UN Paying Blacklisted Diamond Company In CAR: Report

The UN has paid more than half a million dollars to a company on its own sanctions list for allegedly fuelling the conflict in Central African Republic (CAR) through the sale of ‘blood diamonds’, an IRIN investigation reveals.

- Emma Supple & Ben Parker

The Bureau d’Achat de Diamant en Centrafrique (BADICA) was placed on the UN Security Council sanctions list in August 2015 for its role in the diamond trade in CAR.

The UN accuses the company of funding one of two major militias in CAR, known as the Séléka, by purchasing diamonds from Séléka-controlled mines, which were then smuggled out of the country to BADICA’s sister company, KARDIAM, in Antwerp, Belgium.

And yet the UN’s stabilisation mission in CAR, whose mandate includes the disarmament and demobilisation of fighters, has a base on land owned by BADICA.

In an official response to IRIN, the UN department of peacekeeping confirmed that it holds a leasing contract with BADICA for premises in the capital Bangui. In a written response, a spokesperson said all rent paid to BADICA goes into a frozen account, which is monitored by CAR authorities. A UN payment of rent arrears to the BADICA Ecobank account was authorised in June, suggesting payments were held back for several months.

BADICA disputes the sanctions listing and has launched a legal challenge to its enforcement in the European Union, which is obliged to implement UN sanctions rulings. A person answering the telephone at KARDIAM’s office in Belgium declined to comment and efforts to contact BADICA in CAR were unsuccessful.

The UN says it has attempted to find alternative premises since BADICA’s listing, but without success.

“No other site in Bangui meets the mission’s needs,” the UN spokesperson told IRIN. “The BADICA premises are unique in their size and their ability to accommodate the Bangui Joint Task Force (BJTF).”