Conflict Diamonds
Conflict Diamonds
Did Someone Die for That Diamond?
A diamond merchant shows his wares June 15, 2001
in Kenema, Sierra Leone.
© Chris Hondros/Getty Images.
Some diamonds have helped fund devastating civil wars in Africa,
destroying the lives of millions. Conflict diamonds are those sold in
order to fund armed conflict and civil war. Profits from the trade in
conflict diamonds, worth billions of dollars, were used by warlords and
rebels to buy arms during the devastating wars in Angola, the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone. Wars that have
cost an estimated 3.7 million lives.
While the wars in Angola and Sierra Leone are now over, and fighting in
the DRC has decreased, the problem of conflict diamonds hasn't gone
away. Diamonds mined in rebel-held areas in Côte d'Ivoire, a West
African country in the midst of a volatile conflict, are reaching the
international diamond market. Conflict diamonds from Liberia are also
being smuggled into neighboring countries and exported as part of the
legitimate diamond trade.
What's being done to stop conflict diamonds?
A major milestone occurred in 2003, when a government-run initiative
known as the Kimberley Process was introduced to stem the flow of
conflict diamonds. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS)
imposes requirements on participants to certify that shipments of
rough diamonds are conflict-free.
Amnesty International USA is proud to announce its support of the film
Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Edward
Zwick. Set against the backdrop of the chaos and civil war that
enveloped 1990s Sierra Leone, it tells the story of two African men
whose fates become intertwined in a quest to recover a rare pink
diamond that can transform their lives
Despite its pledge to support the Kimberley Process and Clean
Diamond Trade Act, the Diamond Industry has fallen short of
implementing the necessary policies for self-regulation. The retail
sector in particular fails to provide sufficient assurance to consumers
that the diamonds they sell are conflict-free. That is why we need your
help to find out how policies are being communicated at the shop level,
and what actions, if any, are being taken to ensure that policies are
more than just rhetoric. At the same time, you’ll be sending a strong
message to your local jewelers that their role in diamond-fueled
conflict must end.
Source: http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/business-and-human-rights/oil-gas-and-mining-industries/conflict-diamonds
What are 'conflict diamonds?'
By Paul Armstrong, CNN
Updated 10:07 AM ET, Mon December 5, 2011
Where are your diamonds from? 02:51
Story highlights
 Group pulls out of process to guarantee diamonds do not come from conflict zones
 Conflict or "blood" diamonds are illegally traded to fund conflict in war-torn areas
 Thousands in countries such as Sierra Leone are used as slaves to extract diamonds
 Global Witness: Kimberley Process has not shown itself capable of stopping trade
A major international environmental group has pulled out of the process to guarantee that
diamonds do not come from conflict zones, saying the Kimberley Process had refused "to
evolve and address the clear links between diamonds, violence and tyranny." So why are socalled "conflict diamonds" so controversial?
What are conflict diamonds?
Conflict or "blood" diamonds are illegally traded to fund conflict in war-torn areas, particularly
in central and western Africa, according to the World Diamond council, which represents the
commercial diamond trade.
The United Nations defines conflict diamonds as "...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."
They are generally in "rough" form, meaning they have recently been extracted and not yet cut.
At the height of the civil war in Sierra Leone, it is estimated that conflict diamonds represented
approximately four percent of the world's diamond production.
Who suffers?
Apart from the innocent people caught up in the conflicts that the trade fuels, thousands of
men, women and children in countries such as Sierra Leone are used as slaves to extract
diamonds. They are often forced to use primitive, back-breaking methods such as digging into
mud or gravel along river banks with their bare hands. The collected material is then separated
using hand-held sieves.
What is the Kimberley Process?
The Kimberley Process started when Southern African diamond-producing states met in
Kimberley, South Africa, in May 2000, to discuss ways to stop the trade in conflict diamonds
and ensure that diamond purchases were not funding violence.
The result was an agreement by the United Nations, European Union, the governments of 74
countries, the World Diamond Council -- representing the industry -- and a number of interest
groups such as Global Witness.
