Global Policy Forum

By James H. Nolt

Ottawa -- The Canadian non governmental organization, Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), released a study today showing that the brutal seven year war in Sierra Leone has been fueled largely by greed and corruption in the international diamond industry.

(A summary of the embargoed report is available by e-mail (RTF or WordPerfect) immediately by contacting This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .)

The three authors of the report, entitled "The Heart of the Matter: Sierra Leone, Diamonds and Human Security," traveled widely in West Africa, Europe and North America, talking to illicit miners, smugglers, government officials, law enforcement agencies, representatives of De Beers and other international mining firms.

They conclude that the largest motivating factor in the war has been the quest for diamonds by warlords and gangsters, neighboring states and a wide variety of international companies willing to go to almost any length -- including the provision of arms and mercenary armies -- to get at the diamonds.

The result has been a protracted seven-year conflict in which 75,000 civilians have been killed, and over two million people displaced. A reign of rebel terror, in which men, women and children as young as three had their arms and feet hacked off, helped clear the diamond areas for illegal mining and smuggling. A peace agreement was signed in July 1999, but one of the report's authors, Ian Smillie, says, "There will never be lasting peace in Sierra Leone until the diamond industry as a whole is properly managed."

Sierra Leonean diamonds, which should be used to pay for reconstruction and development, are mostly smuggled to Liberia for onward export to Antwerp and other trading centers. Growing infiltration of the diamond industry by organized crime, actively assisted by the Government of Liberia and largely ignored by the Government of Belgium, have made the tragedy of Sierra Leone much worse than it needed to be.

The 90-page study calls for the following:

The United Nations Security Council to place a full embargo on all diamond exports from Liberia until an international review can assess the country's legitimate mineral resource base.

A high-level commission of enquiry into the Belgian diamond industry, with particular reference to its lack of transparency and its possible infiltration by organized crime.

The creation of a Permanent Independent International Diamond Standards Commission to establish and monitor the implementation of codes of conduct and corporate behavior in the global diamond industry.

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