A briefing for supermodels and teachers
"I don't know anything about Charles Taylor. Never heard of him before. Never heard of the country Liberia before. I never heard of the term of blood diamonds before."
That's how supermodel Naomi Campbell responded to a question from lawyers as she gave evidence in the war crimes trial of Charles Taylor.
To fill that knowledge gap, here's a quick run down of the details that Naomi Campbell missed out on, along with some extra information to help make sense of the recent media interest.
Please note that this briefing was written in September 2010.
Who is Charles Taylor?
©InfoAt the moment, he is a defendant. The 62 year old is on trial for some of the most serious crimes anyone can be charged with. They include crimes against humanity and war crimes. He is being prosecuted in a special war crimes tribunal set up jointly by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations. The charges include terrorising civilian populations, murder, sexual violence, use of child soldiers in hostilities, and enslavement.
Until 2003 Taylor had been president of Liberia, where he was born and where he took part in a civil war in the 1990s. He became president of Liberia in 1997.
The prosecution claims that the crimes were committed during fighting in the Sierra Leone, the country which borders Liberia to the north, and which also had a civil war during the 1990s which ended in 2002.
What is Liberia?
A west African country, on the coast between Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone. Its name is based on the word liberty, chosen because the country was created in the 19th century as a settlement for freed slaves from the USA. Although itself one of the poorest countries in the world it has some very valuable mineral resources – including gold and diamonds. Its recent history was marked by civil war, which ended in 2003, when the president Charles Taylor resigned.
What are blood diamonds?
They are diamonds which are in some way mixed up with conflict – which is why they are sometimes also known as conflict diamonds. Because they have a high market value, these diamonds can be sold and the proceeds used to buy weapons, military equipment and other essentials for fighting wars. A group or faction wanting to challenge a legitimate or recognised government might be able to wage a civil war against it by taking control of diamond production and trade – depriving the government of vital income and building a military force to challenge it.
The United Nations long ago realised that a group could gain power and wealth for themselves by intimidating populations, recruiting an army and waging war against government, all on the back of illicit earnings from the vast wealth of diamonds. Their actions could perpetuate conflict, imposing misery and suffering on tens of thousands of ordinary people and denying the country the peaceful enjoyment of its valuable resources.
The UN calculated that restricting the trade in diamonds could take power out of the hands of these groups. If they couldn't sell the diamonds, they couldn't wage war. So a strict system of "certificate of origin" was devised, which meant only legitimate diamonds from areas controlled by recognised governments could be brought to the international diamond markets. Illegal diamonds couldn't be sold, therefore, it was hoped, massively reducing the power of criminals to create and maintain civil war. Diamonds which do not have a certificate are therefore known as conflict diamonds or blood diamonds.
What links the Charles Taylor trial and Naomi Campbell?
The prosecution is trying to prove that Charles Taylor committed crimes during the civil war in Sierra Leone. He is accused of selling diamonds and buying weapons for a rebel group. During the trial, which has already been going on for three years, he has denied ever having conflict diamonds in his possession. In an attempt to challenge that view, the prosecution called Naomi Campbell as a witness. She reluctantly gave evidence that a pouch containing rough diamonds – the form that conflict diamonds might be in – were given to her as a gift during a visit in 1997 to South Africa as part of her celebrity work for charity. She says she assumed they were from Charles Taylor.
Worth noting
The case is being tried in The Hague, in the building of the International Criminal Court. But this is only for security reasons. Other cases of the Special War Crimes Tribunal for Sierra Leone have been held in the country's capital Freetown.
Credits
This briefing was produced in September 2010 and written by PJ White.