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Blood Diamonds - How To Help The Fight

According to a definition from the United Nations, Conflict Diamonds (a.k.a. Blood Diamonds) are..

“…diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council.”

It’s a sad fact that millions of people in a select few areas of the world have died as a result the Conflict Diamond trade. In 1998 the United Nations initiated widespread efforts to clamp down when they stopped the sale of diamonds from Angola, a country whose twenty-seven year civil war was largely funded by their export. In 2001, the UN imposed sanctions on Liberia, whose then President Charles G. Taylor supplied Sierra Leone’s rebel army, the RUF, with military assistance in exchange for the majority of the country’s diamonds. There have been other similar actions taken by the UN in the years since these initial efforts, most notably in the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and The Republic of Congo. In 2003 a new threat emerged, when it was reported that Al-Qaeda had laundered approximately $20m through the purchase of diamonds via both Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In 2002 the diamond industry’s own attempt at stopping the trade in conflict diamonds came into force after gaining approval from the UN: The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. Member countries who sign-up to the KPCS (a list of which you can see here) are essentially declaring any shipments of rough diamonds originating from their shores to be conflict-free. In essence the scheme is a good one, but there are problems and loopholes which certain members of the industry immediately highlighted following its inception. Only time will tell whether the KPCS will ultimately be successful, in the meantime it’s down to the public face of the industry - the jewellers such as ourselves at Ingle & Rhode - to take extra time and care when soucing the materials used to produce the jewellery that we sell in order to give the consumer both peace of mind and less chance of buying diamonds which have helped to fund conflict in war-torn areas.

Some facts from Global Witness…

- In the mid-to-late 1990s it is estimated that approximately 15% of the global trade in diamonds was attributable to Conflict Diamond trade.

- Diggers in Sierra Leone sell their diamonds for as little as 1/5th of the worth of the diamond when it finally leaves the country.

- Up to a million men and children are working as artisanal diamond miners across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many earning less than US$ 1 dollar a day.

- In Sierra Leone’s Kono district, where diamonds have been mined for over 70 years, there is no electricity, roads are in disrepair and homes have been destroyed by fighting. Over 100,000 men and children work as diamond miners.

- Although Angola is extremely rich in diamonds and oil, most Angolan citizens live on less than $2 per day while at least 45 percent of children are severely malnourished.

- Artisanal diggers operate in often unsafe and hazardous conditions, with mine collapses, shootings or beatings, detentions and exploitation common in several countries.

To become more informed about Conflict Diamonds please visit the following links.

:: The UN.Org - Facts and statistics from the United Nations

:: KimberleyProcess.Com - A huge amount of information about the KPCS

:: GlobalWitness.Org - ‘Breaking the links between natural resources, conflict and corruption’

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 04, 2008 by Ingle & Rhode and is filed under

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