They established the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), whereby members are
required to certify that all rough diamond exports are produced through legitimate mining and
sales activities and are "conflict-free."
Each shipment carries a certificate that details where the diamonds came from, how they were
mined, where they were cut and polished, the parties involved, and their ultimate destination.
The idea is that members of the Kimberley Process cannot trade with non-members.
Is it working?
According to Amy Barry of Global Witness, the Kimberley Process has yet to demonstrate itself
capable of stopping the trade because of a lack of political will among member states.
"Zimbabwe, for example, is a test case for the KP," she told CNN in 2010, alleging that Robert
Mugabe's regime has benefited from the sale of blood diamonds despite it being a member of
the Kimberley Process.
She said the huge Marange diamond fields of eastern Zimbabwe are operated by military-run
syndicates who beat or kill miners who don't mine for them or pay bribes. The extreme violence
perpetrated by the military even included the mass murder of hundreds of miners by helicopter
gunships, she added.
But with just one or two member states able to veto any punitive action against abuses or
infringements of the KP scheme, no decisive action has been taken against Zimbabwe. "This
consensus decision-making means tough decisions don't get made," said Barry. "Certain
countries are putting economic and political interests in front of defending the fundamental
principles of the scheme."
Is the "conflict trade" limited to diamonds?
No. According to Global Witness, rebel fighters and army units have hijacked the trade in
mineral ores, used in the production of mobile phones and computers, from eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), while subjecting the local population to massacres, rape,
extortion, and forced labor.
The "conflict minerals" are then laundered into the global supply chain by export houses,
before being transformed into refined metals by large international smelting firms. Global
Witness says the operations of some of the world's leading consumer brands are now being
scrutinized for evidence of links to this rogue trade.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/05/world/africa/conflict-diamonds-explainer/
Blood diamonds' dug from African mines by children
as young as 11, gold taken from 25m underwater by
kids aged 9: The slave labour scandal behind the
jewellery hanging around your neck
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Children as young as 11 are working alongside adults in the 'blood diamond'
trade in the Central African Republic
The chain of supply crosses so many country borders that most people don't
know where their diamonds originated
Thousands of children as young as nine work in 'absolutely terrifying'
conditions in gold mines in the Philippines
Hard-hitting reports into the diamond and gold trade released by Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch
By IMOGEN CALDERWOOD FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 11:41 EST, 1 October 2015 | UPDATED: 03:03 EST, 2 October 2015
The jewellery around your neck and on your fingers is still being dug out of the earth by
slave children facing extreme danger, two new hard-hitting reports have revealed.
Amnesty International has released a stark warning that the global diamond market is
about to be flooded with 'blood diamonds' prised from mines by children as young as 11.
Meanwhile, thousands of children as young as nine are being forced to work in
horrifying underground and underwater mines at depths of up to 25m in the Philippines,
according to Human Rights Watch.
+19
Slave labour: An 11-year-old boy working at a diamond mine in the Carnot region, in
May 2015. Non-govermental organisations have raised concern about the numbers of
children working in diamond mines in CAR, but no official documentation of the problem
has ever been carried out
+19
Deadly trade: The export of diamonds from CAR was banned in 2012 under the
Kimberley Process, which aims to stem the flow of so-called ‘conflict diamonds’
In the Central African Republic (CAR), children as young as 11 have been found
working in ‘back-breaking’ conditions in the diamond mines.
The export of diamonds from CAR was banned in 2012 under the Kimberley Process,
which aims to stem the flow of so-called ‘conflict diamonds’ into the global market.
‘Blood diamond’, or ‘conflict diamond’, is a term used for a diamond mined in a war zone
and sold to finance rebel or militia groups or a warlord’s activity.
Diamonds have funded brutal wars in countries such as CAR, Angola, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone over the decades, resulting in the death
and displacement of millions of people.
But according to Amnesty International as soon as the government meets a series of
conditions, that were set by the Kimberley Process in July this year, the ban will be lifted
and the blood diamonds will be free for trade once again.
