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.