Hollywood and United Nations agenda converge in the film "Blood Diamonds", which depicts how the world's most precious stone fuelled the conflict in Sierra Leone, leading to civil war in the 1990s, and portrays child soldiers and other human rights abuses. A panel discussion following the screening of the film at UN Headquarters brought together experts on diamonds and conflict, as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), diplomats, and one of the film's leading actors.

Djimon Hounsou, a leading actor in the film (left) and Radhika Coomaraswarmy, Special Advisor to the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict (right), at the discussion following the screening of “Blood Diamonds”. UN photo

The Sierra Leone civil war, initiated by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in 1991, involved various rebel groups, government armed forces, foreign mercenaries and neighbouring countries including Liberia and Guinea. The conflict, which lasted over ten years, resulted in an estimated 50,000 deaths and the displacement of over 2 million people--well over one third of the population--many of whom became refugees in neighbouring countries. In July 1999, negotiations between the Government of Sierra Leone and the RUF led to the signing of the Lome Peace Agreement, facilitated by the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States. Later that year, the Security Council established the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) to help create conditions in which the parties could implement the Agreement. Hostilities continued until January 2002, when the war was officially declared over.

"Blood Diamonds" tells the story of a Sierra Leonean family that is caught amidst fighting between the RUF and government forces, and is helped by a soldier-turned-diamond smuggler and an idealistic journalist. The film shows how rebels financed the purchase of weapons with illicit diamonds extracted from mines they controlled. It also depicts the brutal human rights abuses that occurred during the conflict, including cutting off limbs with machetes and using children as soldiers, as happened to an estimated 10,000 children during the civil war.

John McNee, Canada's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, opened the roundtable by outlining the Kimberly Process, a UN-sanctioned initiative among Governments, the international diamond industry and civil society designed to stem the flow of conflict diamonds--rough diamonds that are used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. "The Kimberly Process has made great strides toward halting the global trade in conflict diamonds since it was implemented three years ago. It has deprived criminals and non-State armed groups of the capital they require to wage violence", said Mr. McNee.

Actor Djimon Hounsou from Benin, who played one the major roles in the film, said that although "Blood Diamonds" was entertaining, it was ultimately "a vehicle to highlight the illicit diamond trade". He also supported the Kimberly Process, saying that it was the best means to stop the trade of illicit diamonds that lead to conflict in Africa.

Radhika Coomaraswarmy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said the film accurately portrayed the horrors and complexities around child soldiers, saying that "they look ruthless, in control or aggressive one moment, and the very next they are playful, childlike and will cry openly". She also noted that UN efforts to stop children from being used in armed conflict had achieved important results, particularly since a 2005 Security Council resolution established a comprehensive monitoring and reporting mechanism to ensure the protection of children exposed to armed conflict. Under the resolution, a list of countries and non-State parties that use child soldiers is compiled and made public. Some of those listed, such as Uganda, Myanmar and the Karen rebels in Myanmar, have subsequently asked what actions to take to be removed from the list, said Ms. Coomaraswarmy.

Jimmy Briggs, a freelance journalist on the panel who has written extensively on child soldiers, brought attention to "issues beyond the film, namely, girl soldiers and the sexual violence that is an entrenched part of this phenomenon". He said that "too often, in the rehabilitation process, the gender violence girl soldiers endure is not dealt with" and that the violence in Sierra Leone was also made possible by the wide availability of small arms. He urged continued efforts to reduce access to small arms in conflict zones.

"Nothing in the film exaggerates what happened in Sierra Leone, and it happened for ten years, not two hours", said Ian Smillie, a Canadian specialist on development, who served on the Security Council's panel on diamonds in conflict. Apart from the UN agencies working in the country, the United Kingdom and a few other countries, the world had forgotten about Sierra Leone, he said. "People in Sierra Leone are trying to get back to normal-if there ever can be a 'normal' there, and they're not getting a lot of help". As for the Kimberly Process, Mr. Smillie said that "from 1 to 10, it is about 7.5", saying it was the first attempt to control "the most concentrated form of wealth on earth". The Kimberly Process is getting stronger, with the force of law in 71 countries, he said, but stressed the urgent need to improve conditions for the 1 million artisan diamond diggers that work for less than $1 a day.

"The graphic depiction of abuses in the film underscores why justice is so important for the crimes committed in Sierra Leone", said Elise Keppler, Counsel with Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program. The Special Court on Sierra Leone is "making a vital contribution to bringing justice to people who committed serious crimes" in that country and helping order in a place that had been a "vacuum of the rule of law", she said. The tribunal was set up between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone to try serious violators of international humanitarian law, and has indicted people with charges that include murder, rape, extermination, acts of terror, enslavement, looting and burning, sexual slavery, child recruitment into armed forces and attacks on United Nations peacekeepers and humanitarian workers. The Court's outreach programme is "doing so much to make the Court's work accessible to the people of Sierra Leone and West Africa", Ms. Keppler said. She also remarked that the upcoming trial of Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia accused of human rights violations by the Special Court, "demonstrates that no one is above the law".