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Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought a failed nine-year war in Sierra Leone, starting in 1991 and ending in 2000. It later developed into a political party, which existed until 2007. The three most senior surviving leaders, Issa Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao, were convicted in February 2009 of war crimes and crimes against humanity. ==Creation== The Revolutionary United Front initially coalesced as a group of Sierra Leoneans which led National Patriotic Front of Liberia elements across the border in an attempt to replicate Charles Taylor's earlier success in toppling the Liberian government.〔Adekeye Adebayo, Liberia's Civil War, 2002, p.90, citing Paul Richards, 'Fighting for the Rainforest: War, Youth, and Resources in Sierra Leone,' (Oxford, James Currey, 1996) and papers presented by Ibraham Abdullah, Patrick Muana, and David Keen at University College London, 21 October 2005. Full bibliographical information is at Adebayo, p.98.〕 The RUF was created by Foday Sankoh, of Temne and Mende background, and some allies, Abu Kanu, Rashid Mansaray, and the entire Mende tribe in the Southern and Eastern provinces of the country with substantial assistance from Charles Taylor of Liberia.〔David M. Crane , Special Court for Sierra Leone (February 5th, 2004)〕 At first, the RUF was popular with Sierra Leoneans, many of whom resented a Freetown elite seen as corrupt and looked forward to promised free education and health care and equitable sharing of diamond revenues. However, the RUF developed a reputation internationally for its terrible cruelty towards the civilian population during its decade-long struggle, especially its practice of hacking off limbs to intimidate and spread terror among the population, and its widespread use of child soldiers.〔John Quiñones. 'Sierra Leone Amputees.' Published on the ABC News website, January 7, 2006. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/t/story?id=131404&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.ca%2F〕〔David M. Crane (【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=4247 )〕 When it was first formed, the RUF put forward the slogan, "No More Slaves, No More Masters. Power and Wealth to the People." While its goal was clearly to change the government of Sierra Leone, the RUF gave little indication of what sort of government would replace it. The group did not advocate Marxism or any similar leftist ideology, nor did it advocate extreme nationalism or Fascism. It also did not claim to be a force fighting for a certain ethnic group or region. At one point, during ongoing peace negotiations in 1995, RUF published a pamphlet entitled "Footpaths to Democracy: Toward a New Sierra Leone", which contained some rhetorical references to social justice and pan-Africanism.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Revolutionary United Front」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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