§ Lord Juddasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress they have made in promoting appropriate multilateral action to evaluate the significance of diamonds and other precious metals in the causes of conflict throughout the world and to deal effectively with any connections which are established. [HL4648]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThe Government are at the forefront of international action to break the link between diamonds and conflict. We have placed this issue on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly, where we will seek endorsement for the development of an international certification scheme for rough diamonds in order to deny conflict diamonds access to world markets.
The United Kingdom also inspired and drafted UN Security Council Resolution 1306 (2000), which was adopted on 6 July. This imposed a ban on the import of all rough diamonds from Sierra Leone, with an exemption for rough diamonds controlled through the Government of Sierra Leone's certificate of origin regime. It also provided for an exploratory UN hearing on the role of diamonds in the Sierra Leone conflict, which was held in New York on 31 July-1 August, and for the establishment of a UN expert panel to investigate the link between diamonds and the arms trade. The panel will report to the Security Council in December.
The Government have given strong support to both the Sierra Leone Expert Panel, the UN expert panel looking into the exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the link to conflict there, and the UN Angola Monitoring Mechanism investigating violations of the sanctions against UNITA, including the UN ban on the import of all Angolan diamonds that are not controlled through the Angolan Government's certificate of origin regime.
We look forward to any recommendations these panels may make for further action.