Chiefdom Shading Key:

	No violations reported (in statements to the TRC)
	Less than 25 violations reported
	25 or more violations reported

Note: Chiefdoms are shaded according to the number of violations recorded in the TRC's statements. Unreported violations may have occurred in chiefdoms where none are shown. Also the reporting of violations within a chiefdom does not imply that the abuse occurred at a particular location within that chiefdom. Outliers are excluded where evidence supports this decision. See the methodology for further explanation.

General Vandy in Zimmi

Though he later joined the Kailahun force, Foday Sankoh initially entered the country with the Pujehun group. Giving speeches in towns such as Gendema, Sankoh would talk of his 'national vision' for Sierra Leone. By all accounts, he talked passionately and persuasively about his revolutionary plans. His speeches were well received by the civilian population and a few people joined the RUF voluntarily.

However the fine speeches were at odds with the behaviour of the forces on the ground. The people were subjected to forced recruitment, arbitrary execution and other abuses from day one of the conflict. As one former RUF commander explained:

"When a civilian population is with you one day and against you the next, there must be a reason: if you take someone's food from them, do you think they are going to support you? It became almost a custom of the RUF that everywhere you went you would have to loot."

The popular rejection of the RUF was exacerbated by the actions of the NPFL fighters who fought with them. NPFL General Oliver Vandy led the NPFL contingent in Pujehun. On 17 June 1991, Vandy made a declaration in Zimmi that Sierra Leoneans were the avowed enemies of the NPFL. After that announcement, the Liberian contingent became extraordinarily violent towards Sierra Leonean civilians and their ruthless killings escalated.

Unsurprisingly, civilian support for the RUF was short lived. Now proceed to 1992 or read about the key battle of 1991 when the RUF attempted to seize the Moa barracks in Daru.

---

The story of the RUF's abject failure to inspire popular support can be found in The Military and Political History of the Conflict chapter of the TRC report (from paragraph 205 on Sankoh's speeches and from paragraph 167 on General Vandy)