What funds many of the illicit acts, such as major rebellions, riots and coups in Africa? The blood diamond trade is one of the most powerful and dangerous illegal trades in Africa, which has been powering and igniting conflict for nearly three decades. The general purpose of the blood diamond trade tends to contribute to funding many things ranging from armed conflicts for guerrillas to funding militant forces. Such diamonds are illicitly mined in conflict zones, which are once mined, then used by guerrilla forces to fight and defy government control and force, the ramifications can be seen all through countries with major conflict of Africa. These rocks received major use during the time period after the Cold War, which were used for funding the many variety of conflicts across Africa. The blood diamond trafficking is a perfect example of natural resources being obtained, and then applied for unscrupulous acts which must be forestalled in order to save innocent lives. It is crucial to seek international attention for this matter, and to regulate the environment around such diamond mines in order to attack the issue of blood diamonds. Most importantly, the issue must be taken seriously before more innocent bloodshed occurs, such as in the many occurrences of the past situations.
Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly known as Zaire), Zimbabwe, the Republic of Congo, and Cote d’Ivoire (Armstrong) are all countries affected by this infamous crime. Primarily, the early forms of the blood diamond trade started in the 1980’s however, escalated greatly in the 1990’s post-Cold War Era (Armstrong). Working conditions at mining locations are incredibly poor, workers only earn anywhere from six to seven cents aft...
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...ood diamond trade has decreased because of this process.
—. The Kimberley Process. N/A. 8 February 2013 .
This source by globalwitness.org discusses a brief history of the Kimberley Certification Process. The source discusses about the nations who have enforced it and it also discusses about the regulations of blood diamonds enforced by many nations against the blood diamond trade
Walt, Vivienne. Diamonds Aren't Forever. 7 December 2006. 1 February 2013 .
This source discusses about the aftermath of the conflict-ridden nations due to blood diamonds. The author, Vivienne Walt, talks about how the nations ridden with blood diamond conflict will recover in the future and the fate of their economies.
Deep within African mines, elusive diamonds lay enveloped in the Earth’s crust. Possessing much influence, beauty, and tension, nature’s hardest known substance causes parallel occurrences of unity and destruction on opposite sides of the globe. Diamonds, derived from the Greek word "adamas", meaning invincible, are formed deep within the mantle, and are composed entirely from carbon. Moreover, only under tremendous amounts of heat and pressure can diamonds form into their preliminary crystal state. In fact, diamonds are formed approximately 150km- 200km below the surface and at radical temperatures ranging from 900-1300 C°. When these extremes meet, carbon atoms are forced together creating diamond crystals. Yet how do these gems, ranking a ten on Moh’s hardness scale, impact the individual lives of millions of people besides coaxing a squeal out of brides-to-be? These colorless, yellow, brown, green, blue, reddish, pink, grey and black minerals are gorgeous in their cut state, but how are these otherwise dull gems recognized and harvested? Furthermore, how and why is bloodshed and violence caused over diamonds in Africa, the supplier of approximately 65% of the world’s diamonds? (Bertoni) The environmental, social, and economic impact of harvesting, transporting, and processing diamonds is crucial because contrary to popular belief, much blood has been spilled over first-world “bling”.
DeBeers founded in 1880’s became the world’s largest diamond mining and trading company in the world. When DeBeers was established it controlled around 45% of the world’s diamond production and sold over 80% of all diamonds produced. DeBeers used underhand tactics to remove smaller diamond mines and punished those who tried to break away from the DeBeers “empire”.
In “ “Blood Diamonds” and Africa’s Armed Conflicts in the Post – Cold War Era, “ Orogun (2004) said that diamonds are referring as “clean stones”. This article explains about the black market is really happening in African. I am using this article to support how the black market of diamond trades is still not regulated, and they defined it as “licit” trade.
Some of the highest producing diamond mines are countries in Africa. Countries that had some of the highest rate of conflict were Angola, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The ...
Said to be a girl's best friend, diamonds are often seen as a symbol of poverty, war, and death for many Africans. Due to the cruel and inhuman manner by which these diamonds are mined and process, the trade of these illicit gems must be stopped. Conflict diamonds or blood diamonds are often associated with war, forced labor, child labor, and smuggling. Paul Orogun wrote an article for in the journal, World Affairs, where he describes some of the brutal conflicts in recent African history. “Blood Diamonds and Africa's Armed Conflicts in the Post—Cold War Era”, in which he talks about the conflicts associated with the illegal diamond trade. Orogun de...
