Civil Wars: African Blood Diamonds

When one is on the other side of the earth, there is only so much information that a person could obtain. This was a great enough reason for the author, Greg Campbell, of "Blood Diamonds" to expose what all eyes are not seeing and what many are blind to in this world. Campbell went out to research the tracks and origins of a very valuable stone known as the diamond. In doing so, he urges to research the origins and life of this precious rock. He goes about researching just exactly how the life of the diamond begins in the jungles of Sierra Leone and ends up in the London on its market. This is what could be said to be the ultimate reason for this book "Blood Diamond”. Evidently, Campbell wanted to expose or let it be known how African

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

By definition, strife precious stones are jewels that begin from mines that are under the control of revolutionary gatherings that are battling against their nation's legislature. Sierra Leone, a little nation on the west bank of Africa, (in this paragraph you need to elaborate a little bit more) has throughout the previous ten years been under the fear of an ever display common war. This war is being battled between a radical gathering known as the Revolutionary United Front and Sierra Leone's available government. The RUF took control of some of Sierra Leones wealthiest diamond mines in the mid-nineties centuries. They now utilize the benefits they make from these precious stones to purchase weapons for their armed force, made up for the

This essay will have info based off the story the article Blood Diamonds written by Greg Campbell. I will be giving a brief summary of

Human blood is shed on almost every diamond mined in Africa, bought from Africa, or traded out of Africa. In the beginning of Aryn Baker’s article “Dirty Diamonds” in TIME magazine, Baker presents a man conflicted with his decision to buy an engagement ring, because he does not want “. . . a symbol of our union to also be associated with chaos and controversy and pain.” (Baker 64). This man in the example, Max Rodriguez, undoubtedly knew of the backbreaking work that children are subjected to, to provide for their families or to raise money to receive an education. Baker argues that the diamond industry in Africa hinders the development of children, nations, and that this problem may be too large to control as she appeals to logic, evoking

Slavery was abolished in the year of 1865; however, the maltreatment of African-Americans has not. Similarly, the triangular slave trade mentioned in Hartman’s book is no longer existent, but inhumane conditions still exist amongst the African community. These conditions are recurring motifs that hip-hop artist try to bring to mainstream audiences. The blood diamond industry began in the 1990s with the rebel group, Revolutionary United Front (RUF), led by Foday Sankoh, who had claimed they would improve the destitute conditions of the Africans and take better care of them than the African government. However, they later went against these promises and “seized control of diamond-producing regions in the east and south of Sierra Leone” (Fofana,

BLOOD DIAMONDS airs to some of the world's leading experts for the facts of the account of the diamond trade, and goes to the core of the matter, interviewing of both the victims and perpetrators of the diamond-fueled carnages in countries like the Sierra Leone. One such victim interviewed is Usman Conteh. Just before the start of the civil war Usman Conteh, a regular teenager of age about 17 was abducted during the rebel raid on his home town. Usman Conteh had projected to be executed, but as one of the group of a hundred, incidentally he was taken to the mines and enforced to work at gunpoint, all day and night. Rebels kept hovering over each captive, guarding against any escape or theft. After being captive for months, Usman finally escaped

The Sierra Leone Civil War began in 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) began an uprising against the Sierra Leone government, citing long-term corruption and crimes as their major reason for overthrowing the government. There was also conflicting in neighboring Liberia that started in 1989 and is thought to have triggering turmoil in Sierra Leone as it stretched over its borders. Much of the fighting caused by the RUF was funded and perpetuated by the prosperous diamond mines, later to be called Blood Diamonds because of the destruction they caused, located in the southeastern part of the country. By 1999, the United Nations sent a mission to Sierra Leone to end the “Blood Diamonds” conflict by disarming soldiers and building

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

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

Taylor illegally mined diamond in the district of kono. He got charged with a crime of war about pillage and human enslavement and a crime against humanity. The RUF forced civilians to work for them to mine diamonds in Sierra Leone. They were brought to Taylor and then the diamonds were sold in the international market. Then he also continued to support the RUF in their business.

From the New York Times the Angolan conflict was “a three way tribally based thrash about in which the contenders “became enmeshed in worldwide politics as the competitor superpowers and their proxies rushed to support their chosen factions.”

“Blood diamond” reflects a dark and ferocious side of this gorgeous world that is full of vanity, cruelness and ambition. In Africa, Sierra Leone, there exist a lot of child soldiers that serve the RUF (Revolutionary United Front), and those people mine diamond from the warzone, and sell them into the official market. Therefore, the RUF gets the profits and uses it for illegal plans or terror attacks to threaten the country and the people. These behaviors and activities have increased the morality rate in Africa, and the desire of getting “blood diamond” is the crucial factor that drives these conflicts and causes that devastating disaster.

| During the late 1990s South African diamond product De Beers and other companies on the diamond industry discovered that some of the diamonds they were buying or selling came from groups who used the proceeds to finance brutal civil wars. In Sierra Leone, rebels took control of diamond mines by systematically chopping off the arms and hands of as many as 20,000 children, women and men until the diamond operations were turned over to them. Similarly events took place at diamond mines in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. About 4 million civilians have died in the civil wars financed by the diamonds. Anxious to avoid a

It is both interesting and horrifying to be learning about a culture being depleted and wiped-out just because they are situated on top of a large diamond deposit that greedy people want to exploit. The diamond mining is the leading cause of all the bloodshed, murder and mayhem in the region. Since the Certificate of the Kimberley Process was passed, it has made it illegal to ship diamonds out of the country that have been extracted from areas of conflict or those that aren’t approved by the National Department of Mineral