She said, she said
She said, she said, and she said; but the real question is what HE did.
More people have
been focused on the trial going on at the Special Court for Sierra
Leone (SCSL) sitting at The Hague this last week all because of the
presence of a beautiful super model called Naomi Campbell and little to
do with the enormity of the crimes for which Mr. Charles Taylor, former
president of Liberia is being tried.
The war that took
place in Sierra Leone for which atrocities the prosecution is trying to
prove Taylor culpable turned that country into a hell hole, truly a
heart of darkness: amputated limbs, child sex slaves, drugged out boy
soldiers, blood chilling brutality.
Ms Campbell lucky
for her inhabits a vastly different world of glamour, designer clothes,
klieg lights and glossy magazines, as far away as you can possibly be
from the amputated survivors of Sierra Leone.
She was apparently
oblivious too to the blood and horror of war torn Liberia, from which
two Nigerian journalists, Krees Imodibie of The Guardian and Tayo
Awotusin from Daily Champion then, never returned alive. They were
killed there, executed, in August 1991, nineteen years ago.
But such is life is
it not? The difference is as wide as that between the raw dirt
encrusted stones and the sparkling luminous end products that grace the
necks and fingers of the rich and celebrated and hang at the bottom of
the prosecution’s case against Taylor. One half of the world is gushing
about the latest designer bags; the other is silently being buried
alive.
You do not even
need to go that far as we well know: in Lagos the difference can be
between the families on one end of a street and another.
Many are familiar
with the effect fashion models have: an instantaneous loosening of the
faculties, a melting sensation that we used to refer to as going gaga.
Their celebrity status is indicative of how facile the values of contemporary society can be.
Ms Campbell has had
remarkable staying power in a profession where careers are notoriously
short, being dependent primarily on youthful beauty and physical
appearance. Hers is a world of fashion, ever changing and yet
perambulating the same circles. Floods in Pakistan, mudslides in China,
but fashion week in New York, Milan and Paris, must stay on schedule.
That collection has to be out and in the shops for work on the next one
to begin. It is business.
To be fair Campbell
and others in her profession have used their status to raise funds for
and bring awareness to the causes that affect the lives of many less
fortunate people around the world. Campbell’s association with the
Nelson Mandela Foundation and her affectionate relationship with Nelson
Mandela, a different kind of melting moment, is a case in point.
The man to whom
Campbell said she handed said diamonds gave them over to the police in
South Africa last week. But spokesperson or campaigner for any long
term cause she is not (nor should she be) and one does not have to go
into her brief flirtation with animal rights organisation PETA (People
for Ethical Treatment of Animals), to see that.
The more disturbing
issue is the investigative competence of the prosecution at the Special
Court for Sierra Leone and why it looks as if they are having a
difficult time getting their case against Taylor together. One would
have thought there would be ample evidence of his alleged atrocities.
So what if he gave Campbell a bag of diamonds in South Africa? How on
earth does that prove that he sold diamonds to procure weapons? So he
brought raw diamonds into South Africa illegally, according to South
African law. What then?
If you were a
beautiful super model, seated next to Nelson Mandela with a wide range
of rich and celebrated men from all corners of the globe, melting at
your feet, why would a dinner table “flirtation” or tête-à-tête with
Charles Taylor, as described by Campbell’s rather dour detractors, be
particularly remarkable, such that you would recall every detail of it
13 years later?
This is a major
case for Nigeria, ECOMOG, and Africa. We give little attention to the
high price we pay just to survive and therefore do not learn the
important lessons for the future. The Naomi Campbell saga has brought
the atrocities and mistakes of the Sierra Leone war back to world
attention, and maybe that is the extent of what we may have gained from
this soap opera.
Our leaders have
trampled over our rights with mind-numbing impunity and bungled their
way through crises at murderous cost to the populace. Setting a
precedent that justice can be done on this continent and that
accountability in governance can begin to count is critical. One hopes
that the SCSL has more serious arsenal in its task to seek justice and
redemption for the victims of the 11 year war in Sierra Leone and help
us to pave the way to avoiding future tragedies.
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