War crimes trial deserves attention of all Americans

There have been books written on the topic, a highly acclaimed movie that provided important insight, and even congressional hearings. Yet, it would be safe to assume that when Americans went jewelry shopping this Christmas, very few thought to ask the question, “Where did those diamonds come from?”

The question is at the heart of an important trial that resumed Monday in The Hague, Netherlands, after a six-month recess.

In the dock is former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is accused of terrorizing the people of neighboring Sierra Leone by orchestrating atrocities committed by militias. Their brutality and inhumanity was evidenced by the practice of hacking off their victims’ limbs. The 10-year civil war ended in 2003, but by the victim count ran well into the hundreds of thousands.

Why would one West African leader fuel the civil war in another country? Because Taylor wanted to get his hands on diamonds from Sierra Leone.

The human cost of this and other such expeditions gave rise to the name “blood diamonds” — or conflict diamonds.

Such diamonds were smuggled out of Africa and proceeds of their sale financed wars across Africa in the ’90s and into the new century.

Those wars resulted in millions of Africans being killed or maimed for life.

The diamonds were sold in rich western nations.

Ex-President Taylor faces 11 charges for murder, rape, enslavement and conscripting child soldiers.

He is the first former African head of state to appear before an international tribunal. Taylor has pleaded innocent.

Crime against humanity

The prosecution intends to call 144 witnesses, starting off with Ian Smillie, an expert on “blood diamonds.” What he has to say will be significant not only for the trial, but for enabling people with conscience around the world to understand why the trade in these precious stones should be a crime against humanity.

Several years ago, when Congress was seeking an end to the trade of conflict diamonds, then U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, and Rep. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, signed on as sponsors of a bill to establish an origin-tracking system to ensure that diamonds coming into the United States don’t have blood on them.

DeWine contended that the U.S., which is the world’s largest market for these precious stones, not only has “tremendous clout, be we have a tremendous incentive” to act.

Hall, with a long record of fighting poverty around the world, said of the conflict-diamonds legislation, “It will take profits away from civil war and the rebel armies causing destruction.”

Revolutionary armies fighting for control of the diamond mines have left a wide path of death and destruction. The numbers speak for themselves: 3.7 million people killed; 6.5 million driven from their homes; 12,000 children forced to become soldiers in conflict they do not understand.

The trial of former Liberian President Taylor is important not only from a legal aspect, but from a moral standpoint.