Diamonds Are the Heart of the Matter

UN Chronicle, Fall, 2000 by Horst Rutsch

International Community Takes a Close Look at Conflict Diamonds

Momentum has been gathering worldwide to globally ban all trade in conflict diamonds. Earlier this year, groundbreaking reports made clear to what extent diamonds--and other "lootable" natural resources--fuel armed conflicts in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone. In these war-torn countries, rebel movements, such as the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), as well as a number of neighbouring State actors, have been profiting from the breakdown of government control over the lucrative diamond areas (see UN Chronicle, issue 2, 2000). Since then, the international community's response to the problem has been remarkably swift and unequivocal. Several Security Council resolutions, as well as agreements reached at international conferences, have called for the establishment of a global certification regime for diamonds (see time-line on page 67).

A key event was the Council's first-ever public hearing on the role of diamonds in the Sierra Leonean conflict, held on 31 July and 1 August. The two-day exploratory hearing, chaired by Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh, Chairman of the Sanctions Committee on Sierra Leone, was unique in that presentations were made by representatives of interested States, international and regional organizations, civil society, the diamond industry and independent experts (see Interview, next page). During the hearing, which also focused on the link between the illicit diamond trade and the trade in arms, the United States and the United Kingdom openly accused Burkina Faso and Liberia of supporting the rebels by trading arms for diamonds--both countries vehemently denied the allegations. Further discussed was the development of a sustainable and well-regulated diamond industry, and the Government of Sierra Leone unveiled its diamond certification regime, developed with international assistance. With Council ap proval, the Government on 12 October resumed export of the country's diamonds, which had been suspended since 5 July, following the Council's ban on all imports of uncertified diamonds from Sierra Leone.

Perhaps the important fact that emerged from the Council's hearing, revealing the "complexity and magnitude" of the problem, was that the international community expressed its readiness to participate in a UN-mandated global certification regime. On 21 September, at a high-level meeting in Pretoria, South Africa, Ministers from 20 countries and representatives from the diamond trade agreed to an international certification scheme, the so-called Kimberley process initiative, to trace the origins of all diamonds entering the global market. On 26 October, following a two-day conference on conflict diamonds in London, representatives from 36 Governments agreed to create a worldwide certification plan for diamond exports. Some countries, however, have been pressing further for a United Nations treaty to establish international law regulating the global diamond trade. The various proposals will be forwarded to the United Nations for review by the General Assembly, which has included the matter on the agenda of its current session. The Assembly is expected to adopt a resolution on "the Role of Diamonds in Fuelling Conflicts" on 20 November.

'We Need a Permanent International Panel'

Towards a Global Certification Regime for Diamonds

Following the Security Council's first-ever public hearing on the role of diamonds in fuelling the Sierra Leonean conflict, held on 31 July and 1 August, the UN Chronicle spoke with His Excellency Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations and Chairman of the Security Council Sanctions Committee on Sierra Leone.

You chaired the Security Council's exploratory hearing on the role of diamonds in fuelling the conflict in Sierra Leone.

The experts who were invited to come in and make presentations before the hearing were representing their Governments or themselves as individual experts. Representatives from the diamond industry and from various regional and international organizations, like the Economic Community of West African States and the World Bank, were also invited. We benefited tremendously from the broad spectrum of presentations--the complexity and the magnitude of the whole issue came up very openly. With the knowledge and the information that came out of this hearing, the Sanctions Committee on Sierra Leone can go to work right away. I will submit a report to the Sanctions Committee on the hearing, with my own observations about what we can and should do. Once the Committee approves it, it will go to the Security Council and, as a document of the Council, the report will be available to the general public.

What are your priorities at this point in time?

I believe that for the Sanctions Committee the most immediate concern should be the certification regime for Sierra Leone, as presented by its Government at the hearing. They are anxious to launch it; we are anxious to see it launched. It was apparent that the certification regime takes care of the many loopholes of earlier regimes like that of Angola and other countries. It is now incumbent on the Sanctions Committee to look into it and give it the go-ahead. The Committee should then start working n a number of concrete proposals that the diamond industry had offered, especially the nine-point resolution of the World Diamond Congress of 19 July. We should also look into strengthening the United Nations system regarding how we monitor the sanctions regime in Sierra Leone. The involvement of diamonds in continuing the conflict in Sierra Leone and other countries has so many actors that it is a situation altogether different from those generally handled by the Security Council. We need to set up a better infor mation source--an international database that is available to all actors. I also believe that the involvement of civil society is crucial in the process: in terms of fact-finding, in terms of information-gathering and in terms of awareness-raising. It is very important that all actors are involved effectively. It came out quite clearly at the hearing that Sierra Leone alone, or the Sanctions Committee alone, cannot effectively handle the situation unless the neighbouring countries are involved. We need to involve these countries in honouring the certification regime, not only in Sierra Leone but also in their respective countries. At the end of the day, we should look for a global certification regime. I think that is how we can see an end to conflict diamonds. Diamonds should contribute to the welfare and well-being of the producing countries and their people, and not be used to buy guns for the rebels.