PRESS RELEASE

BLOOD DIAMOND THE MOVIE (this is from a Sierra Leonean point of view, not exclusively mine)

The Coalition for Just Mining (CJM) is an effort by Non-governmental organizations to put their voices together for more accountable and transparent mining practices in Sierra Leone. In CJM’s opinion, the movie, “Blood Diamond” is a fine piece of filmography. The drama and fast-paced scenes stunned many Sierra Leoneans who have had the opportunity to watch it, however the storyline lacks substance and depth.

The movie portrays a piece of Sierra Leone’s sad past; a darker phase that is long gone and reconciled in the minds and hearts of the population. The situations shown in the movie were bleak; they were violent, bloody, but many Sierra Leoneans acknowledge that they are an accurate depiction of what happened. Diamond mining fueled the brutality and chaos of the civil war. Millions of dollars swapped hands, and crooked dealers encountered vast amounts of wealth at the cost Sierra Leone. What happened to those dealers who brought, and continue to bring in the guns and other weaponry? Nothing! Or if it did, the movie failed to go into sufficient depth to acknowledge it.

The movie hails the dealers, portrays them as philanthropists that have Africa at heart. However on closer analysis, DiCaprio, the hero of the movie, is a racist, who continually refers to Africa as a God-forsaken, doomed place, and to any black character in the movie with derogatory terms such as “kaffir”. On the other hand, the African characters in the movie are one dimensional and unrealistic. The main Sierra Leonean role manifests the colonial legacy of whites atop blacks and Africa’s dependence on the West. Hounsou plays the role of a meek victim, who is inevitably “saved” by DiCaprio. Hounsou’s son, is just another black character in the movie who is portrayed as a violent, mindless, blood-thirsty killer. These depictions of African characters are superficial, inaccurate and harmful to the image the world has of Africans.

Sierra Leone achieved peace in 2000. We had Elections in 2002. In 2006, the UN which had a peace keeping force here gave us a clean bill and declared us stable and able to handle our security before pulling out their peace keeping troops. We currently have various post-conflict development plans and are moving towards economic stability. A successful reconciliation process has enabled us to live in harmony, in an inclusive society that is accepting of former child combatants, as well as people who have been affected by the conflict such as amputees. Surely the situation has changed a lot? Why didn’t the movie recognize our progress, instead of allowing the world to continue in the belief that Sierra Leone is still a war torn country?

And yes! We still have problems in the diamond industry. After the dust settled in 2000 the big multi-national companies sailed in with their big investment. The government, desperate to draw in foreign investment signed various agreements that were not made clear to the chiefs and the rural people who own the lands. The companies waved their agreements each time the people called for transparency and social responsibility.

We are not the blood thirsty people you see on “Blood Diamond”. We are a country working hard to get past a difficult history, to regain economic, social and political development. Blood Diamond does not recognize this, does not recognize the progress we have made in the last six years, and does not understand the intricacies of our country, or the conflict that occurred here.

Co-written by: Alimamy Kamara and Krystle Lai