Diamonds have continued to be traded within CAR despite the ban, with thousands of
small artisanal miners selling to traders who then sell on to export companies in the
capital Bangui, according to the report.
Many of these ‘conflict diamonds’ remain stockpiled in the capital city, waiting for the
trading ban to be lifted, and are ‘highly likely’ to be sold on the international market.
‘Non-governmental organisations have reported child labour at diamond mines and
Amnesty International found several children, including an 11-year-old boy, working in
hazardous conditions,’ reads the report.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3256249/Blood-diamonds-dug-Africanmines-children-young-11-gold-taken-25m-underwater-kids-aged-9-slave-labourscandal-jewellery-hanging-neck.html
SOUTH AMERICA
Not Just Out of Africa: South
America’s “Blood Diamonds”
Network
Venezuela and Guyana appear to be sources of the tainted gems – and their persistence may
help doom the Kimberley Process of certifying the ethical origins of diamonds
By Girish Gupta / Santa Elana @jammastergirishAug. 20, 2012
Girish Gupta for TIME
An 11-year-old boy works at a makeshift mine in Icabarú, near Venezuela's border with
Brazil on July 6, 2012. The child works on a team with five other children, only slightly
older than him, and his father who said simply, "He has to work."
In an office in Santa Elena, deep in the Venezuelan jungle bordering Brazil and Guyana,
a diamond trader inspects a rough gem under his magnifying glass. Surrounded by
precious minerals, stuffed tarantulas and a sprawling anaconda skin pinned to the wall,
he takes calls from men who work in the rowdy clandestine mines nearby and bring him
the precious stones. From there, a broker will traffic the diamonds into Guyana, where
they’ll receive falsified certificates that they were legally mined and marketed. Many will
end up in commercial hubs likeNew York, Tel Aviv and Antwerp.
And the entire journey will flout the Kimberley Process, a decade-old, U.N.-mandated
international agreement to curtail rampant global diamond smuggling. Venezuela, a
major diamond producer, is a KP member but voluntarily removed itself as an active
participant in 2008 after being widely accused of ignoring the pact’s mission to regulate
diamond production and commercialization. “There is no control at all,” says the Santa
Elena trader, who asked not to be identified. The KP, as a result, is considering expelling
Venezuela: the U.S., which chairs the KP for 2012, this summer delivered an ultimatum
to Venezuelan authorities to demonstrate compliance or lose membership altogether.
The Venezuelan crisis is just the latest but perhaps gravest reminder that the KP’s
effectiveness is in serious doubt. Last year Global Witness, an international NGO and a
KP architect, cut its ties to the KP largely in protest over the failure to stem illicit trade
in “conflict” or “blood” diamonds from African countries like Zimbabwe and Côte
d’Ivoire, where a civil war is being financed in part by gem smuggling. (That problem
was a key impetus for the KP’s creation.) But for Global Witness and other erstwhile KP
boosters, Venezuela is one of the most egregious examples of how “the KP has turned
itself into a toothless League of Nations,” says Ian Smillie, who in 2009 resigned a top
post at the NGO Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), another KP founder, citing a litany of
countries where he said the KP had failed. “One way or the other, the KP has actively let
Venezuela off the hook.” And if Venezuela can spurn the KP rules, he adds, “why should
anyone else bother?”
Underground traffickers agree. “You’d have to be blind to believe” that the KP is doing
its job in Venezuela, says the Santa Elena trader. “It’s a little bit more difficult now
[since the KP was established in 2003] to smuggle and certify the diamonds. But we do.”
It starts at the mines themselves. The town of Icabarú is one clandestine mining hub
near the border with Brazil – a bumpy, four-hour drive from Santa Elena through the
Gran Sabana, an otherworldly stretch of savannah, jungle and flat-topped tepui
mountains that inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel The Lost World. Icabarú’s lush
vegetation also hides the misery of child miners. At one site, an 11-year-old boy beats the
orange earth with an axe, the spray from a hose soaking his grimy clothes as he works
under an unrelenting sun alongside his father.
