Charles Taylor’s Trial Involved Naomi Campbell

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The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) is still ongoing as prosecutors are attempting to send Charles Taylor to prison.  He is an ex-president for a country in western Africa, Liberia.  The court in Hague made headline news because supermodel Naomi Campbell testified that she received diamonds from unknown people.

Infamous Charles Taylor

Charles Taylor was a President for Liberia from 1997 to 2003.  Before that time, he was a prominent warlord who took a big part in assisting the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels during Sierra Leone’s civil war that was fought between 1991 to 2002.  The war was mainly fought by children who were forced to kill, given drugs to incite violent behavior, and usually instructed to rape and plunder.  Charles was arrested in 2006 and a year later his trial started at the Hague in the Netherlands.  He has pleaded not guilty to five counts of crimes against humanity, including enslavement, murder, sexual slavery, and violence.  He is also charged with five counts of war crimes, including acts of terrorism and torture, and one count of other serious violations of international humanitarian law.  The United Nations sponsored Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) alleges he took advantage of having weapons to trade to the rebels in Sierra Leone for diamonds.

About Blood Diamonds

Charles Taylor also denied of any involvement with the so-called “blood diamonds.”  The prosecutors for the case also said that he even trained and commanded the rebels.  The civil war in Sierra Leone became famous for witnessing children being used to maim civilians, always hacking off their hands and legs.  Due to the interlinked conflicts in both Liberia and Sierra Leone, in the 1980 and 1990s ten of thousands of people have died and left millions homeless.

Diamonds are Regulated

The Revolutionary United Front had control of Sierra Leone’s diamond producing zones for most of the eleven-year time period.  Blood diamonds is the term used in response to gems mined illegally in African war zones.  They even use forced labor most of the time.  At the apex of the conflicts in 1999, trading involving diamonds was to have been potentially worth $140 million a year, approximated by the World Bank.  The United Nations set up the 2003 Kimberley Process to regulate uncut or rough diamonds after the Sierra Leone war ended.  That entity requires its 49 members, representing 75 countries, to make sure shipments of rough diamonds are “conflict-free.”  The Antwerp Diamond Exchange has calculated that blood diamonds from across Africa accounted fifteen percent of market trade during the 1990s.  In 2010, it is thought they have been reduced to just one percent of the trades.

A Gift for Naomi Campbell (Related to Blood Diamonds)

On August 5, 2010, supermodel Naomi Campbell testified in the Special Court for Sierra Leone.  Prosecutors closed the trial against Charles Taylor in in February 2009.  Then on June 2009, they learned that Charles had given Naomi Campbell some diamonds.  Both individuals in 1997 traveled to attend a posh dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela in Pretoria, South Africa.  Naomi Campbell testified that she received diamonds given by men who just wanted to give her a pouch in the middle of the night.  She interacted with Charles during dinner time.  She only decided to go and testify after she was threatened with charges for contempt of court and facing a maximum of seven years in prison.  She also testified that very soon she gave the diamonds to her friend Jeremy Ratcliffe, who is a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.  Her reason is that she was not comfortable taking present while she already was helping out underprivileged children.  Naomi told Jeremy to auction the diamonds with charity being the beneficiary.

Hope for the Prosecutors in Charles Taylor’s Trial

With Naomi Campbell’s statements, the prosecutors are hoping it would help them proof that Charles Taylor used blood diamonds for personal enhancement and buying weapons.  Charles’ lawyers Courtenay Griffiths and Morris Anyah are making every effort that their client would be acquitted off all charges.  After Naomi’s testimony that included saying that she believes Jeremy Ratcliffe still have the diamonds, he handed over them to South African police on August 5, 2010.  Musa Zondi, police spokesman, stated the gems are real when he talked to CNN thus, Ratcliffe could face charges of possession of unpolished diamonds.

Sometime in the future we will know whether Naomi Campbell’s testimony will help send Charles Taylor to prison for any of the eleven charges against him.  Sierra Leone’s civil war included child soldiers and selling diamonds to get weapons.  Revolutionary United Front rebels may have been assisted by Charles.

Resources About Charles Taylor Trial Involving Naomi Campbell

Naomi Campbell’s Friend Turns in Diamonds to South African Police

Naomi Campbell May Face Charges Over “Blood Diamonds”

The Trial of Charles Taylor

Resource by S.Lee

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