Sierra Leone: The Geneva Conventions – ‘Rules of War’ Saved Me, Says Former Child Soldier

Seventy-five years since the ratification of the Geneva Conventions, a former child soldier-turned foreign minister of Sierra Leone has urged greater international support for the key accords, highlighting their importance in rehabilitating him and tens of thousands of his fellow compatriots following the country’s bitter civil war.

“I stand here today as a former child soldier, forcefully recruited during the civil conflict that decimated over 50,000 of my compatriots… I wouldn’t be the person…