |
| violt | str23 | Violation |
| Hcode | str12 | Hierarchical location code |
| namer | str15 | Region of violation |
| named | str9 | District of violation |
| locac | str5 | Chiefdom TRC code for violation |
| namec | str22 | Chiefdom of violation |
| UNgeocode | long | Chiefdom code as provided by UN OCHA |
| actid | long | Unique identifier for a violation. |
| n_yr | long | Year of alleged violation |
| n_mo | long | Month of alleged violation |
| n_dy | long | Day of alleged violation |
Victim variables
Variable name |
Variable type |
Description |
| actorid | long | Unique identifier for a victim. |
| gendc | str1 | Sex code ( m=Male, f=Female, ?=Unknown ) |
| ethn | str9 | Ethnicity of victim |
| ethn1t | str9 | Aggregation of ethnic groups (see table below) * |
| langt | str25 | Language of victim |
| age | int | Age of victim in years |
| agecat6 | str5 | Age categories with 6 year period ( 0-5, 6-11, … , 66-71, 72+ ) |
| agecat5 | str5 | Age categories with 5 year period ( 0-4, 5-9, … , 75-79, 80+ ) |
| arngt | str13 | Age range of victim (Child, Adult or Elder) |
| occut | str16 | Occupation of victim |
Perpetrator Aggregations
This is the perpetrator classification list used by the TRC to classify perpetrators cited in statements. Each of the P* variables contains a 1 if this perpetrator was involved in this violation; blank otherwise.
pd_* list all the actors in the Sierra Leonean conflict (see the table below).
p3_* is a refined aggregation separating the AFRC from the SLA. In this case SLA means the Sierra Leonean national army prior to the 25th May 1997 coup. The AFRC refers to the post-coup soldiers who initially formed a government and then fled Freetown after the ECOMOG intervention. Note that the Westside boys are considered to be aligned with the AFRC, not the RUF.
To complete the aggregation, the following operations are applied to the data:
- AFRC abuses prior to the 25th May 1997 are moved to the SLA category
- SLA abuses from the 25th May 1997 onwards are moved to the AFRC category
- Abuses occurring either at some unknown date in 1997, or on an unspecified day within May 1997, are moved to an additional category AFRC/SLA as the correct group is ambiguous.
Arguably the AFRC/SLA category could be eliminated, with the abuses categorized as AFRC. The abuse profile for the AFRC/SLA category is comparable to that of the AFRC.
The 'unknown' category covers abuses where no mention was made of the responsible institution or violations where the presence of several perpetrator groups made it impossible to distinguish which was responsible for a specific abuse.
Perpetrator variables
Variable name |
Variable type |
Description |
| p3_ruf | int | RUF - Revolutionary United Front |
| p3_sla | int | SLA - Sierra Leone Army |
| p3_afrc | int | AFRC - Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (inc. Westside Boys) |
| p3_army | int | AFRC/SLA - 1997 abuse by either SLA or AFRC where actual factional responsibility is ambiguous |
| p3_rebel | int | Rebels - Abuses attributed to 'rebels' where the statement giver was unable to name a specific faction |
| p3_cdf | int | CDF – Civil Defence Force |
| p3_police | int | Police - Police officers including SSD division |
| p3_gaf | int | GAF - Guinean Armed Forces |
| p3_ulimo | int | ULIMO - United Liberation Movement for Democracy |
| p3_ecomog | int | ECOMOG - Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Military Observer Group |
| p3_unknown | int | Unknown - Abuse not attributed to any perpetrator group |
