Global Policy Forum

By Christo Johnson

Sierra Leonean rebels and pro-government militia are not complying with a mining ban imposed in the eastern diamond heartland of Kono, government and UN sources said on Saturday. "Rampant illicit mining continues in the district," one official at the UN mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) said.

Revolutionary Front (RUF) rebels, the government and the UN had agreed to ban all diamond mining in the Kono district from July 18 as part of efforts to end more than a decade of civil war in the West African country.

The use of diamonds to pay for Sierra Leone's brutal war has been one of the biggest factors in a world campaign against so-called "blood diamonds" used to fund conflicts. Skirmishes over diamond mining pits and continued tension in the Kono region have held up disarmament by the rebels and the pro-government Civil Defence Forces, despite pledges on both sides to speed up the process.

It was never entirely clear how the ban on mining would be enforced across the Kono district, where illegal diamond diggers have defeated efforts to catch them since before British colonial rule ended in 1961. "The decision to ban diamond mining in the Kono district was a fine one but how can such a ban be enforced when the government is not in control of the district?" said a former diamond valuator who asked not to be named. "The people in control of the Kono district are the RUF and the Civil Defence Forces, who have been doing the illegal mining - so I don't see how the ban could work."

Ban 'Out of the Hands' of the Ministry

Mineral Resources Minister Mohammed Deen told Reuters on Saturday that it was up to UNAMSIL to make sure the diamond ban was respected. "The ban in the Kono district is out of the hands of my ministry. It's actually right in the hands of UNAMSIL," he said. "They should be able to maintain, monitor and enforce the ban."

However, UNAMSIL spokesperson Margaret Novicki said the government and the RUF were responsible for enforcing the ban. "All that UNAMSIL can do is to help facilitate it by providing security. UNAMSIL cannot monitor it."

The government last October introduced a certification scheme with UN backing to stem sales of smuggled diamonds. More than 7 000 fighters have laid down their weapons across the country since the disarmament process began, following the deployment of UN peacekeepers made possible by a November cease-fire which has largely held.

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