People Features

Naomi Campbell and her elusive 'blood diamonds'

By Anna Tomforde Aug 5, 2010, 14:35 GMT

Supermodel Naomi Campbell is seen on a screen in the pressroom of the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in Leidschendam, Netherlands, 05 August 2010. EPA/VINCENT JANNINK/POOL

   London/The Hague - When Naomi Campbell opened her bedroom door to two strangers in the middle of the night 13 years ago, she just said 'thank you' for the gift of 'dirty looking stones' and asked no further questions.

   'I had been sleeping. I was just wearing a nightdress and a cashmere shawl,' the anxious-looking, but perfectly dressed, British supermodel told a high-powered legal panel at the 'blood diamond' trial of former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor in The Hague Thursday.

   'A gift for you,' the men had said, without any further explanation. And she, after thanking them, placed the pouch they had given her by her bed and went back to sleep.

   No, she never asked who they were, and - as a supermodel - was used to receiving gifts anyway. And yes, it was also a 'lie' that she had sat down and shared Coca-Colas with the nocturnal visitors.   

   After waking from her beauty sleep the next morning, and having glimpsed 'a few very small, dirty-looking stones' in the pouch, she shared her amazing nocturnal encounter with Mia Farrow, the actress, and Carole White, her former agent.

   One of them had suggested that the stones could only be a gift of uncut diamonds from Taylor, who had the night before been a fellow- guest at a star-studded dinner at the home of Nelson Mandela, the former South African president.

   'Yeah, I guess it was,' Campbell said she replied. But she immediately handed her gift to Jeremy Ratcliffe, a representative of the Nelson Mandel's Children's Fund, asking him to 'do some good.'

   She never thought again about the diamonds, and was 'astonished' to hear from Ratcliffe as late as last year that the gems were still in his possession and that they had never benefited the cause of the charity she was supporting.

   The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, however, made clear in a submission to the court that it would have been 'improper and illegal' to accept such a donation anyway.

   Campbell, dressed in a beige top and pencil skirt, with a beehive hairstyle and silver pendant necklace, rejected as 'not correct' allegations by Farrow and White that she had been 'mildly flirtatious' with Taylor, 62, throughout the dinner.

   'I had never heard of him before, never heard of Liberia before, never heard of the term 'blood diamonds' before,' said the model. It was only when she read up on Taylor on the internet that she realized he was supposed to have 'killed thousands of people.'

   Fears for the safety of her family had made her reluctant to come to court, which anyway was a 'big inconvenience' for her.

   As she spoke, having sworn on the Bible to tell the truth, Taylor was watching from the dock behind, aware that the supermodel's testimony could prove to be a turning point in his three-year trial.

   Although Campbell was careful not to implicate the former Liberian warlord directly in the diamond tale, experts believe her appearance, and first-time admission of the gift, could prove crucial for the proceedings.

   'It is positive because it puts the spotlight back on blood diamonds,' Amy Berry of human rights group Global Witness told the German Press Agency dpa Thursday.

   Campbell's testimony could help to move the trial forward by showing that Taylor's denials of the possession and sale of diamonds to finance conflict did not hold water, said Barry.

   'It highlights the need for international justice,' said Barry, which would, hopefully, lead to some sort of compensation for the victims of the 'horrific crimes' that were committed.

   Blood diamonds were still used in Zimbabwe today 'to fund abuse against civilians,' she said.

   Alex Vines, an expert on the diamond trade at Chatham House, the renowned foreign policy think tank, said it remained to be seen whether the model's testimony had been 'strong enough' to implicate Taylor.

   But it had, nonetheless, underlined that people could be held to account for their actions decades after the event.

   For Taylor, diamonds had been about maintaining power in Liberia, and about financing his extravagant lifestyle.

   'Sierra Leone diamonds were part of Taylor's vision,' said Vines.