| p3_misc | int | Miscellaneous - Abuse attributed to miscellaneous minor perpetrator group. |
| pd_airwing | int | Air Wing |
| pd_afrc | int | Armed Forces Revolutionary Council |
| pd_rebels | int | Rebels |
| pd_ruf | int | Revolutionary United Front |
| pd_nprc | int | National Provision Ruling Council |
| pd_sla | int | SLA - Sierra Leone Army |
| pd_westside | int | Westside Boys |
| pd_sobels | int | Sobel (Soldier / Rebel actor) |
| pd_armed | int | Other / Unknown Armed Faction |
| pd_cdf | int | Unspecified CDF Militia |
| pd_kamajors | int | Kamajors |
| pd_donsos | int | Donsos |
| pd_gbethes | int | Gbethes |
| pd_tamaboros | int | Tamaboros |
| pd_kapras | int | Kapras |
| pd_hunters | int | Hunters |
| pd_cdu | int | Civil Defence Unit |
| pd_ssd | int | Police SSD Division |
| pd_police | int | General Police |
| pd_civillians | int | Civilians / Persons Unknown |
| pd_duress | int | Person/s Under Duress |
| pd_gaf | int | Guinea Armed Forces |
| pd_npfl | int | National Patriotic Forces of Liberia |
| pd_ulimok | int | ULIMO-K |
| pd_ulimoj | int | ULIMO-J |
| pd_libforce | int | Unspecified Liberian Force |
| pd_mercs | int | Mercenaries |
| pd_ecomog | int | ECOMOG |
| pd_un | int | UN peacekeepers |
Note: The perpetrators information is a faithful reproduction of allegations made in the statements, as perceived by the statement giver, and without the application of any judgment or other evaluation. This accounts for the few occasions where, as with the two violations attributed to the UN, further investigation led the TRC to conclude that the institution was not responsible for violations, contrary to the statement.
Perpetrator Aggregation Table
Category |
Institution |
pd |
p3 |
|
Sierra Leonean Perpetrators |
||||
| Armed Forces | ||||
| Air Wing | ARM/AIR | SLA | ||
| AFRC | ARM/AFRC | AFRC | ||
| Rebels | ARM/REB | Rebels | ||
| RUF | ARM/RUF | RUF | ||
| NPRC | ARM/NPRC | SLA | ||
| Sierra Leone Army (SLA) | ARM/SLA | SLA | ||
| Westside Boys | ARM/WEST | AFRC | ||
| Sobel (Soldier / Rebel actor) | ARM/SOB | Rebels | ||
| Other / Unknown | ARM/? | Unknown | ||
| CDF (Civil Defence Militias) | ||||
| Kamajors | CDF/KAM | CDF | ||
| Donsos | CDF/DON | CDF | ||
| Gbethes | CDF/GBE | CDF | ||
| Tamaboros | CDF/TAM | CDF | ||
| Kparas | CDF/KPA | CDF | ||
| Hunters | CDF/HUN | CDF | ||
| Civil Defence Unit | CDF/CDU | CDF | ||
| Undefined CDF Militia | CDF/? | CDF | ||
| Civil Authorities | ||||
| Government | CIV/GOV | Misc | ||
| Judiciary | CIV/JUD | Misc | ||
| SSD / OSD | CIV/SSD | Police | ||
| General Police | CIV/POL | Police | ||
| Citizens | ||||
| Person/s Under Duress | CIT/DUR | Misc | ||
| General Civilian / Persons Unknown | CIT/GEN | Misc | ||
Outside Perpetrators |
||||
| External Forces | ||||
| Guinea Armed Forces (GAF) | EXT/GAF | GAF | ||
| NPFL (Ntnl. Patriotic Front of Liberia) | EXT/NPFL | RUF | ||
| ULIMO-K | EXT/ULK | ULIMO | ||
| ULIMO-J | EXT/ULJ | ULIMO | ||
| Liberian Force | EXT/LIB | Misc | ||
| Mercenary Forces | ||||
| Gurkhas | MER/GUR | Misc | ||
| Executive Outcomes Mercenaries | MER/EXEC | Misc | ||
| Sandline Intl. Mercenaries | MER/SAND | Misc | ||
| Other / Unknown Mercenaries | MER/? | Misc | ||
| Interventionist Forces | ||||
| ECOMOG | INT/ECO | Ecomog | ||
| UN Peacekeepers | INT/UNP | Misc | ||
Ethnicity Aggregations
This is the ethnicity classification list used by the TRC to classify the ethnicity of the statement-giver and of the people he or she cited in their statement. The traditional areas or homelands of the various ethnic groups are mapped here.
