| Country: | Sierra Leone |
| Details of Formation: | Executive Outcomes was a private military company, founded in South Africa in 1989 (Wikipedia). In 1995, they were contracted to fight RUF rebels in Sierra Leone. |
| Details of Termination: | Before the elections in 1997, the government capitulated to international pressure from the IMF to withdraw the group from the country (Wikipedia). |
| Purpose: | Executive Outcomes provided all aspects of a highly trained modern army and was hired to fight RUF rebels as the army of Sierra Leone was less professional and incapable of countering the rebels. Between December 1995 and October 1996, the group launched a series of offensives that secured the Freetown area, reoccupied the diamond mines, and eliminated the RUF bases. After EO destroyed RUFs key base in January 1996, they began serious negotiations for the first time. However, after the group left Sierra Leone, RUF rebels sacked the capital (Wikipedia, Amnesty International 2006, Spearin 2009). |
| Organisation: | The government exercised control over the group via their contract and payment. |
| Weapons and Training: | As the group was hired for their expertise in fighting and weaponry, they were logically not trained by the government of Sierra Leone. They provided armour, support aircraft and battle tanks. They were bought from sources in the worldwide arms trade within Africa and Eastern Europe (Wikipedia). As the military had considerable deficiencies, the Executive Outcomes trained and worked instead with the Kamajor militia (Spearin 2009). |
| Size: | Executive Outcomes had about 2000 members in total, with around 350 operating in Sierra Leone (Spearin 2009). One news source suggests up to 500 mercenaries fighting in the country. |
| Reason for Membership: | The group was hired for their professional expertise in fighting and contractually bound. |
| Treatment of Civilians: | no information |
| Other Information: | -- |
| References: |
Amnesty International. 2006. “The call for tough arms controls: Voices from Sierra Leone.” Spearin, Christopher. 2009. “Back to the future? International private security companies in Darfur and the limits of the Executive Outcomes example.” International Journal 64 (4): 1095-1107. Wikipedia. “Executive Outcomes”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Outcomes |