Sept. 13, 2015
Notorious 'Blood Diamond' Trafficker Nabbed En Route to U. S.
Diamond miners
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A U.S.-based businessman whose dealings in ‘blood diamonds’ replicated scenes from the 2006 movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio was pulled him off an aircraft by police in Malaga, Spain. He was said to have a ticket for New York.
The arrest was based on a complaint filed against Michel Desaedeleer in 2001 by five former diamond mine slaves.
“This is the very first time that a businessman has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the international crimes of both pillage of blood diamonds and enslavement of civilians,” said Civitas Maxima, a Geneva-based organization that helped build a case against Desaedeleer.
According to media accounts, Desaedeleer collaborated with rebel leader Foday Sankoh who gave him a monopoly on all gold and diamond mining in the rebel-controlled areas of Sierra Leone. With his offshore company BECA, Desaedeleer forced enslaved civilians to mine for diamonds in Sierra Leone's eastern district of Kono between 1999 and 2001. Later, he is alleged to have tried to sell the territory back to Sierra Leone for $10 million.
The diamond trade, according to U.N. estimates, was valued at between $25 and $125 million each year, most of which was spent on weapons and war material.
According to Civitas Maxima, working with the Center for Accountability and Rule of Law in Freetown, preparing the case against Desaedeleer took several years.
Desaedeleer's name was mentioned in a United Nations report in 2000. He denies any wrongdoing, telling Newsweek magazine in 2000 that he had a legitimate contract for exclusive mining and development of diamonds in areas of Sierra Leone controlled by the Revolutionary United Front and saying all his actions were above board.
"This is a landmark case, the first of its kind, and it will help to raise awareness of the pivotal role played by financial actors in the trade of mineral resources that fuel armed conflcits in Africa and elsewhere," said Civitas Maxima director Alain Werner.
Unregulated mining came up again this week when torrential rains over the past weekend submerged several bridges and highways, stranding thousands of traders. Significantly, the bridge linking the eastern Kenema district to the capital is out of service. Local traditional leader says many villages in the surrounding area may also have been submerged. Seventy houses have been washed away, according to Umaru Fofana, a local reporter.