Statement of the Hon. Mike DeWine, a United States Senator from the State of Ohio

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Trade
of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Hearing on Conflict Diamonds

October 10, 2001

Chairman Thomas and Ranking Member Rangel -- thank you for allowing me to testify at this very important and very timely hearing today. As you know, the diamond trade is one of the world's most lucrative industries. With its potential for extreme profitability, it is not surprising that a black-market and illicit trade have emerged alongside the legitimate industry.

Candidly, diamond trading has become an attractive and sustainable income source for violent rebel groups and terrorist networks around the world. In fact, the sale of illicit diamonds has yielded disturbing reports that even Osama bin Laden is involved in this trade. The February 22, 2001 U.S. District Court trial, United States vs. Osama bin Laden attests to this. Additionally, there is an established link between Sierra Leone's diamond trade and well known Lebanese terrorists.

In Africa currently, where the majority of the world's diamonds are found, there is on-going strife and struggle resulting from the fight for control of the precious gems. While violence has erupted in several countries, including Sierra Leone, Angola, the Congo, Guinea [gih -knee], and Liberia, Sierra Leone -- in particular -- has one of the worst records of violence. In this nation -- a nation embroiled in civil war for nearly a decade, rebel groups-- most notably, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)-- have seized control of many of the country's diamond fields. Once in control of a diamond field, the rebels confiscate the diamonds; launder them onto the legitimate market through other nearby nations, like Liberia; and ultimately finance their terrorist regimes and their continued efforts to overthrow the legitimate government.

Upon reaching the market, it is nearly impossible to distinguish the illegally gathered diamonds -- also known as "conflict" or "blood" diamonds -- from legitimate or "clean" stones. And so, over the past decade, the rebels have been able to smuggle out at least $10 billion dollars in diamonds.

Since the start of the rebel's quest for control of Sierra Leone's diamond supply, the children of this small nation have borne the biggest brunt of the insurgency.

For over eight years, the RUF has conscripted children -- children often as young as seven or eight years old -- to be soldiers in their make-shift army. They have ripped an estimated 12,000 children from their families. After the RUF invaded the capital of Freetown in January 1999, at least 3,000 children were reported missing.

As a result of deliberate and systematic brutalization, child soldiers have become some of the most vicious -- and effective -- fighters within the rebel factions. The rebel army -- child-soldiers included -- has terrorized Sierra Leone's population, killing, abducting, raping, and hacking off the limbs of victims with their machetes. This chopping off of limbs is the RUF's trademark strategy. In Freetown, the surgeons are frantic. Scores of men, women, and children -- their hands partly chopped off -- have flooded the main hospital. Amputating as quickly as they can, doctors toss severed hands into a communal bucket.

I cannot understate nor can I fully describe the horrific abuses these children are suffering. The most vivid accounts come from the child-soldiers, themselves. I'd like to read a few of their stories, taken from Amnesty International's 1998 report called, "Sierra Leone -- A Year of Atrocities against Civilians." According to one child's recollection:

"Civilians were rounded up, in groups or in lines, and then taken individually to a pounding block in the village where their hands, arms, or legs were cut with a machete.... Men were then ordered to rape members of their own family. If they refused, their arms were cut off and the women were raped by rebel forces, often in front of their husbands...victims of these atrocities also reported women and children being rounded up and locked into houses which were then set [on fire].

A young man from Lunsar, describing a rebel attack last spring, said this:

"Ten people were captured by the rebels and they asked us to form a [line]. My brother was removed from the [line], and they killed him with a rifle, and they cut his head with a knife. After this, they killed his pregnant wife. There was an argument among the rebels about the sex of the baby she was carrying, so they decided to open her stomach to see the baby."

Rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual abuse of girls and women have been systematic, organized, and widespread. Many of those abducted have been forced to become the "wives" of combatants. According to Isatu, an abducted girl now 18:

"I did not want to go; I was forced to go. They killed a lot of women who refused to go with them."

She was forced to become the sexual partner of the combatant who captured her and is now the mother of their three-month-old baby.

Mr. Chairman, we are losing these children -- an entire generation of children. If the situation does not improve, these kids have no future. But, as long as the rebels' diamond trade remains unchallenged, nothing will change.

We can do something about this. We can make a difference. We have the power to help put an end to the indescribable suffering and violence in Sierra Leone, Angola, and elsewhere in Africa. We have that power, Mr. Chairman, and we must use it.

As the world's biggest diamond customer -- purchasing the majority of the world's diamonds -- the United States has tremendous clout. With that clout, we have the power to remove the lucrative financial incentives that drive the rebel groups to trade in diamonds in the first place. Simply put, if there is no market for their diamonds, there is little reason for the rebels to engage in their brutal campaigns to secure and protect their cache.

That is why, along with my distinguished Senate colleagues, Senator Durbin` and Senator Feingold, I have introduced legislation called the "Clean Diamonds Act of 2001" to remove the rebels' market incentive. My colleague from Ohio, Congressman Tony Hall, and Congressman Frank Wolf from Virginia have introduced a similar measure in the House.

Our bill is very simple. The whole idea behind it is to facilitate the implementation of a system of controls on the export and import of diamonds, so that buyers can be certain that their purchases are not fueling the rebel campaign.

Specifically, our legislation would prohibit the import of diamonds and diamond jewelry into the United States unless the exporting countries have a system in place that includes forgery-proof certification documents, as well as a uniform database to track and monitor the global diamond trade. This means that every diamond brought into the United States would require a certificate of origin and authenticity, indicating that it was not laundered onto the market by a rebel group.

Additionally, the bill requires the President to report annually to Congress on the control system's effectiveness and also requires the General Accounting Office to do the same within three years of enactment.

Finally, our bill stipulates that fines and proceeds from seized contraband will be contributed to the USAID's War Victims Fund. These funds would be returned to the very people who suffer from the profitable sale of the diamonds and would be used to help finance humanitarian relief and microenterprise efforts.

Our bill represents a turning point -- a point of unity among the industry and the international community. And, it is our hope that this legislation will bring immediate attention to this problem and add momentum to international promises of action.

We have an obligation -- a moral responsibility -- to help stop the violence, the brutality, the needless killing and maiming. No other child should kill or be killed in Sierra Leone and other African nations. It is the humane thing to do. It is the right thing to do.