Naomi Campbell and the trial of Charles Taylor

It's not every week that models and actresses give evidence in a war crimes trial. But this week, model Naomi Campbell and actress Mia Farrow testified at the trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor.

The trial, which began in January 2008, concerns a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the West African country of Sierra Leone during their brutal civil war in the 1990s.

The war was fought between the Sierra Leonean government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group who were trying to take over the government.

Witnesses at the trial have given evidence that members of the RUF mutilated and murdered civilians, used women and children as sex slaves, recruited child soldiers, pushed civilians into forced labour, smuggled arms, and even indulged in cannibalism.

At the time Mr Taylor was president of neighbouring Liberia.

The prosecution says that Mr Taylor is responsible for the acts of the RUF because he commanded them (from afar) and provided them with weapons in an attempt to boost his influence in West Africa and gain control of lucrative diamond mines in Sierra Leone.

He is alleged to have been given diamonds from the RUF in exchange for the weapons – hence the term blood diamonds.

Mr Taylor denies all the charges and the defence has called several witnesses in support of his denial.

So what's it got to do with Naomi Campbell?

The prosecution says that at a dinner for Nelson Mandela in South Africa in September 1997, Charles Taylor gave Naomi Campbell a few ‘blood’ diamonds as a gift.

They claim those blood diamonds were extracted from RUF-controlled mines in Sierra Leone and given to Taylor in exchange for weapons. At about that time, a large number of weapons suddenly appeared in West Africa.

The prosecutors hope that if they can prove Mr Taylor was in possession of diamonds in South Africa, it might imply that he used them to pay for weapons.

With those weapons, they hope to prove he had influence and control over the RUF, and was therefore responsible for their actions.

Where does Mia Farrow come in?

Mia Farrow was also at the September dinner, and her account of the night differs from Naomi's, as does the account of Naomi's former agent Carole White.

Taking the stand last week, Naomi said that she never spoke to Charles Taylor that night, and instead was seated between Nelson Mandela and music producer Quincy Jones.

She says that a pair of strange men turned up at her door in the middle of the night and gave her a pouch with two or three dirty looking stones in it.

She says she gave the diamonds to Nelson Mandela's children's fund because she felt uncomfortable taking gifts while she was working for charity.

Both Mia Farrow and Carole White dispute this, but their stories differ.

Ms Farrow says she can't remember where Naomi sat at the dinner, but that at breakfast the next morning Naomi boasted of being given one large diamond by Mr Taylor the night before.

Ms White says that Naomi sat in between Mr Taylor and his minister of defence, and that Mr Taylor told Naomi he would give her some diamonds.

Ms White says that later that night, two men threw stones at her and Naomi's hotel window, and came inside to drink coca cola with them.

She says the men gave Naomi five or six diamonds, and Naomi only gave them away because she thought she couldn't take them out of the country.

The prosecution is essentially trying to say that the Naomi Campbell incident proves Mr Taylor had diamonds with him in South Africa.

In response, Taylor's defence lawyers said that Ms Farrow was biased by her devotion to Africa – she has previously been on a hunger strike in relation to the Dafur conflict.

They also claim that Ms White has an agenda against Naomi given the fact that she is currently suing Naomi for several million dollars (including $600,000 in lost revenue).

So what now?

Ms White's cross examination continues this week, but whether or not Naomi knew the diamonds came from Mr Taylor is not really the issue.

The key point is whether they did come from him. And it’s hard to see from these testimonies how they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they did.

Even if they could, the prosecution’s position is still very weak. The judge still doesn’t know that such diamonds were indeed from Sierra Leone, or were used to pay for weapons.

Some believe Campbell’s testimony is less about law and more about attracting publicity for the court to ensure its future funding (it doesn’t have chapter VII status like the Rwandan and Former Yugoslavian tribunals which guarantees them an annual budget).

Nevertheless, the celebrity angle has brought significant attention to a trial that wouldn’t otherwise have received it. That may be Campbell’s true contribution to the case against Charles Taylor.

By Natalya King

Photo – Former Liberian president Charles Taylor