Murder, aggravated robbery and treason are capital crimes

Murder, aggravated robbery and treason are capital crimes.
Since 1991, civil war between the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (well over one-third of the population) many of whom are now refugees in neighboring countries.
A peace agreement, signed in July 1999, collapsed in May 2000 after the RUF took over 500 UN peacekeepers hostage. The RUF stepped up attacks on Guinea in December 2000, despite a cease-fire that it signed with the Freetown government one month earlier. As of late 2000, up to 13,000 UN peacekeepers were protecting the capital and key towns in the south.
A UK force of 750 was helping to reinforce security and train the Sierra Leone army.
On October 19, 1998, a firing squad publicly carried out the death sentence on 24 soldiers of the 34 convicted of treason.