BLOODY TRAIL OF diamonds...

In September 1997, supermodel Naomi Campbell was woken up by few men at Nelson Mandela's house in Cape Town and presented with a pouch which in Campbell's word consisted of few "very small, dirty looking stones".

These very dirty stones have become fundamental evidence at the war crimes trial of the former Liberian president Charles Taylor at Hague.

Taylor is alleged to have been rewarded with conflict diamonds from Sierra Leone in return for helping the rebel forces there. What is conflict diamond?

The United Nations (UN) defines conflict diamonds as "...diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognised governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council."

Rough diamonds produced in such areas are sold by the rebel forces to purchase arms or to fund their military action. The problem is most severe in Africa.

Many people are killed in the pursuit of conflict diamonds, including mine workers who are forced to smuggle diamonds out to support growing families or pay off individuals who have threatened them. These are often produced through the forced labour of men, women and children. Billions of dollars have been gained from the sale of these war diamonds, leading to death tolls which are estimated to be in the millions.

They are also stolen during shipment or seized by attacking the mining operations of legitimate producers.

These attacks are of large military operation. The stones are then smuggled into the international di amond trade and sold as legitimate gems. Arms merchants, smugglers and dishonest diamond traders often enable these rebels' actions. Enormous amounts of money are at stake and bribes, threats, torture, and murder are modes of operation. This is why the term `blood diamonds' is used. Coming to light Blood diamonds captured the world's attention during the extremely brutal conflict in Sierra Leone in the late 1990s. During this time, conflict diamonds represented approximately 4 per cent of the world's diamond production. Illicit rough diamonds have also been used by rebels in other African countries.

The diamond lure Diamonds have also been used by terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda to finance their activities and for money-laundering purposes. For terrorist organisations, diamonds are viewed as an ideal currency.

The difficulty in tracking and monitoring diamonds makes it very easy to slip a blood diamond into legiti mate diamonds. Some times a blood diamond may be traded directly for weapons, to reduce the traceability of the transac tion. In other cases, the dia monds may be exchanged for currency of various na tions, often deposited into bank accounts outside the nation of origin.

The global resolution In May 2000 major dia mond trading and produc ing countries, representa tives of the diamond indus try, and NGOs met in Kimberley, South Africa, to establish an international diamond certification scheme known as the Kimberley Process.

Under the scheme all diamonds traded by member countries are certified so that buyers can be sure they are conflict-free.

In December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution supporting the creation of an international certification scheme for rough diamonds.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) came into existence in November 2002. The KPCS imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as `conflict-free' and prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade.

The KPCS entered into force in 2003, when participating countries started to implement its rules.

As of November 2008, there were 49 members, representing 75 countries, with the European Community and its Member States counting as an individual participant. KP members account for approximately 99.8 per cent of the global production of rough diamonds.

Under the terms of the KPCS, participating states must meet `minimum requirements' and must put in place national legislation and institutions; export, import and internal controls; and also commit to transparency and the exchange of statistical data. Participants can only legally trade with other participants and international shipments of rough diamonds must be accompanied by a KP certificate guaranteeing that they are conflict-free.