Global Witness said it had refused “to evolve and address the clear links between diamonds, violence and tyranny.” Late last year a major international environmental group pulled out of the so-called Kimberley Process designed to guarantee that diamonds do not come from conflict zones. The collected material is then separated using hand-held sieves. They are often forced to use primitive, back-breaking methods such as digging into mud or gravel along river banks with their bare hands. That claim contradicted Taylor’s testimony that he never handled the precious stones that fueled the conflict.Īpart from the innocent people caught up in the conflicts that the trade fuels, thousands of men, women and children in countries such as Sierra Leone are used as slaves to extract diamonds. The prosecution argued the stones were “blood diamonds” – a personal gift from Taylor. She told the court she received a gift of “dirty-looking stones” from two men following a dinner hosted by then-South African President Nelson Mandela in 1997. He was found guilty of aiding the rebels, but a judge ruled that prosecutors failed to prove he was in command of them.ĭuring the trial British supermodel Naomi Campbell was summoned as a witness for the prosecution. Taylor was accused of arming rebel groups and terrorizing civilians during the decade-long civil war in exchange for uncut diamonds smuggled out to him in empty mayonnaise jars. They are generally in “rough” form, meaning they have recently been extracted and not yet cut.Īt the height of the civil war in Sierra Leone, it is estimated that conflict diamonds represented approximately four percent of the world’s diamond production.
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