The African Diamond Trade is a large cycle of exploitation. An estimated 65% of diamonds mined worldwide originate in Africa (Cahill 2009). In 2016, the U.S. diamond industry grew 4% to reach $40 billion, approximately half of a global $80 billion industry (DeBeers Group 2017). But how do these diamonds make it from African river banks to American engagement rings? According to Time Magazine, there are 6 steps that take diamonds from the ground to the jewelry store; exploration, mining, sorting, cutting and polishing, manufacturing, and retailing (John and Jones 2015). Each of these steps adds value to the final product that is offered in jewelry stores worldwide but this value isn’t added fairly to those who create the most value.
In Zaire, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many children wake up to go mining for diamonds instead of going to school. When we think of diamonds, we tend to think of a precious gift that is a rarity which is tended to be given in proposals or other special occasions. The truth is, diamonds are quite common in west and central Africa, but to profit more off these blood diamonds the industry markets them off to be much more rare than they actually are. Blood diamonds, why are they called blood diamonds? Possibly because they are made by the bloody hands of small children who are in physical, mental, and emotional harm from working this burdensome job every day.
Africa is commonly referred to as "The Heart of the World"; if this were interpreted literally our heart has a serious condition that’s not receiving the attention it so desperately deserves. The purpose of blood diamonds is simple; they’re used as currency to buy warring factions and warlords armaments and fuel civil wars in unstable countries as well as continued guerrilla tyranny throughout countries like Angola and more famously Sierra Leone. When addressing the issue of blood diamonds mined from Sierra Leone, understanding the country’s geography, civil and political aspects are crucial. Blood diamonds often have a misconstrued meaning, and the definition of what they are requires a clear explanation. The brutal process of acquiring the diamonds begins with the actions of a greed driven rebel, to diamond company executives trying to extend their control in the international diamond market. Even with United Nations implementing the Kimberly process there are a few weak links in the chain that make it very easy to bypass the laws that prohibit the purchasing of conflict diamonds. Lastly, workers forced into slavery, most often children, are subject to horrid working conditions and extreme abuse. The issue of Blood diamonds is a complicated subject involving civil war and forced labor that leaves an ominous cloud of transgression over Sierra Leone, as well as numerous other diamond rich countries.
Although the Kimberley Process says that 99% of all diamonds are conflict free, diamonds from the Central African Republic, Angola, and Zimbabwe, the countries where diamond related violence has occurred in recent years, make up at least 10 percent of the diamond supply or more and they have not been reported (“Blood Diamond
Santarossa, B. (2004, January 13). Diamonds: Adding lustre to the Canadian economy. Retrieved November 06, 2017, from https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2004008-eng.htm
iii. India dominates the world’s cut and polished diamonds (CPD) market. In value terms, the country accounts for approximately 55 percent of global polished diamond market and nearly 9 percent of the jewellery market. According to GJEPC's provisional estimate, cut and polished diamonds registered 19.06 percent growth in exports at US$ 7.11 mn.
[5] Diamond Industry Annual Review, De Beers Signs New Angolan Agreement, [internet] Accessed on: 13th November 2005, http://www.pacweb.org/e/images/stories/documents/addendum%20angola%202005-english.pdf
Botswana Government (2011) Economic Diversification Drive Medium to Long-Term Strategy 2011 – 2016, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Gaborone.
The film marker is trying to raise awareness of the illicit conflict diamond trade and reinforcing the Kimberley process1 and showing how it will stem the flow of conflict diamonds. This is successful mainly due to the public outburst after the movie. The great impact of the movie has caused diamond companies like De Beers2 to start a pre-emptive PR (public relationship) campaign, even before the movie was released to inform people that their diamonds are conflict-free.
... rebel fighters and insurgencies. The practice is most often associated with conflicts in Africa. The argument surrounding blood diamonds was brought to light in the early 1990s with civil wars in Sierra Leone, Angola, the Republic of Congo, and Liberia. During this time, blood diamonds comprised about 5 percent of the world diamond market, according to the World Diamond Council’s DiamondFacts.org website.