ethn1t: The initial aggregation of ethnicity was designed to test research questions on whether perpetrator groups had targeted victims according to a broad allegiance, either to the North or South; in other words, Temne and Mende respectively. The proposed ethnic allegiances were verified by TRC researchers.
Category |
Members |
| Northern | Temne, Koranko, Limba, Loko, Yalunka |
| Southern | Mende, Sherbro, Krim, Vai, Kissi |
| Other | Krio, Fourah Bay, Kru, Kono, Susu, Lebanese, Mandingo, Fula, Other |
| Foreign | Caucasian, Liberian, Nigerian, Burkinabey, Guinean |
Note that the Fourah Bay group was included on the recommendation of some of the coders, denoting a person of Krio descent who practices Islam. This is in contrast to the majority Krio group who will tend to follow a denomination of Christianity. Fourah Bay is a neighbourhood of Freetown and its Muslim Krio residents might more properly be known as the Oku people: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourah_Bay
A second aggregation was used to consider more specific targeting according to ethnicity. For example, research suggested that the NPFL targeted the trading peoples – Mandingo and Fula – because of the perception (by perpetrators) that they were loyal to the former Liberian head of state Samuel Doe. Though the aggregation is not included in the data file the definition is included here for completeness.
Category |
Members |
| Northern | Temne, Koranko, Limba, Loko, Yalunka |
| Southern | Mende, Sherbro, Krim, Vai, Kissi |
| Krio | Krio, Fourah Bay |
| Trader | Mandingo, Fula |
| Kono | Kono |
| Other | Kru, Susu, Lebanese, Other |
| Foreign | Caucasian, Liberian, Nigerian, Burkinabey, Guinean |
Locations Vocabulary
Consistent with the TRC’s mandate then the small number of violations reported outside of Sierra Leone have been filtered out of the data. Locations cover Sierra Leone as a whole and are grouped geographically at three levels, from the top level of regions down to districts and then chiefdoms:
- Regions: Also known as provinces, the regions are the North (NTH), East (EST), South (STH) and the Western Area (WST). The latter is the peninsula that includes the capital Freetown and a rural hinterland.
- Districts: Twelve in total, residing within the North, East and South regions. Each district is coded by its first 3 letters with the exception of Bo District where an X was appended giving ‘BOX’.
- Chiefdoms: Totalling 149, a chiefdom is contained within one district. Across the districts there are two instances where two chiefdoms have identical names; Koya chiefdoms in Kenema and Port Loko districts and Bumpeh chiefdoms in Moyamba and Bo districts. Being governed differently, the Western Area is not divided into districts and chiefdoms so it is covered by just two codes, for urban Freetown (WST01) and the surrounding rural area (WST02).
Chiefdoms are specified with both the location variables used by the TRC and, for compatibility the ‘geocodes’ recommended by the UN-OCHA. It is hoped that inclusion of the UN codes will facilitate mapping of violations using GIS software. The TRC location codes are available here and a 2002 map of Sierra Leone chiefdoms including the geocodes is given here.
Note: In its original form the TRC locations vocabulary contained an additional entry at the chiefdom level, the Bonthe Urban District Council. This corresponds to a historical local government division including Bonthe town so violations at this location have been aggregated into the Sittia chiefdom which contains Bonthe town.
As spelling of chiefdom names varies between sources, the names used in the vocabulary are consistent with those given in the 2002 UN-OCHA map. Subsequent to the work of the TRC more thorough maps of Sierra Leone have now been produced – see the UNIPSIL website.