Ishmael Beah, whose memoir A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier tells his story of being forced to be a child soldier during Sierra Leone’s civil war in the mid-1990s, will speak on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. in Gasson 100. Beah was drafted at the age of 13, and like other child soldiers, was brainwashed, given guns and drugs and instructed to kill as many people as possible. In 1996 Beah was rescued by a coalition of UNICEF and NGOs, but his transition back into society proved to be another formidable challenge. A Long Way Gone, a New York Times best-seller, is “at once crucial testimony for understanding the tragedy of contemporary war zones, and a testament to the power of peacemakers,” according to the publisher. His appearance is co-sponsored by the Center for Human Rights and International Justice and the Arts and Social Responsibility Project.