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The diamond industry impacts the people of West Africa by creating a whirlwind of corruption on a political level. In sierra Leone diamonds were a valuable part of the land and they were once legitimately sold up until Sierra Leone became independent in 1961. The following years of their independence corruption flooded the land. According to an online research paper it says “with that independence came corrupt leaders, manipulation of the people , rebel groups, rivalries and civil disputes”. The correlation implies that the diamond industry has created an environment that leaves people at risk of violence, and unfair treatment by their government. The longer the diamond industry is in effect, the longer West African people will suffer from the world market demanding diamonds. Because of globalization it doesn’t look

     In Southern Africa, there were mineral discoveries in the 1860, 70, and 80’s. These discoveries had an enormous impact on Southern Africa. These discoveries lead to a “rush” of many fortune hunters and the establishment of the town of Kimberly, which grew quickly and soon became the largest urban society in the interior of Southern Africa. Soon the diamond industry was controlled by one monopolistic company. This was one negative effect of imperialism in Africa.

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.

Close to 49% of diamonds are coming from Central and Southern Africa. Also sources of the mineral have been discovered in Canada, India, Russia, Brazil, and Australia. They are mined from kimberlitic and lamproite volcanic

This essay supports the statement “The price of diamonds is too high”. Diamonds have always been presumed to be rare. They have been present in history as a symbol of wealth and luxury as they were so difficult to find. Nowadays diamonds are mined and are found all over the world but they are sold through a cartel. (Epstein 1982) A cartel limits the supply of a product in order to keep prices high and to limit competition. (South African Pocket Oxford Dictionary: 2002) This raises the question of whether diamonds are actually worth their price. This essay focuses on the origins and the basic theory behind the diamond cartel; the early operation of the cartel; De Beers’ strong market campaign; determining De Beers’ current

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The story of these infamous diamonds all started with a fifteen year old who found a diamond in his father 's arm. The diamond business started in 1935 when “De Beers” took all control over dining prospects in Sierra Leone. De Beers are a group of companies has a main role in the exploration of diamonds, as well as diamond mining, diamond retail, diamond trading, and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors.This group was founded in 1888, and they are responsible for the problems Sierra Leone is facing today. These diamonds can be found in volcanic pipes. Diamonds are a pure form of carbon in a transparent state. Diamonds have always been a sign of wealth. Historically kings and queens were known for wearing these. Over time many people began lusting over them.

The decade long civil war in Sierra Leone was ignited by its diamond resources. The diamonds that were native to this land

HIMSS is a global non-profit, caused based organization which is mainly focused on improving health using Information Technology. HIMSS is widely spread all over the globe with its offices in most parts of United States, Europe and Asia. It has its main headquarter in Chicago. This organization was founded at Georgia Institute of Technology and has celebrated its 50th anniversary recently in 2011.

The impact on Africa that the war over conflict diamonds has caused has affected Africa both positively and negatively. By July of 1999, the violence had greatly risen, which had caused the government of Sierra Leone to sign a peace agreement with the R.U.F. that “legitimized the R.U.F. and brought it into the government with several cabinet positions.” (Brown 2). Sadly, the R.U.F was only interested in keeping control over the diamond mines in Kono and Tongo. As a

The conflict diamonds started to be present and problematic in Sierra Leone as soon as DeBeers mining company took control of all diamond prospects throughout this region. Although DeBeers was keeping a moderate watch on the trading and actions being taken through it, traders from Lebanon (bordered by Syria and Israel to the south) were able to easily smuggle and mine diamonds out through the company. Later towards the 1950s, countries, such as Sierra Leone, had to give up the chance of regulating the illicit diamond industry, thus having to warn owners of the mines to provide their own security measures for the mines and land they owned. The issue wasn’t justly political or economic until Sierra Leone gained its independence in 1961, letting Siaka Stevens enroll as Prime minister, therefore having a one-party ruler. Stevens took control, and monopolized the diamond mines, as well as encouraging them to gain power and fame nationwide. Things were looking austere for diamond control rights and regulations, not only to watch a civil war emerge, surging through the country as fire fought fire and brother fought against brother. As the war extended from 1991 to 1999, it brought forth other problems as a result of citizen on citizen warfare for the diamonds such as rape, murder, and sex slaves. Once 75,000 lives were claimed, the people of Sierra Leone finally realized that victims and executors of these terrible crimes has emerged from the cash crop known as diamonds.

Diamonds are made of carbon so they form as carbon atoms under a high temperature and pressure; they bond together to start growing crystals. Diamonds are formed underneath the Earth’s surface requiring them to be mined for, which can be a very high labor task. Out of the top ten countries in the world with the most diamonds, Africa has six of those countries (Said, Sammy. “Top Ten Countries with the Most Diamonds Found”). With six African countries being among the world leaders in diamond mining and exportation brings a lot of controversy. Some of these African countries have already been banned in the past from mining and exporting diamonds for many human rights violations. Angola is one of the world’s leading exporters of diamonds. Just

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.

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

3. Description of the IMF Project to Help Africa Crack Down on Illicit Diamond Trade