Britain’s Role in Promoting Security Sector Reform in Sierra Leone

Abstract

This chapter examines Britain’s military intervention to stabilise the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) in 2000 and its active support of a post-war security sector reform (SSR) programme that contributed substantially to restoring peace and stability in Sierra Leone. The British backed the rebuilding of the intelligence services, the police, the military, and the justice sector, which had been severely damaged by autocratic governance and the 11-year civil war. Despite some disaffection with the SSR programme, it produced Sierra Leone military and police forces that functioned better than in the pre-war era. Both forces became much more subordinated to (civilian) governmental authority, though they remain less accountable to civil society. Furthermore, the military and police continue to experience problems with recruitment, compensation, and equipment.