A Rough Trade

This report was written to stimulate debate and action on a well known and much reported issue: the key role that diamonds have played in the Angolan conflict in the last ten years. There is a dangerous acceptance amongst the international community that the mechanics of the trade in diamonds, particularly from UNITA controlled areas, are beyond any real controls. Global Witness investigations show that governments flout the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) embargo on unofficial Angolan diamonds (those not sold under the control of the Angolan government diamond parastatal, Endiama).