FINAL REPORTS ON SANCTIONS IN ANGOLA AND SIERRA LEONE ENDORSE THE BELGIAN MODEL FOR DIAMOND CONTROLS
HRD announces new steps for internationalising the control procedures
Antwerp, January 5, 2001 – The Diamond High Council (HRD) welcomes the final reports of the UN expert panels on the sanctions in Angola and Sierra Leone. Both reports come to the same conclusions: the certification system elaborated by the HRD for Angola and Sierra Leone is a model that should be adapted by all diamond exporting countries. Other diamond centres are called to study the Belgian control procedures and to publish detailed statistics.
For the first time the UN confirms that the conflicts in Angola and Sierra Leone are not fought out because of the diamond reserves. After a few years, diamonds were however used by rebels to finance the purchase of weapons.
The HRD offered technical assistance in elaborating a new control system.
The certification system as applied in Angola and Sierra Leone now, with electronic exchange of data and pictures between exporting and importing authorities, has to be expanded in short-term to other diamond exporting countries in Africa, according to the UN.
A lot of attention goes to the controls that Belgium performs for import from ‘sensitive countries’. Those countries can be abused to bring conflict diamond on the world market. All diamond centres are called upon to install similar controls for those countries.
The expert panels call all trade centres to publish uniform, detailed statistics and note that the Belgian Diamond Office keeps the most detailed data. Tracing the channels that rebels use is complicated by the fact that some centres publish only general or no data at all.
"These reports are accurate. Remarks and recommendations are concrete and well-founded. The difference with the Fowler report is striking. Finally, Belgium is graded in an objective way and the result may be seen." says HRD Managing Director Peter MEEUS.
"It is important to fully recognise the international and political dimension of the problem. The HRD will now contact again African diamond exporting countries and other diamond trade centres to put the recommendations of the expert panels into practice."