Conflict Diamonds
Diamonds symbolize love, happiness,
and wealth to many people. To others, diamonds symbolize conflict, misery and
poverty. The high value that society places on diamonds allows the shift of
wealth from the world’s richest countries to some of its poorest.
Africa produces 65 percent of the world’s diamonds, which is $ 6.7 billion per
year. Botswana is the world’s largest diamond producer and has the second
highest incident of AIDS. About 37 percent of the adult population is HIV
positive as well as 160,000 orphans. Diamonds provide 75 percent of Botswana’s
foreign earnings. Sierra Leone is ranked the world’s poorest country by the
United Nations Human Development Index. Approximately 70 percent of the people
are living on less than a dollar a day. Diamonds account for 94 percent of its
exports.
The random distribution of wealth in an impoverished society can create
inconceivable problems. In the situation of Sierra Leone, it has ignited a
horrible war. Sierra Leone’s government is corrupted by diamond dealers.
Liberia attacks the diamonds areas that cannot be sheltered due to the
dispersion of diamonds all over the border region. The Liberian soldiers are
local rebel teenagers, who are driven by drugs and equipped with AK-47s. They
force the local population into slavery, who dig for diamonds. The diamonds are
then sold to produce more money for more guns to enslave more people to mine
for more diamonds.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, profits from the unregulated diamond trade
are used to fund armed conflict. This has resulted in the torture and murder of
tens of thousands of civilians. Millions of people have been displaced as well.
In the 1990’s, international attention was focused on blood diamonds after Non-
governmental organizations raised concerns about human rights violations
against civilians in the Civil War in Sierra Leone. Rebel forces of the
Revolutionary United Front used the resources produced by their trade in rough
diamonds to acquire weapons. UN sanctions sought to put an end to this
conflict. Blood diamonds account for approximately four percent of the
international diamond trade, but this has had an extremely profound impact on
communities in west and parts of south-west Africa.
Kimberly Process
Many voluntary initiatives were
welcome, but not enough. The United Nation resolutions and sanctions stimulated
the international community and the industry to act, setting in process moves
to isolate trade in conflict diamonds from legitimate trade. That process came
to be called the Kimberley Process. On December1, 2000, the United Nations
General Assembly adopted, unanimously, a resolution on the role of diamonds in
creating conflict, breaking the link between the illegitimate operation of
rough diamonds and armed conflict.
The Kimberley Process is working well and performing the way it should. It is
preventing the flow of bad diamonds from rebels in the Congo and Cote D’ Ivoire
from entering the diamond markets, protecting the legitimate diamond markets
from “conflict diamonds” and formalizing exports from places like Sierra Leone
so the government can collect taxes on exports.
We can all assist in this situation. Consumers need to be responsible for what
we purchase and what we do not purchase. When actors, rappers, and marketers
boycott diamonds from Sierra Leone they are only punishing the people. This is
the poorest country on earth and if we remove 94 percent of its foreign income
it could be devastating to those individuals. The jewelry business can assist
by allowing the consumers to purchase fair trade diamonds.
PrincessJewelry.com - Fair Trade Diamonds
Diamond profits that are shared justly
with the people that generate them are known as “Fair Trade Diamonds.” These
diamonds are carefully scrutinized to guarantee they originate from legitimate
sources, wages are paid, and a fair amount of benefit is restored to the
community. This ensures that the processing has caused absolutely no harm to
the people or environment. PrincessJewelery.com does not obtain diamonds
through this conflict. We strive to make sure our diamonds are mined and
brought to us legitimately. We encourage the work that the Kimberley Process is
implementing.
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