Written By: Kakuna Kerina, Matthew Leone & David Tam-Baryoh

National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC)

On April 29, 1992, approximately 17 junior military officers seized power in a bloodless coup d'etat and were quickly joined by officers of the paramilitary State Security Department (SSD) who collectively engaged in mass looting throughout Freetown, especially of goods awaiting customs clearance at the Queen Elizabeth II quay. General Momoh fled to Guinea and 24-year-old Captain Valentine E. Strasser was declared Chairman of the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). Many citizens initially welcomed the change from the 23-year dictatorial APC regime, that was perceived as old and corrupt. This explains why thousands of citizens rushed into Freetown's streets to welcome a military coup that had overthrown an elected government. However, political and economic deja-vue quickly set in.

The NPRC enlisted support from a pool of private groups and individuals with the skills necessary to retain military control of the government. Ukrainian pilots were hired to pilot the two military helicopters based in Freetown. They also performed topographical surveys together with the South African mercenary group, Executive Outcomes. There was no shortage of willing and able partners ready to earn crisis pay, sometimes in diamonds.

The NPRC junta immediately suspended the 1991 Constitution, declared a state of emergency, and enacted a rule-by-decree policy. The army and all national security forces, including the SSD and senior police officers were granted unlimited powers of administrative detention without charge or trial, and challenges against such detentions in court were precluded. The NPRC misread citizen's initial embrace as acceptance of poor governance and corruption and when the press continued to publish critical reports with headlines like, "How Sincere are the NPRC?" "Villains or Redeemers?" and "When Will Property Confiscation Stop?" the regime retaliated against the scrutiny.

Some journalists publicly questioned the NPRC "boys" (junior officers) promises to facilitate a return to democracy. The media's apprehension was realized when, in a May 5, 1992, national television and radio broadcast, Chairman Strasser canceled the elections the APC had scheduled for later that year, and informed the nation that the NPRC would end the war and return the country to constitutional rule "within three years." The media reacted by doggedly challenging the NPRC on its policies, or lack thereof, warning fellow citizens about the probability of the regime perpetuating its rule as other military regimes had done in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Nigeria. Thus, the battle lines between the media and NPRC were formally drawn.

On July 10, 1992, the NPRC struck at the press with Decree 6, The Press Guidelines, of which Section 15 authorized the Post Office General Manager to confiscate any materials "from or to any territory" and submit them to a State Censor for as long as "he deems necessary." Section 16 of the decree stated that publications or broadcasts that influence "public opinion" in a manner likely to be prejudicial to public safety, public tranquillity, maintenance of public order" can be restricted. And Section 17 stated, "Any person who publishes any report or statement which is likely to cause alarm or despondency or be prejudiced to public safety, public tranquillity or maintenance of public order "may face a fine of up to (US $1,000) or up to five years imprisonment."

The media reacted passively to Decree 6, in fear of prosecution and detention. However, a newspaper named Lauda Merci (pidgin English for "Lord Have Mercy") soon surfaced in the Gambia, and made its way to Freetown via 4-times weekly Ghana Airways flights from Banjul. NPRC officials received their copies of Lauda Merci via the postal service. A number of local journalists anonymously submitted articles to Lauda Merci for publication. The NPRC accused Dr. Abdulai Conteh, former APC Vice-President and Attorney General who was in exile in the Gambia after the coup, of being the editor of Lauda Merci, a charge he denied. But later, fearing for his life because of the collegial relationship between Gambian military dictator Captain Yahya Jammeh and Chairman Strasser, Conteh subsequently fled to England.

In late 1992, a new Civil Defense Force (CDF) was created in Kenema under the leadership of Dr. Alpha Lavarlie to defend rural areas from RUF attack. The CDF was commonly referred to as the Kamajors (a Mende term for "local hunters") because it recruited local farmers who were familiar with the countryside and could more successfully maintain its security. In February 1998, under the leadership of Deputy Defense Minister Chief Sam Hinga Norman, the Kamajors would fight side-by-side with ECOMOG soldiers to reinstate President Kabbah. On February 1, 1993, upon the order of the NPRC Information Secretary, the Press Re-Registration Guidelines were issued for all newspapers to comply with by February 8. The guidelines demanded full access to newspapers' printing plates/dummy sheets 24 hours in advance of press time. This action effectively banned 19 independent newspapers, while other succumbed to self-censorship in order to survive. The NPRC used this as a means to determine which media would support them under duress because the decision had already been made to retain power longer than they had originally states. The following requirements of the Press Guidelines sealed the fate of those 19 newspapers:

• "a fixed asset to a value of not less than 5 million leones (or <5,600 or US$8,716) together with a cash deposit of 1 million leones in an interest bearing account in any local commercial bank..." for newspapers;
• (vi) the editor must be either a degree holder, or a holder of diploma in mass communications, or one who has been a journalist for 15 years (with 5 years in an editorial position); and
• (vii) a registration fee of 50,000 leones (US $35) after settling other tax requirements with the Income Tax Department."

