As the Guardian points out HERE, sometimes murder and mutilation are too little to garner international interest and attention; the testimony of a fashion model is the missing answer for the War Crimes Tribunal to focus attention on the trial against former Liberian President Charles Taylor. If you note that the irony in this is tinged with bitterness, that is the intent.

Charles Taylor is being tried on 11 different war crimes including murder, rape, and sexual slavery. His trade of “blood diamonds” was used to fund the rebels from Sierra Leone.

Naomi Campbell was called in to testify about being given a diamond (or diamonds) from Charles Taylor; she testified that she received a small pouch of diamonds that, “appeared dirty” and that she had no idea if the diamonds were actually from Charles Taylor or not.  The fashion model/superstar extraordinaire also contended that she only kept the diamonds in her possession for about six hours and then gave them to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund. As this article points out, some of her testimony was contradictory.

Again, the Guardian writer’s contention that Naomi Cambell’s testimony is not actually the most intriguing testimony from the trial definitely holds up after closer scrutiny- contrast the model’s testimony to that of “ZigZag” Marzah, a former commander who revealed that, “We executed everybody – babies, women, old men. There were so many executions. I can't remember them all."


You may wonder how Naomi Campbell feels about her testimony- unfortunately, Naomi Campbell still fails to realize the significance of the events that occurred and called having to testify, “a big inconvenience”. She claims that she is worried about her family, but her words sound more as if she is worried about the use of her own personal time than any political concerns.

As for the Hague and the War Tribunal itself, The Guardian has a scathing critique of the court and of the media coverage of the trial itself:

Clearly, then, the message from The Hague today is simple: you can kill and rape and mutilate as much as you like, but if you really want to gain a purchase on early 21st-century western discourse and are not simply pissing about, you do need to have once had contact with a celebrity in some incredibly minor way. Even now, let's hope that Janjaweed militia are making a pitch for posterity by sending baskets of muffins to Lindsay Lohan, because if and when they are ever brought to justice, they sure as Shirley aren't going to make the major bulletins without that kind of news peg.