Patrick Leahy: “recently, the Prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone briefed the staff of the Foreign Operations…”

“recently, the Prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone briefed the staff of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee. He spoke about his efforts to prosecute those responsible for the horrific crimes that were committed there and to help this nation emerge from a tragic episode in its history. Whenever something like this occurs, the question that first comes to mind is why did it happen? Was it a political struggle? Was it because of religious extremism or ethnic hatred? Unlike Yugoslavia or Rwanda, most experts believe that the driving force behind this brutal conflict was control of resources, especially diamonds. The problems associated with conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone are not confined to West Africa. They also have an impact in the United States. According to the Washington Post, al Qaeda reaped millions of dollars from the illicit sale of diamonds, and law enforcement officials have said that in order to cut off al Qaeda funds, you have to cut off the diamond pipeline. With all that is happening in the world, it may be understandable that the issue of conflict diamonds is not front page news. However, we are starting to make some progress on this important issue. The Administration has been working to help create an international regime aimed at stopping the trade in conflict diamonds. Initiated by a group of African nations, the Kimberly process has the support of a diverse group of non-governmental organizations and the diamond industry.”