Rockbites: Witness, Oxygen to premiere Operation Fine Girl

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Witness, Oxygen to premiere Operation Fine Girl
7 December 2001

(As a human rights oriented Web site—we’re here to raise funds for human rights as well as to expose cutting edge pop—Rockbites occasionally brings you non-music-related stories. Here’s one.)

New York city based human rights organization Witness, founded in 1992 by original Genesis vocalist Peter Gabriel, has teamed with US cable channel Oxygen to air the documentary exposé Operation Fine Girl: Rape Used As A Weapon Of War In Sierra Leone.
    The west African nation of Sierra Leone with a population of 4.5 million ranks within the bottom 10 worldwide in per capita GNP, and at the very bottom in terms of life expectancy and infant mortality. It achieved independence in 1961 after 174 years of British colonial rule (having been set up as a home for freed slaves) only to sink into a series of dictatorial and military governments, ousting each other in turn by coup. Now rebels commit atrocities to gain control over the country’s diamond trade to fund their missions.
    The hour long film describes Operation Fine Girl, a military operation carried out by Sierra Leone RUF (Revolutionary United Front) rebels over the past decade whose objective was to find and abduct pretty girls, with a focus on young virgins. The goal was to satiate the soldiers while terrorizing the populace.
    The documentary recounts the personal stories of four abductees, and features a rare interview with RUF spokesman Colonel Gibril Massakhoi on the topic of the treatment of women by his organization’s troops.
    One girl interviewed for the film was taken from her home at the age of eight, gang raped, and then used as a sex slave. According to Witness, “Since the start of Sierra Leone’s civil war in 1991, women have been abducted by rebels in massive numbers to perform domestic chores, become 'rebel wives' and sex slaves, and to be trained as fighters. Rape and sexual violence against women is a tactic that the rebels use to undermine the values and integrity of the society and terrorize the civilian population.”
    Operation Fine Girl is the second installment in the Witness/Oxygen Worth The Risk documentary film series which explores and exposes injustices against women around the world. It premieres this Sunday on the Oxygen channel, with subsequent airings on 15 and 21 December—check your local listings for times. | Witness | | Operation Fine Girl info | | top of page |

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