Are You Wearing Death? A Research Proposal For The Abolishment

The company took control of some of the key mines in Africa and forged ties with other large diamond producers around the world.

All of us would find this topic in a way of inspirational because no matter what may be taking place, there can be an instant where the painful story that's taking place would be told and because of this story being told, changes will be made. For instance, Campbell speaks of Ismail Dalramy who lost his hands in 1996 by way of an ax. Amputation was one of many brutal tactics, as well as torture, mass rapes and looting done by the Revolutionary United Front or the (RUF). This is only just a little taste of what the African had to undergo because of the sick diamond trade. But, even so this helped bring light to what was wrong and helped more right to come out of. This book continued shedding light on the overworked but underpaid Africans in the mines. A tourist once mentioned, "The pit looked more like a slave colony". "On all sides, rib-skinny men stripped to their shorts were covered in mud and slime, the inevitable results of their jobs digging for diamonds". "Even though it was barely 10 a.m., they all looked exhausted”. This is needless to say extremely sad because there were Africans that were worked like crazy but barely getting paid, rest, or rewards. Instead there is nothing but turmoil agony and pain.

The process of producing the diamonds so they could be sold on the market involved many steps which were illustrated in the movie, Blood Diamond. Smugglers like Archer would supply the RUF with guns. The guns would be used by the RUF to intimidate the people of Sierra Leone into working as laborers for them, we see this with Solomon and his son. These men would be forced to dig in the water mines for hours a day searching for diamonds of all sizes. Then the diamonds are mixed with other diamonds all around the world, mixing the illegal ones with the legal ones; this was explained in the movie by Archer to Maggie. When the diamonds are mixed in with the others, no one can determine for certainty where each originated from. It is then distributed to nations where they are made into necklaces and bracelets, and no questions are asked.

The controversial artist Kanye West has always attempted to make known what he thinks, no matter if he has to be disrespectful or graphic in his illustrations of said topic. So it wasn't a real surprise when he chose to focus his energy into reveling to the American public horrors happening that had a direct connection with the beloved diamond stone. West's 2005 music video “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” shows the corrupted underground diamond trade in the African country, Sierra Leone. From this groundbreaking video, West showed the devastated lives those who worked on the mining rivers live. However upon further investigation into the issue of diamond workers in Sierra Leone there emerged the true source of the situation, a violent

Have they ever posed the question; where is all of this coming from? It begins in the Republic of Congo, where the mineral coltan is quarried. Coltan, used commonly in smart phones and computers, is in high demand, demand so high, it can lead to the death of hundreds of citizens that are being forced to mine it. As the CBC news article “Coltan; A New Blood Mineral” apprises its reader, numerous more community’s lives will be permanently altered by the mining of coltan. “Potential mines are also being explored in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greenland, Mozambique, the United States, Finland, Afghanistan, Venezuela and Colombia.” (CBC) it is claimed. This can only mean countless more residents may be forced out of their homes, or to work in atrocious, inhumane conditions mining for the North American obsession. Though Sylvie, from Blue Gold, is a fictional character, the conflicts that she faces on an unvarying basis are a reality for innumerable African people at any given moment. However, with the nickname ‘blood mineral’, it is insinuated that coltan is the culprit, though this is not the case. As Sylvie bluntly puts it, “‘Coltan is just a rock. [...] It’s the fighters who hurt people” (Stewart 163), something the people in the Congo may forget. It is the simple truth that coltan mining is inevitable. The

Due to these Blood Diamonds, Sierra Leone has faced many social and economic costs. One diamond is capable of causing a civil war. That’s all, a fight over diamond control took many lives. During this civil war, rebels came and committed disgusting crimes including murder,

This then makes marine life unsuitable therefore eliminating another healthy food option for the many living in absolute poverty. The mining of diamonds contributes to the poverty in Sierra Leone and makes it harder to escape it.

