Naomi Campbell to face War Crimes Tribunal

Finally, justice! Hehe, well, not exactly. La Campbell herself won't be accountable for her many crimes, none of which have been classed as war crimes (yet), but she was recipient of some pretty impressive bling from former Liberian president and warlord Charles Taylor at a party at Nelson Mandela's residence in 1997. Mia Farrow has the photo to prove it!

The diamond trade fuelled the armed conflicts in African countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola and Congo, bringing untold misery to generations of Africans, untold wealth to a minute number of unscrupulous arms dealers, power to warlords and the destruction of many childhoods as these warlords took to recruiting ever younger child soldiers. However, no sufficient evidence has been presented showing that Taylor was in anyway involved in the blood diamond trade, but it's believed that after a long period of persuasion, Campbell's testimony of receiving a blood diamond will help convict the former warlord.

Taylor's fall from grace was quite spectacular, coming within the same ambit as the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Manuel Noriega - US darlings turned bad. In the early 1990s, I remember Charles Taylor, whose background is Amero-Liberian (the Liberian elite, descendants of freed American slaves that returned to Africa and created Liberia in 1822) and had spent considerable time in the USA, being presented in a sort of swashbuckling-cum-gangsta glam way. In other words, he wore the white hat, by virtue that he had an American connection and was the natural showman - pluses in grabbing US media attention. Eventually winning power, his image couldn't have been more opposite a decade later, when suddenly he was evil incarnated, complete with Libyan backing and training (that was left out before). What I see here is that the US were taken in by Taylor's charm in the beginning and the misguided belief that being from the Amero-Liberian elite he would ensure that the previous cozy relationship Liberia had with the US would resume, that once they belatedly realised that they were blind to reality, they have decided to take it out on Taylor. This is not to say that I think Taylor is a victim - far from it! What I would like to see is the many other Charles Taylors out there receive the same treatment for the sake of justice for the many who suffered in Africa. I just hope that the emphasis on 'getting' Taylor is because he is a villain for the things he has done and not because he double-crossed the American establishment.

Mark the 29th July in your diary as that's the day La Campbell faces the War Crimes Tribunal. The publicity will do the Tribunal good as it has been losing its purpose and support, and subsequently its funding from donor countries, for years now.