The rough stones from that mine will move to Santa Elena and then to Guyana through
the 550-km-long (330-mile) jungle border region. “When you have a border like that,”
says the Santa Elena trader, “you can cross into Guyana whenever you want.” In Guyana,
he says, it’s easier to get KP certificates issued to export the diamonds. It helps that
Guyana, a former British colony and KP member, doesn’t appear to be a model of
enforcement itself. “You’re a businessman,” says one buyer in the capital, Georgetown,
who also asked not to be named. “If a guy walks into your office with a diamond, of
course you’re not going to allow him to walk out.”
Guyana’s Geology & Mines Commission, which oversees the issuance of KP certificates,
declined TIME’s request for an interview. But Natural Resources & Environment
Minister, Robert Persaud, denies the government there is turning a blind eye. “We’ve
always been conscious that there can be cross-border movement,” he says, but insists
Guyana has a “very rigid [diamond certification] system in place” that is under “constant
review.” But Persaud declined to provide a date for the last review or disclose any details
about the system.
Still, Venezuela is the bigger problem in South America. After PAC visited the region in
2006 and issued a damning report on Venezuela’s negligence, Global Witness called for
its expulsion for “flagrant [KP] non-compliance.” The government of socialist President
Hugo Chávez denied any wrongdoing. But Rob Dunn, who as chairman of the KP
Working Group on Statistics visited the country in 2008 as part of a KP review mission,
says the country “essentially said they have no ability to control the illegal flow of
diamonds and therefore they washed their hands of it.” Requests for Venezuelan
diamond output data and interviews with key ministers were refused, he says. The
country has since resumed submitting reports, but they’re usually late and “a joke,”
according to one PAC official.
Yet tens of millions of dollars are likely being made peddling Venezuelan diamonds. No
one knows exactly what Venezuela’s annual rough diamond production is, but experts
say it could be as much as 300,000 carats – and though that wouldn’t place Venezuela
in the global top 10 (Russia leads the world with about 35 million carats), the country
could be among the top 15. So why, Chávez’s opponents ask, would his leftist revolution
– whose handling of Venezuela’s prodigious oil revenues isn’t exactly the most transparent –
not want to keep official track of a robust cash source like its diamonds? Chávez officials
strongly refute any suggestion that officials are illegally pocketing a cut of the profits, or
funneling the money to other corrupt purposes, and so far there is little if any evidence
to back it up. But as long as Venezuela is unwilling to trace its diamonds, such
suspicions are likely to persist.
Meanwhile, there is little hope that the KP ultimatum – especially since it comes while
the KP is being chaired by the U.S., Chávez’s arch-enemy – will lead to improved
compliance. If not, Venezuela’s eventual expulsion could simply further weaken the KP.
“The KP will lose an important producing member,” concedes Maurice Miema of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, which chairs the KP’s Participation Committee. And
Venezuela, he adds, “will not be able to sell [its] diamonds” under legitimate
international auspices.
But they will be sold, as long as the rough-and-tumble illegal diamond mines in
southern Venezuela continue to operate. There are thought to be hundreds of them
inside the Gran Sabana, and many, given the increasingly mafioso nature of the
country’s diamond trade, are violent. “You think I live a cool life, an adventure,” one
smuggler tells TIME during his visit to Ciudad Bolívar, north of the Gran Sabana. “But I
don’t know how I’ll die, with a gun to the head perhaps, or hung from a tree and my
body thrown in the river.” Which is just the sort of ugliness the Kimberley Process was
meant to do away with.
