Media Coverage Of Conflict Diamonds

Two years later here in Kimberley, South Africa, an important meeting was held between representatives of all major diamond producing countries, and they discussed how they could put an end to the blood diamond trade. The result was a protocol establishing the international certificate system for diamond trade—the Kimberley Process. It has 75 member countries today. The organization issues a certificate of origin for every single diamond in the world. A diamond is considered illegal if it lacks this certificate. This was the tool for cleaning out the blood diamonds.” However, the Kimberley Process has not put an end to these conflicts. The system is still flawed in many ways. As critics advise, “The world certification system

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the diamond mining industry is being exploited by rebels who are using the diamonds as ‘conflict diamonds’. These diamonds are being used to illegally buy arms used towards the civil war and other conflict in the DRC. Since the rebels have control of the diamond industry with conflict diamonds, they affect the DRC’s economy and the livelihood of the people who have no choice to work for the rebels. Because of the constant conflict since independence of the DRC, there is the persistent issue of how to reduce the circulation of conflict diamonds.

Seems too good to be true doesn’t it? Well, unless we put a stop to this cruel operation, we might as well kiss that kind of life goodbye. Just by not purchasing these diamonds you could change the lives of millions because as a result of no diamond sales, the RUF has nothing to make money off of. We would be able to eliminate the conflict between the Military and the RUF since the whole reason there’s friction between these two parties is because of the continuation of the diamond trade. Also, the profits made off of these diamonds are worth billions but unfortunately the money is just going to towards buying weapons that will be used for war thus making the situation worse. Look, I know a diamond is tempting, but is it really that big of a gain?

There are a lot of studies dealing with diamonds and the diamond trade. Most of the studies focus mostly on one aspect of the diamond trade while other show multiple parts of the diamond trade. Some of the studies take into account the area where the diamonds are mined and

| 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

De Beers Diamond Company is an industry that currently produces $13 billion worth of rough diamonds each year, leading to the employment of 10 million people globally from mining to retailing. 70% of rough diamonds are sold for industrial purposes with the remaining 30% “gem quality” being distributed to experts for cutting, polishing and jewelry manufacturing (Stein, 2001). The global jewelry market has increased three-fold in the last 25 years and is currently worth $72 billion each year. Jewelry diamonds

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, popularly known as KPCS, is a practice formed to validate the derivation of rough diamonds from resources which are free from conflict fueled by diamond fabrication. This procedure was launched in 2003 to avert diamond sales from financing mutinous engagements. The certification scheme’s goal is to stop these “blood diamonds” from entering the conventional rough diamond market. It was designed to reassure consumers that by purchasing diamonds, they were not contributing to war and the violation of human rights.

| 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

Firstly, from a political point of view, the diamond industry has several points that can be judged to be slightly controversial, such as the fact that mining diamonds in West Africa or Angola were used to finance the ongoing civil wars and conflicts that occurred in the late 20th century, thus being called “blood diamonds”. This was problematic for the companies operating in these countries as they were accused of selling these diamonds to the rebels who were fighting legitimate governments. Furthermore, due to the United States antitrust laws on cartelization, De Beers faced many accusations on issues such as collusion and price fixing, and was banned since 1948 from operating on US soil. This is problematic as the USA is the planet’s predominant market for diamonds, accounting for 45% of the world’s diamond jewelry sales, and therefore has to find loopholes in the legislation to be able to profit from the USA’s market. De Beers therefore leads its main selling operations called “sights” in Botswana, which will be discussed later.

In Sierra Leone, a diamond rich African country, diamonds are a curse. Not only did the human greed for diamonds wreak havoc on their thriving country, it caused a war that claimed the lives of over 4 million people and still affects millions of people today. Moreover, this vicious diamond war left thousands of mutilated people who have had various body parts amputated. The civil war started in 1991 and ended in 2002. Had there not been diamonds, Sierra Leone would not

People should understand it and change their behavior in buying it. There is a range of arguments against diamonds that we should take into account. Firstly, it is obvious that many such gemstones are blood diamonds. The proceeds from sales are used to support wars: to buy weapons, to support rebel factions and oppressive regime. Secondly, we should become aware of the fact that there are no ethical or eco-friendly diamonds. The diamond industry pollutes land and water and companies that are working on the fields are not concerned about restoring the land that was damaged and left abandoned. This land could be used to grow crops in the places where people are suffering from hunger. Thirdly, when we buy diamonds, we should remember about child labor and human exploitation. These stones are not worth the lives of so many people who had died in the

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme came about with international recognition for the process of “blood diamonds” being mined

A meeting of Southern African diamond-producing states was held in Kimberley in May 2000 to discuss issues presented by conflict diamonds. This

Diamonds are suitable for smuggling due to their small size, high value and once polished, their origin is difficult to establish. The diamond

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