In addition to the use of anti-press decrees and registration requirements, the NPRC routinely arrested journalists to control news coverage, particularly in response to reports on government corruption connected to the war effort. On January 11, 1993, NPRC Vice Chairman Solomon Anthony Musa summoned Chernoh Ojuku Sesay, editor of The Pool, to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) after the newspaper reprinted an article from London-based West Africa magazine reporting that Musa had traveled to Belgium to buy arms. At CID headquarters, Musa assaulted Sesay in the presence of CID head Teddy Williams (who later became Inspector General of Police), rendering him unconscious. Fellow journalists feared similar treatment, and because of the necessity to publish and earn their daily bread, were even less inclined to take chances with "the boys." Sesay was targeted with harassment by NPRC officials and subsequently wrote a letter of apology Vice Chairman Musa, against the advice of his deputy editor. When Sesay's letter of apology was published in the state-owned Daily Mail (edited by Martin Mondeh, the brother of NPRC third-in-command, Captain Komba Mondeh), Sesay's colleague resigned in protest. After the New Breed newspapers October 13, 1993 edition published an editorial titled "Redeemers or Villains?" about corruption and diamond smuggling by NPRC officials, most of its staff was arrested. The New Breed had demanded that the government respond to an article published in the Swedish newspaper Expression, reporting that Chairman Strasser flew to Antwerp to sell US $43 million worth of diamonds. On August 15, 1995, after a 22-month trial, then New Breed managing editor Dr. Julius Spencer (now President Kabbah's Minister of Information), acting editor Donald John, sales manager Alfred Conteh, and printer Alusine Basiru, were convicted on 10 counts of seditious libel. The journalists were sentenced to stiff fines ranging from 400,00-800,000 leones each (US $150-300), or one-year prison terms in the event they could not pay the fines.

In December 1993, the NPRC reiterated its promise to return the country to a multi-party political system within three years, despite the fact that the National Advisory Council (NAC) had recommended a 15-month time frame. The NAC had been established by Decree No. 7 of November 1992, as amended by Decree No. 3 of April 1994, to draft a new constitution and prepare for the transition to democracy. It Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, who had returned to Sierra Leone after leaving his position with the United Nations Development Programme, was put in charge of the NAC and its role in the multiparty elections scheduled for December 1995.

The NPRC's pronouncements about democracy were not accompanied by a commitment to a freedom of the press or expression. On the occasion of the NPRC's first anniversary in power, Chairman Strasser announced the repeal of repressive press laws, but they were simply replaced by new Press Guidelines issued on February 1, 1994, that enacted similar steep fees and strict registration requirements.

As the Liberian-backed RUF insurgency gained momentum and the national army grew increasingly mutinous, NPRC Information Secretary Hindolo Trye announced, on November 24, 1994, that all information about military operations would be subject to censorship for a four-week period. According to the government order, the news blackout was intended to ensure the secrecy of state maneuvers against the RUF. Yet news about the war was the "only news worth reporting" in the eyes of independent journalists. The order generally went unheeded, despite the arrests of several journalists. And journalists who did make what was perceived as a futile attempt to clear discouraging news on the war with the high command at Cockrill were also targeted for arrest. During this time, rumors of misappropriation of funds were rampant, with private businessmen donating heavily to the war effort, to curry favor with the regime and gain valuable contracts. At the time, the NPRC claimed it was spending 8 million leones (US $3,000) daily on the war.

Simultaneously, the identity of the perpetrators of attacks against civilians became increasingly difficult for human rights groups to establish. In addition to the RUF, atrocities were also carried out by subversive factions within the army who were opposed to the NPRC, and the government was forced to admit that grave problems of indiscipline existed. During this time, some senior army officers were accused of collaborating and conniving with the RUF to overthrow the NPRC. An example of this is the arrest on treason charges of Lieutenant Colonel Chernor Malado Deen, who was sentenced to death and later pardoned by President Kabbah. The media was subsequently restricted from identifying "sobels" (soldier rebels) who were looting and terrorizing citizens in the rural areas. By restricting reporting on human rights abuses committed by government soldiers to protect its image as a unified force against the RUF, the NPRC may have damaged its impact on the RUF by allowing sobels to perpetuate their crimes without national scrutiny.

