"Blood" Diamonds Trade: Naomi Campbell to Testify in The Hague in Former Liberian President Charles Taylor's International War Crimes Case

Photo: Naomi Campbell, Wikimedia Commons

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been subpoened to testify in the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. The subpoena was issued on June 30, 2010. It orders Campbell to appear before the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) sitting at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague (Netherlands) at 9 am on July 29, 2010.

During the Sierra Leone civil war of 1991-1992 an estimated half a million lives where lost, which includes many alleged war crime atrocities. The SCSL prosecution alleges that Taylor obtained "blood" diamonds -- which describes diamonds mined in a war zone to finance army activities -- during the 1991-1992 Sierra Leone civil war. Taylor's statement before the SCSL is that he never possessed rough diamonds.

According to the UN News Centre's July 1, 2010 report, Naomi Campbell is alleged by prosecutor information and belief to have stated that Taylor gave her a gift of a rough diamond at an 1997 private dinner at the home of the former South African president Nelson Mandela. Prosecutors have summoned Campbell's testimony in an effort to impeach Taylor's statement as untrue.

The international war crimes prosecution before the trial chamber of the SCSL also alleges that timber and other mineral wealth was traded between Taylor and Sierre Leone rebels. The actress Mia Farrow has also been subpoened to appear at the ICC to testify in the SCSL proceeding. The prosecution's ultimate effort is to obtain war crimes and crimes against humanity convictions against Taylor.

Charles Taylor was born January 28, 1948 in Montserrado County in the West African nation of Liberia. He obtained his college education from Bentley College in the United States before returning to Liberia to work in the governmental administration of former Liberian President Samuel Doe. He would later become Liberia's 22nd president and serve from August 2, 1997 until his resignation on August 11, 2003.

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