Event

UN embargo on uncertified Angolan diamonds, 1998

Security Council measures against UNITA, including a ban on imports of Angolan diamonds not covered by the government's certificate of origin.

5 links, 4 backed by primary records

How each side tells it

Connections 5

United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 1173 on 12 June 1998 Primary record 1
Angola Primary record 1

Kimberley Process According to Kimberley Process Primary record 2
The scheme's own preamble recalls these resolutions.

De Beers According to Edward Jay Epstein Scholarship & press 3
The New York Times gave Epstein's view in its own words; he is quoted only as calling it "another brilliant coup". De Beers gave other reasons.

Kimberley Process According to Kimberley Process Primary record 2
The scheme's own preamble recalls these resolutions and says it is convinced a certification scheme can seriously reduce the role of conflict diamonds.

Timeline 1 date

Proof 3 sources

Security Council press release SC/6530 with the text of resolution 1173 (1998) on Angola, United Nations Security Council, 12 Jun 1998. Primary record
(b) to prohibit the direct or indirect import from Angola to their territory of all diamonds that are not controlled through the Certificate of Origin regime of the GURN;
Determining that the current situation in Angola constitutes a threat to international peace and security in the region
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, Kimberley Process (copy lodged with the World Trade Organization), 2002. Primary record
RECALLING all of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, including the relevant provisions of Resolutions 1173 (1998), 1295 (2000), 1306 (2000), and 1343 (2001)
CONVINCED that the opportunity for conflict diamonds to play a role in fuelling armed conflict can be seriously reduced by introducing a certification scheme for rough diamonds designed to exclude conflict diamonds from the legitimate trade;
Controversy Over Diamonds Made (headline as saved from the reprint; the page title is cut off), Alan Cowell, The New York Times, 22 August 2000 (reprint by Global Policy Forum), 22 Aug 2000. Scholarship & press
by supporting United Nations embargoes on illicit diamond sales in Angola and Sierra Leone, the company has effectively enlisted the United Nations as a policeman
Another brilliant coup, in my opinion,

Page history 1 change