Laura McFarlan - Conflict Diamonds

Conflict Diamonds 

 Diamonds, a girl’s best friend. But would they still be your best friend if you knew how much blood was shed to get there.  First discovered in African in 1867 and since then they have been the source of pain and suffering all through Africa. They are used to fund rebel armies from five African countries. Angola, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and The Congo. These rebel armies kill, amputate and enslave civilians for their own purposes. (Hoyt)

Starting in the early 1990’s Sierra Leone became the poster child for conflict that conflict diamonds fund. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) began its campaign in 1991 before the government elections, lead by Foday Sankoh they saw the government weak and unstable. Each person in the country of Sierra Leone has to figure print in order to vote, the RUF then started what they called a campaign of amputation, cutting of people hands so they could not vote. Taking away the livelihood of thousands of people who make a living off of farming.  After the course of 11 years the RUF had 90% of all diamond mines in Sierra Leone under their control. They used child soldiers and stole people from their homes to work of them.  In 2000 the RUF signed a peace treaty; however they broke it after 6 months. Finally in 2002 the UN, British and Guinean forces entered the conflict and brought the war to an end.

(Mukwazh, Miners dig for diamonds in Zimbabwe's Marange fields)

During the peak of the conflict diamond funded wars more than 500,000 people in Sierra Leone were displaced and more than 2 million people fled from the country. Child soldiers were drugged and brain washed into fighting for a cause they had a bias knowledge on. The profits from the diamond industry directly funded the genocide the occurred in Sierra Leone and similar events in Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia. It is estimated that more than conflict diamonds have resulted in the deaths of over 4 million people. Thousands of hectares of forest space was destroyed in the wars and villages burnt to the ground.

(Hondors, Workers pan for diamonds at a government-run mine in Sierra Leone. Al Qaeda is known to have made millions of dollars from the sale of diamonds mined illegally by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone.)

In 2003 the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme was established, it is an international delegation ensuring the fair trade of diamonds. More than 70 countries participate in the certification scheme. The makes sure that the diamonds entering the trade are legitimate. (Vermeulem) By tracing back where the diamond was found it be determined in the diamond is legitimate or not.  The process claims that 99.8 percent of the diamonds that go through the certification are conflict free. However in 2011 Global Witness, an organization that worked on the Kimberley Process left as the Kimberley Process refused to change as it had become increasingly outdated and did not address the emerging ways of smuggling conflict diamonds into the “legitimate” diamond trade.( Conflict diamonds) This was after one of the biggest loop holes in the Kimberly Process was discovered. The Kimberly Process defines a conflict diamond as a diamond that is sold by rebel groups to wage war on a government. (Nicolson) This does not prevent governments in Zimbabwe from committing abuse and terror in order to get their diamonds. The Kimberly Process has not changed its legislation yet as most conflict diamond related wars have ended and now remains to monitor the diamond trade. And in 2006 the United States release a report saying that over 23 million dollars’ worth of conflict diamonds from Côte D'Ivoire were smuggled into Ghana.

                Even though Africa produced more than 60 percent of the world’s diamonds there are still other options and not all African diamond procuring countries are corrupt. Botswana has one of the fastest growing economies and it’s because of diamonds. Almost fifty percent of the countries revenue comes from conflict free diamonds. (Roach)  Canada has also recently become one of the front runners in the developed world that produces legitimate diamonds, which might come at a higher price. Diamonds manufactured in labs are not quite at gem quality yet, however they can be used for industrial purposes.  Such as cutting tools. (Hoyt)

                     

                It is easy to avoid conflict diamonds if you know the right questions to ask when buying the gems. When buying diamonds all you have to do is ask three simple questions. Ask what the companies policy on conflict diamonds is, from what country are your companies diamonds exported from and if the companies can guarantee in writing that the supplier that gave you the diamond you are asking for is conflict free. If the company cannot answer these simple questions then you cannot be sure that the diamond is conflict free, then simply take your business else were. (Hoyt) Or try asking for a diamond produced in Canada or Australia where you know that the diamond did not shed any blood the get on your ring.