Source: http://world.time.com/2012/08/20/not-just-out-of-africa-south-americasblood-diamonds-network/
Source :
http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kuer/files/styles/medium/public/201205/15076731002965370.gif
Click this link to see a helpful but really big infographic:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/are-you-aiding-conflictdiamonds-infographic.html
Click this link for an excellent Time magazine article on conflict
diamonds with maps, photos, and a short video:
http://time.com/blood-diamonds/
Source: https://bodyontheline.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/africa-diamonds-map.jpg
Click this link and then watch the video you will find on the right side of
the page – 8 minutes long.
http://www.diamondfacts.org/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%
26view%3Darticle%26id%3D128%26Itemid%3D134%26lang%3Den
Diamond Facts
The diamond is a precious stone that lots of people would love to own. In
fact, the first diamond every given in an engagement ring was way back in
1477. Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave his true love (Mary of Burgundy)
a gold ring with the letter "M" in diamonds. That is cool, but did you know
Diamond actually starts out as carbon? Or the only thing that can scratch
diamond is another diamond? Let's explore the world of Diamond to see
what other sparkling facts we can uncover.
Diamond History
Diamonds are thought to date as far back as three billion-years, or more!
For thousands of decades this substance has been highly prized. Diamonds
were collected and traded in India as early as the 4th century B.C. In fact, in
the 1400's, India was the only known source of diamonds. This lasted until
the 1700's, then Brazil took over as the main source for this precious stone.
In the 1800's a huge diamond source was located in South Africa. Today,
diamonds are being mined all over the world.
Where on Earth is Diamond Found?
Diamonds are found deep inside the earth; from 90 to 120 miles down (144
to 193 kilometers). This gem is produced when carbon is compressed tightly
together then heated to extreme temperatures (2,000 to 3,000 degrees
Fahrenheit or 1,093 to 1,648 Celsius). Sometimes diamonds will find their
way to Earth's surface through volcanic eruptions, but mostly people have to
dig or mine for them.
Diamond Myths
From the time diamond was discovered, there has been some crazy myths
associated with it. Check these out;

The Ancient people of Rome and Greek believed diamonds were the
tears from the gods. Some even thought diamonds were broken
pieces from the stars.
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Ancient Hindus placed a diamond in the "eye" of their statues and
believed it would protect them from danger.
The Middle Ages had some folks believing a diamond could cure
disease.
Some Ancient cultures thought a diamond worn on battle armor
would give them strength and courage.
What is Diamond Really Used For?
Although myths are fun to read about, the diamond really is a useful gem.
Since this stone is the hardest substance on Earth, it is used in cutting and
grinding tools. It can also polish and wear away other substances. However,
perhaps the most popular use of this sparkling gem is in jewelry.
The Not-So-Nice Side of Diamond
When diamonds were first discovered, miners rushed to find as many as
possible. But this requires them to remove large amounts of soil. This can
damage the land, reroute rivers and lead to deforestation. Mining can be
very harmful to fish and wildlife and even people. In addition, in the quest
for finding diamond, miners dig pits. Over time these abandoned pits will fill
with water. This in turn becomes a breeding ground for harmful insects, like
mosquitoes that can spread malaria and other diseases.
Today, the mining of diamonds has been regulated in order to keep these
harmful things from occurring.
Fun Facts About Diamond ~ Did You Know…
 labs can now recreate diamonds that look and feel identical to real
diamonds?
 the largest diamond ever found is called the Cullinan diamond? It
weighs a whopping 1.33 pounds (0.6 kilograms) which is 3,106
carats.
 the word "Diamond" is derived from the Greek language; adamas,
meaning indestructible?
 Diamond is the birthstone for people born in April?
 less than 20 percent of all diamonds found are good enough to be
made into jewelry?
 blue and red colored diamonds are extremely rare?
 to burn a diamond you would have to heat it to a temperature of
around 1,292 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Celsius)?
Look Up in the Sky! It's the Sun. It's the Moon. It's...a Space
Diamond?
There is a diamond in outer space that is the size of our moon! Lucy or BPM
37093 was once as bright as our sun, but has now shrunk. And because of
all this compressing and extreme heat, the core of this star has turned into a
huge diamond. It is (hold onto your seat) 4,000 kilometers in diameter
(2,485 miles) which makes it 10 billion trillion trillion carats. Phew! That's
one big gem.
Now that you have learned all about Diamond and how important it is, go
out and impress your friends and family with these fun facts. They may think
you are a brilliant "gem-ious" with all these fascinating factoids.
Source: http://www.scienceforkidsclub.com/diamond.html