Foreign Policy Blogs

Dirty-Looking Stones Land Supermodel Naomi Campbell in a Witness Stand at the War Crime Trial of Charles Taylor

You probably already heard this, but at the International Court in Hague where she testified in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, Naomi Campbell confirmed receiving a gift of “dirty-looking stones” in 1997. These dirty-looking stones turned out to be precious diamonds, prosecutors believed to be Charles Taylor’s “blood diamonds, which fueled Sierra Leone’s bloody conflict, a conflicted that displaced and killed hundreds of thousand people.

Apparently, Naomi Campbell was handed a pouch containing diamonds by two unidentified men, presumably representing Charles Taylor, following a dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela. If the prosecutors prove that the diamonds were indeed from Taylor, Ms Campbell’ s testimony deals a terrible blow to Taylor’s claim that he never dealt in diamond during the Sierra Leone war.

 

Author

Ndumba J. Kamwanyah

Ndumba Jonnah Kamwanyah, a native of Namibia in Southern Africa, is an independent consultant providing trusted advice and capacity building through training, research, and social impact analysis to customers around the world. Mos recently Ndumba returned from a consulting assignment in Liberia in support of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
In his recent previous life Ndumba taught (as an Adjunct Professor) traditional justice and indigenous African political institutions in sub-Saharan Africa at the Rhode Island College-Anthropology Department.

He is very passionate about democracy development and peace-building, and considers himself as a street researcher interested in the politics of everyday life.
Twitter: NdumbaKamwanyah