Monday, November 19, 2012
Libyan, Russian, and United States role
Libyan, Russian, and
United States role
Muammar al-Gaddafi both trained and supported
Charles Taylor. Gaddafi also helped Foday Sankoh, the founder of the
Revolutionary United Front.
According to Douglas Farah:
The amputation of arms and legs of men, women, and
children as part of a scorched-earth campaign was
designed to take over the region’s rich diamond fields and was backed by
Gaddafi, who routinely reviewed their progress and supplied weapons.
Russian businessman Viktor Bout,
who enjoys protection of the Russian state, supplied Charles Taylor with arms
for use in Sierra Leone and had meetings with him about the operations.
Charles Taylor worked for The United
States' CIA, , beginning in 1980s. The exact nature of this relationship
is uncertain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leone_Civil_War#The_demographics_of_rebel_recruitment
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
CIVIL WAR AND DIAMONDS
CIVIL WAR AND DIAMONDS
Between 1991 and 2002, the country suffered a brutal, ten-year civil war
during which the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) committed horrendous
atrocities, terrorizing the population and gaining control of the country's
diamond mines.
Eight years of protracted war left tens of thousands of people displaced
and unknown numbers dead or mutilated. Half a million of Sierra Leone's people
were forced to flee the country. The UN Security Council established the
Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) in October 1999 to help restore peace. At its
height, UNAMSIL had 17,000 troops and was the biggest UN peacekeeping operation
in the world. The Abuja Agreement in 2001 finally led to a reduction of
hostilities and by early 2002, tens of thousands of ex-combatants had been
disarmed and demobilized. By January of 2002, the civil war was over and Sierra
Leone became a democratic country.
In 2000, the
United Nations Security Council banned both direct and indirect imports of
rough diamonds from Sierra Leone to member states in an effort to help
stabilize the country and reduce the rebel's access to foreign currency and
arms.
Since the end of
the civil war in 2002, the diamond industry has provided technical assistance
and training to Sierra Leone's Ministry of Mines in setting up the Government
Diamond Office - an important step to being part of the Kimberley Process. In
2003 Sierra Leone joined the Kimberley Process, the international agreement
developed to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate diamond supply
chain and provides an assurance that diamonds are from conflict free sources.
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Sierra Leone is situated in western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia. A former British colony with a current population of 6.1 million, Sierra Leone gained independence in 1961.
The economic and
social infrastructure of Sierra Leone is not well developed. Nearly half of the
population survive by subsistence agriculture, although alluvial diamond mining
(mining that extracts diamonds from deposits of sand, gravel and clay, which
have been naturally transported by water erosion and deposited along either the
banks of a river, the shoreline or on the bed of the ocean) accounts for nearly
half of the country's exports and is the most significant source of hard currency
earnings.
English is the
official language of Sierra Leone but only 35% of its citizens are literate.
The average life expectancy is 40 years and AIDS/HIV affects 7% of the
population.
Diamonds were
first discovered in Sierra Leone in 1930. In addition to diamonds, the country
also has several other natural resources - titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore,
gold and chromite.
http://www.diamondfacts.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=129&Itemid=167&lang=en
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