The prosecution is requesting that another clip be played from the documentary “Blood Diamonds”. 

The clip shows scenes of mining, of rebels, and of atrocities – and shows a woman telling about how rebels chopped off her hand after blaming her for voting for Tejan-Kabbah in 1996.  Another woman tells of how her family, near Kono, was driven into the jungle.  The woman was pregnant at the time, and a rebel inserted a stick into her to destroy the baby.  Her husband emerged from the jungle, and the rebels amputated both of his hands.

Pros: The first speaker in the clip gave an estimate on the amount of money from diamonds for the RUF.  Do you have an estimate of how much money the RUF made from diamond mining between November 1996 and the end of the war?

IS: 25-125 million dollars in the report was a “guesstimate” based on discussions with diamond traders, including an officials at DeBeers.  We tried to base our numbers on what Sierra Leone was able to produce.  Production since the war, tracked through the Kimberly Process, indicates that the original estimate was probably accurate. 

Pros: Based on your knowledge of Sierra Leone and the role of diamonds in conflict, is there any logical explanation for the type of atrocities we’ve seen in the video clips relating to the diamond trade.

Defense objects to this line of questioning, saying the witness is a diamond expert whose testimony should be limited to that.  Judge Sebutinde overrules the objection, noting that defense will be able to cross-examine the witness.

IS: It’s difficult to control large diamond areas – you either need to have a very large security force, or to scare people away.  So there was an incentive for atrocities.

Pros: This completes direct examination of this witness.