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Blood diamonds the conflict in sierra leone
Blood diamonds the conflict in sierra leone
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The name "diamond" comes from the Greek word, "adamas" meaning unconquerable.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was established in 2003 to prevent conflict diamonds, any diamond mined in a war zone and sold to finance anti-government activities, from entering the diamond market (“The Kimberley Process”). As blood diamonds continue to enter the market and counties and NGO’s alike leave, questions are raised as to whether or not the Kimberley Process works and if it should be revised. By stopping the trade of blood diamonds it can be possible to stop not only the injustices happening to miners, but it can also stop rebel groups from funding their civil wars and help bring peace to conflict filled nations. Stopping the trade of blood
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Since its formation the process has failed to accomplish what it’s main goal is, stop the trade of blood diamonds so they cannot be used by rebel groups to finance wars. In just the past 15 years, diamond mining has fueled brutal civil wars in Angola, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (“Conflict Diamond Trade”). All of these have occurred after the formation of the Kimberley Process Certification System, proving that the process has failed to accomplish its main goal in many countries and that due to this it needs to be revised. One such failure of the Kimberley process comes in the war torn Democratic Republic of Congo. While the Kimberley Process reports that the DRC produces conflict free diamonds that is mainly due to the fact that of the …show more content…
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
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”.
Being located in the west coast of Africa and between Guinea and Liberia, “Sierra Leone has an abundance of easily extractable diamonds”(BBC News). The diamonds had brought “encouragement” for violence in the country in 1991. Attacks of the Revolutionary “United Front (RUF) ,led by former army corporal Foday Sankoh”(Encyclopedia Britannica), were on government military and civilians. In response to a corrupt government, the RUF performed violent and terrorist acts that scarred many. “The RUF captured civilians and forced them to work”(Analyzing the Causes) in their army to gain control over Sierra Leone. The savages went a...
Whilst the Civil War in Sierra Leone now seems archaic, the RUF still competes in a battle for control over the diamond-producing regions of Sierra Leone.
Throughout the history of Canada the indigenous population of the country have been voiceless. They have been both suppressed and oppressed by the Federal and various Provincial governments within Canada. Many organizations tried to provide a voice for the native population but failed in their attempt. These organizations eventually merged together to become what is now known as The Assembly of First Nations. The Assembly of First Nations gives voice to the issues and problems facing the different components of the aboriginal community in Canada.
... current structure of Section 1502 prevents any real humanitarian change from occurring. 1502 is essentially a statute aimed at peacemaking in the DRC and the SEC is financial regulator. Congress therefore should place the burden of implementing such a peacemaking statute on a governmental body that is better suited for the task. Further, the indirect “name and shame” enforcement mechanism of 1502 is inherently flawed and should be discarded in favor of a more aggressive and direct enforcement scheme as the Kimberly Process or the use of severe penalties. Congress cannot merely rely on public shaming to convince the boards of major corporations to avoid conflict minerals. As it currently stands, Section 1502 serves as nothing more than a humanitarian gesture. Until the structure of the law is reformed and given teeth, it will not effect any change in the DRC.
Thesis Statement: Given the struggles aboriginals have had to face in Canada, the Canadian government should take action to solve the hundreds of cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women, as it will strengthen the relations between aboriginals and Canadians.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, or as it has been called by the U.N as “the rape capital of the world” has been having problems since almost 1994. The armed group, M23, has committed dozens of war crimes including rape, citizen executions, and forced recruitment of children. Women, and girls have been left with burned flesh, broken bones, and even missing limbs. Even some perpetrators have even shot and stabbed these women in the vagina with shards of glass, rifles, and other objects. The violence in the DRC is unspeakable, many of the survivors have received devastating damage to their reproductive organs. Men have been held at gun point and forced to rape their own wives, mothers, sisters, and even their daughters. Throughout the entire ordeal, the government of the DRC has let many of the perpetrators of these war crimes cross over to neighboring countries, who act as a sanctuary. In turn these people have not been charged for these crimes. The Congolese army and government have been much to blame for the violence and atrocities happening in the country. Back when they made the M23 treaty, they needed to follow through with their promises to the integrated soldiers. The weaknesses in their government ruin attempts to prevent atrocities and protect civilians. With these problems affecting the population every day, they need to start getting help from other countries in order to fix its state and help its people. The Congolese army and government have been much to blame for the violence and atrocities happening in the country because they needed follow through with their promises to the integrated soldiers, the weakness in their government ruin attempts to prevent atrocities and protect civilians, and they need to stop lett...
What is Identity? Is it what you think of yourself? Is it how others see you? Or maybe it is the way you present yourself. Stories like “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth , “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and “Indigenous Identity: What is it, and Who Really has it?” by Hilary N. Weaver give us a few examples of identity based on each one of the authors viewpoints. Both “Ain’t I a Woman?” and “The Story of an Hour”, focus on how women were viewed and placed in society before and during the suffrage movement. “The Lottery” opens our eyes to the identity issue of blindly following tradition. The author of the story “Indigenous Identity: What is it, and Who Really has it?” tells us that identity is based on; race, gender, social status, and the knowledge of one’s heritage.
For decades, Uganda’s economy has suffered through disappointing economic policies and instabilities. These setbacks have been put forth by a chronically unreliable government, leaving it as one of the world’s poorest countries. Uganda’s weak infrastructure and corrupt government are two of the primary constraints against a continuation of economic growth. Uganda has ongoing military involvement in the War on Congo, wrongly taking money from the already deprived country and into the war. Many villages in Uganda also have to waste their precious money and time in pursuit of hiding places. They are faced with a group known as, The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). LRA is infamous for their twenty years of massacre and slaughter in Uganda, causing an estimated 1.5 million internally displayed persons. Several people are questioning why the LRA is still terrorizing the country and criticizing the government’s commitment to putting an end this horrific group. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) ...
• Amnesty International: Australia- governments dismissal of UN criticism undermines hard earned credibility in human rights diplomacy.
"Crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo."Responsibilitytoprotect.org. International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect, 2011. Web. 19 Feb 2014.
The movie "Blood Diamond" was released in 2006 and featured Leonardo Di Caprio as an arms smuggler whose main goal is to obtain a seemingly priceless diamond from a villager during the civil war in Sierra Leone. The film marker is trying to raise awareness of the illicit conflict diamond trade and reinforcing the Kimberley process and showing how it will stem the flow of conflict diamonds. Blood Diamonds explores the underground world of the diamond trade in Sierra Leone, where rare diamonds are used to fund military rebels at war. The film is based on Archer, a man with a survival instinct and a passion for collecting conflict diamonds. The film opens in Sierra Leone, 1999 when Civil war rages for control of the diamond fields. According to
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.
Indigenous Knowledge (IK) can be broadly defined as the knowledge and skills that an indigenous (local) community accumulates over generations of living in a particular environment. IK is unique to given cultures, localities and societies and is acquired through daily experience. It is embedded in community practices, institutions, relationships and rituals. Because IK is based on, and is deeply embedded in local experience and historic reality, it is therefore unique to that specific culture; it also plays an important role in defining the identity of the community. Similarly, since IK has developed over the centuries of experimentation on how to adapt to local conditions. That is Indigenous ways of knowing informs their ways of being. Accordingly IK is integrated and driven from multiple sources; traditional teachings, empirical observations and revelations handed down generations. Under IK, language, gestures and cultural codes are in harmony. Similarly, language, symbols and family structure are interrelated. For example, First Nation had a
... 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.