NEW REPORT EXAMINES “DEVELOPMENT DIAMONDS’
March 17, 2004
Partnership Africa Canada and the Network Movement for Justice and
Development issued a joint report today on diamonds in Sierra Leone, a
country emerging from one of Africa’s most brutal wars. The Diamond Industry
Annual Review: Sierra Leone 2004, examines the country’s transition from war
to peace and the extent to which “blood diamonds” can now be called
“development diamonds”.
It describes the remarkable turnaround in an industry which in 1985 exported
only 50,000 carats legally (and probably ten times that amount illegally).
The 1990s was a “lost” decade with the diamond regions being under the
control of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) who used the sale of
diamonds to finance a rebel war. In 2000, as a result of international
pressure and UN sanctions, the government began to regain control of the
diamond industry. In 2003, after two years of peace, Sierra Leone
officially exported half a million carats, worth over US$75 million.
The report is a who’s who of the country’s diamond business, ranging from
the 200,000 men and boys digging waist-deep in the mud of alluvial pits, to
Hisham Mackie, the country’s largest diamond exporter. The report examines
the impact of diamond mining on the environment, and looks into the issue of
child labour. And it spells out who makes money in an industry that once
fuelled war and is now held up as a hope for the future.
The report describes the temptations of smuggling and corruption in the
casino economy of diamond digging. And it takes a long hard look at Sierra
Leone’s ability to comply with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
for rough diamonds, which aims to end the problem of conflict diamonds
forever. The report describes initiatives for better management of the
diamond sector, and tries to answer a question posed by a New York diamond
dealer: “Should I buy Sierra Leone diamonds?”
The Diamond Industry Annual Review is the first in a series. It benchmarks
problems and achievements in one of the country’s most important industries
and is the starting point for a longer discussion over time about whether
and how diamonds - symbols of love and purity - can create badly needed
employment and bring lasting development to the poor countries where they
are mined.
The review will be posted at www.pacweb.org http://www.pacweb.org from
March 17.
For more information, contact
Ian Smillie 1-613-728-9725
Lansana Gberie 1-416-741-1349
Susan Isaac 1-613-237-6768
The review will be released on Thursday, March 18 at China House, Freetown,
Sierra Leone. For more information, contact Abu Brima or Salieu Karama at
+232 22 22 33 78 or +232 22 22 99 37.
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