John Coates

John Coates interviewed Bernt Carlsson in Granada TV’s World In Action documentary "The Case of the Disappearing Diamonds" and narrated this introduction:

"The United Nations Council for Namibia enacted in 1974 a Decree for the Protection of the Natural Resources of Namibia, under which no person or entity could search for, take or distribute any natural resources found in Namibia without the Council's permission. Any person or entity contravening the Decree could be held liable for damages by the future government of an independent Namibia. Companies like De Beers have ignored the law but now attitudes at the UN are beginning to harden."

The man responsible for Namibia under international law, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, was asked about Namibia's diamonds: "The corporation has been trying to skim the cream which means they have gone for the large diamonds at the expense of the steady pace. In this way they have really shortened the lifespan of the mines. One would expect from a worldwide corporation like De Beers and Anglo American that they would behave with an element of social and political responsibility. But their behaviour in the specific case of Namibia has been one of profit maximisation regardless of its social, economic, political and even legal responsibility. The United Nations this year [1987] in July started legal action against one such firm – the Dutch company URENCO which imports uranium."

John Coates: "Will you be taking action against other companies such as De Beers?"

Bernt Carlsson replied: "All the companies which are carrying out activities in Namibia which have not been authorised by the United Nations are being studied at present."

World In Action documentary "The Case of the Disappearing Diamonds" was broadcast by Thames Television on 28 September 1987. Credits: Camera: Howard Somers; Sound: David Woods; Film Editors: Oral Ottey, John Rutherford; Dubbing Mixer: John Whitworth; Production Assistants: Adele McLoughlin, Judith Fraser; Investigation by: Laurie Flynn and John Coates; Editor: Stuart Prebble; Executive Producer: Ray Fitzwalter.]

Coincidentally, John Coates was the narrator in a special People & Power report entitled "Lockerbie: A Cover-Up of Convenience" for Al-Jazeera in 2006.