Two days ago, an international war crimes tribunal found RUF (Revolutionary United Front) leaders Issa Sesay, 38, and Morris Kallon, 45, and Augustine Gbao, 60, guilty of war crimes during the decade-long Sierra Leone civil war. I usually read this information, keep it to myself, and joyfully spit it out when drunk with like-minded people who also feel that the entire continent of Africa is severely underreported in American news.And while the international community must feel some sort of satisfaction seeing these three men convicted of mobilizing mass rape, mutilation, the killing of civilians, using child soldiers, and harnessing the diamond industry to fund their reign of terror, it is the marriage conviction that brings me great joy. According to BBC News, "the convictions mark the first time the forced marriage charge has been successfully handed down in an international court of law." Perhaps sooner than later we will finally see the entire institution of forced marriage--or any any abuse where one party does not give consent--dismantled and prosecuted to the true standards of international law.