Much of what I discovered in watching this film has helped me see things in a different light. Not just diamonds but every other product imaginable could’ve commenced the same chaos the diamonds caused in Africa. This commotion may not only happen in Africa but also in any other country. Innocent people like Solomon, who just wanted to live their life in a quiet environment, are dragged into the turmoil constructed by the greedy individuals who only see money and power as the most important things in this world. The fact that the rebels cut off the citizens’ arms so that they won’t be able to vote was very disturbing. They recognize the people’s power that’s why they had to prevent the citizens to vote, so that they could stay in power. The citizens have

I was quite turned off from Group B’s argument on these bases and their thematic approach which suggested that gold, a material good, was more precious and valuable than actual people and their sacred cultural practices. While I understand that this case study is comprised of fictitious issues based in a made up country, the knowledge of the human rights issues fixed around blood diamonds I acquired from our pre-class reading and quiz helped me to take a real world stance on people verses government in the case of natural resources. Prior to the Jacqueline Soloway reading and our class discussion, I was only vaguely aware of the political and economic conversations surrounding the mining of war diamonds. For quite some time I had known that a surplus of diamonds were harvested from the overworked hands of children and impoverished peoples, unfortunately I had no exposure to multiple government’s complacent or supportive roles in having people to mine for diamonds in unsafe, war torn territories. In my daily life I advocate for fair trade, therefore I would never knowingly perpetuate the atrocities of blood diamond mining by purchasing products that result from such human rights violations; because of this I practically knew my decision before I entered the lecture hall and either group presented. I did, however, want to hear both groups out in class and make the decision I felt

African blood diamonds have been the focal point of many African country’s civil wars. This is due to the high demand for diamonds that Susan Falls says has been since the “N.W. Ayer agency was hired to market engagement rings…[that] laid the foundation for a market dominance” for diamonds (443). From this high demand for diamonds since the marketing campaign in 1938, and many citizens’ need for jobs after Shumirai Nyota and Fortune Sibanda report that the African countries’ unemployment rates reached an all time high in 2009 at an alarming “94 percent”, has subsequently lead to conflicts over the race between “Zimbabweans flocking to Chiadzwa in their thousands” for these precious gems (131). Due to these gems

Blood Diamond or Conflict Diamond another term used to describe the illegal trade of diamond in Africa. The Blood Diamond is been used to finance conflicts, wars and humans rights violations.

Not only does this issue involve the politics of the diamond trade and the involvement of outside parties, but it is also a devastatingly serious human rights violation to the civilians of Angola. “There is an average of 52 land mine incidents per month and approximately 1 out of every 356 Angolans is an amputee as a result of these bloody conquests”[4]. It was determined in a United Nations Security Council meeting that “there are clear and major weaknesses in systems for controlling diamond trading, which no single country can address effectively because of the many alternative routes available to illicit diamond traders”[5]. Therefore, in order to combat the civil fighting between UNITA and the MPLA, we must educate ourselves about UNITA’s diamond trade, prohibit the sale of blood diamonds, and achieve a commitment from diamond dealers that their diamonds originate from conflict-free mines.

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

One pattern of the global diamond trade is the organisational structure, consisting of locational, economic and political patterns.

Blood diamond are “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”. Blood Diamond is a story about the precious gem acquired through blood and sufferings of common people. How much blood is spilt for each pieces of this luxury, how many tears dried into the very ground it is gathered from. Except from the people that are involved in the whole process of stealing or smuggling a nation’s natural wealth. Sierra Leone, where the storyline takes place, gets nothing. Its people are suffering through extreme poverty, hunger, illiteracy and diseases. Adding insult to injury, there is a fast emerging brutal terrorist group called RUF, destroying the system, collapsing government, killing innocents and taking children as soldiers. Making sure the country never progress and prosper or never grow the backbone to stand on its feet ever to use the valuable diamonds it holds on the ground. For example, when the illegal and unethical blood diamond trade was brought to light, it was ignored by the most potentially influential global players because of economic interest. What resulted was that the situation snowballed over the duration that it has occurred over and when the issue finally came to a head