The NPRC's retaliation against critical journalists was usually swift. On April 13, 1995, military police arrested Vision editor Siaka Massaquoi and reporter Max Corneh without charge and detained them for five days in response to an editorial criticizing the NPRC for the military's cowardly response to a rebel attack at Waterloo (approximately 10 miles southeast of Freetown). Massaquoi's commentary, that the NPRC had organized a concert while rebels were in their backyard, exemplified the citizenry's lack of confidence in the military "boys" abilities to control the war. That the attack on Waterloo occurred the same day that Jamaican-born Reggae musician Joseph Hills was performing at an NPRC-sponsored concert at the National Stadium simply added insult to injury in the eyes of the media. The government claimed the article was a "morale booster" for the rebels, despite the fact that residents of Freetown, rather than rebels in the bush, had access to newspapers that were not being distributed nationally at the time. Simultaneously, politicians who were afraid of the NPRC began using the press to pressure them into holding elections. The "paid press" jumped at the opportunity to earn extra income, resulting in the emergence of two factions: the anti-elections media, led by the Vision's Siaka Massaquoi and Hilton Fyle, and the pro-elections media, led by Concord Times' Lansana Gberie and David Tam-Baryoh. During the April 27, 1995, 34th Independence Address to the nation, Chairman Strasser announced that the ban on political activity, enforced since1992, would be lifted in preparation for legislative and presidential elections scheduled for June 1995, and proposed an immediate cease-fire and negotiations with the RUF. The RUF rejected these overtures, and responded by calling for a withdrawal of foreign ECOMOG troops and Executive Outcomes mercenaries, and for the NPRC to cede power to an interim government. The RUF did not apply for registration as a political party, although 15 other political parties did register to contest the elections.

Despite the lifting of the ban on political parties in June, and the preparation for elections, the NPRC continued to detain journalists for publishing "annoying" articles. The result was the continued scant coverage of the war being waged by all parties involved against innocent civilians. Reports citing poor performance, defections by government troops, or the involvement of Liberia in the war, were treated as extremely sensitive and rigorously censored. Additional examples of this censorship include the following:

• The March 13, 1995, arrest of Week End Spark reporter Rowland Martyn, by CID agents, for publishing a photograph of an unnamed army officer who had defected to the RUF. The photo was accompanied by the following text: "The New African Soldier. Your body reflects what you eat, so too your army is what you provide for it. A well trained and equipped soldier reflects a wise deterrent policy for the preservation of peace and freedom... let us all learn from the bitterness of the past... let our army reflects our true character... what we eat. A dedication to all our patriotic soldiers dead or alive."
• In May 1995, when 500 SLA soldiers reportedly defected to the RUF from the Teko Barracks in Makeni, the media was banned from reporting the incident.
• On July 12, 1995, when Standard Times editor Ibrahim Karim-Sei quoted a delegate of the peace conference, held in Yamassoukro, Cote d'Ivoire, who described the South African mercenary group Executive Outcomes as "hard-core attack dogs of apartheid," he was imprisoned without charge for 10 days.
• And in mid-August 1995, then Concord Times editor David Tam-Baryoh's report that the NPRC had provided arms to ULIMO-K fighters in Liberia, resulted in his arrest. Tam-Baryoh's article was accompanied by an editorial titled, "Breaking International Protocol? Taylor Shall Hit Us!" commenting that the NPRC's action was a violation of ECOWAS protocol prohibiting the interference of any nation into the internal affairs of another state. Two days later, when Charles Taylor's NPFL fighters attacked Sierra Leone in retaliation for Sierra Leone's support of ECOMOG military actions against Taylor, NPRC Secretary of State for Foreign and International Relations Dr. Abass Bundu ordered Tam-Baryoh's arrest.

During the months preceding the elections, which had been postponed from December 1994 to February 1996, some of the worst atrocities committed against civilians were at the hands of the RUF. For example, slogans denouncing the elections were carved into victims' backs and chests, and their hands were amputated as symbolic messages to civilians not to cast votes. However, there were also elements within the NPRC who did not want elections to take place, as evinced by remarks made by Brigadier Joy Turay at the National Consultative Conference, when he stated, "the Army cannot guarantee security if the people want elections."

In January 1996, NPRC Chairman Strasser was overthrown by his second-in-command, Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, but this sudden change did not derail the transition to civilian rule. A national consultative congress overwhelmingly decided that elections should proceed despite the country's prevailing state of emergency. In February 1996, the NPRC commenced discussions with representatives of the RUF, such as Corporal Foday Sankoh, Dr. Dean Jalloh, and Saia Musa, and the eagerly anticipated electoral process was officially underway. As one of its last official acts, the NPRC issued the Indemnity and Transition Decrees, 1996, which provided immunity from prosecution for acts committed since 1992 by NPRC officials, the armed forces, and those acting upon the orders of the NPRC. The inclusion of a similar clause in the Lome Peace Accord was not without precedent.

Once election campaigning was underway, Kabbah's Campaign Chief, Thorlu Bangura, promised press freedom in a speech at the National Consultative Conference, should the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) win office. Kabbah's primary competition was from Dr. John Karefa-Smart and his United National People's Party (UNPP), which would later become the most significant opposition party in the Parliament.

The election was monitored by international and regional groups including the United Nations, the British Commonwealth, US President Jimmy Carter, and a delegation from ECOWAS. In the larger cities like Freetown, Bo, Makeni, Kenema, and Kono, the elections were judged free and fair. However, in smaller towns such as Blama, Kabala, Sandah, which were under RUF control, there were reports of citizens who attempted to travel to the larger towns to vote, being amputated by rebels who attacked them for attempting to vote.