March 5, 2014 marks the closure of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) and a transition to a standard UN presence through a Country Office. But as we celebrate almost fifteen years of UN commitment to lasting peace in Sierra Leone, it is important to note that many lives could have been saved and perhaps a decade of carnage prevented in the country had the UN intervened earlier. Sierra Leoneans, like we are currently witnessing in Syria,...

When old John Quincy Adams undertook the defense of the Sierra Leonean Amistad mutineers, he had been a diplomat, lawyer, lawmaker, and president (In other words, he knew the heck he was talking about, especially as to the international law arguments). He accused the government of discrimination against the Africans in favour of the Spanish and also what he referred to as  "Lilliputian trickery," after exposing the government’s plan to clandestinely deport the Africans to Cub...