Preventing the export of conflict diamonds in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Admitted in the Memoir of Ndansi Kumalo, “Well, the white men have brought us some good things. For a start, they brought us European implements - plows; we can buy European clothes, which are an advance. The government has arranged for education and through that, when our children grow up, they may rise in status.” The Europeans admittedly brought many great things to the Natives of the countries they conquered; better technology, education, and overall help were given to the natives. In the beginning, Europeans tried as much as they could to prop up the natives to a better, civilised stature. However, as their power and grasp on the region increased, as did their greed. According to Richard Harding Davis in Leopold, The Janitor from the Congo and the Coasts of Africa, “The Charges brought against Leopold II, as King of the Congo, are three: (1) That he has made slaves of the twenty million blacks he promised to protect. (2) That, in spite of his promise to keep the Congo open to trade, he has closed it to all nations. (3) That the revenues of the country and all of its trade has retained to himself.” Such imperialism allowed far away kings to exploit their populaces of Native Africans as if they were just toys to the crown. Leaders would force their powerless and technologically underdeveloped subjects into fruitless

Once Léopold and Stanley came together to discuss their ideas of imperialism in the Congo, Leopold decided they needed some way to seize the land to make it his. Leopold sent Stanley down to the land, and discussed a written agreement which explained how Leopold would take over the land to prevent the Arabs from abducting the congolese as slaves. The Congolese could not understand very well, as their main language was French, but nevertheless agreed to the compliance (AWPHRocklin Belgian Congo. Web). Leopold then went on to controlling the land and forced the congolese to do

Due to the clear and present danger of the Belgian people living in the Congo, the Belgian government felt that they had to intervene. Soldiers from Belgium were back on the ground in the Congo to bring stability to the situation. This was a horrific sight to most of the Congolese people as

The rule of King Leopold II instilled disturbing methods of ruling. He enslaved the people of The democratic republic of Congo (Congolese) to gather him resources that would only benefit him. He was willing to do whatever it took to gain resources, even if it meant enslaving the people. “ King Leopold II nearly enslaved many of the Congolese people in order to gain wealth, and to bring power” (Citation) imperialism had a negative impact on the country, it had a long lasting impacts on the country because he depleted them of their resources which means they don't have much to export as a country now. King Leopold II used the people as slaves to gather their resources due to the danger of the work, which resulted in many casualties and injuries. He wanted to rule the country as he wanted rather than what was right for the people. He lied to the Belgian government in order to gain power of the country, by saying that his

Additionally the Europeans brought formal education to congo and taught them about religion, languages, and basic subjects. The goal of the Missionaries was to spread western ideas, custom, and religion to people in

Riches in central Africa. In what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, there was and still is a plethora of natural resources. Rubber, gold, copper, diamonds and more. That natural wealth has definitely hurt Congo in the past rather than helped. Its resources could have made it one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But yet, this future did not hold true for the Congo. At the turn of the 20th century, King Leopold II began to take notice of the central African country. (National Black United Front). King Leopold II communicated all his ideas and intentions through a speech to European missionaries. (Africa Global Network). In it, his words held the key to all things terrible. Soon, Belgium took over the Congo and began one of the

Notably medicine and education was advanced saving many lives by making healthcare more accessible and educating thousands of children when the Belgians took the control of the Congo, after Leopold’s rule. Many of the ancestors of the health professional and nuns that came to the Congo believe “Belgium did nothing but good in Africa” (Roxburgh). On the contrary, this statement by many, is very false because of the many human rights abuses and squandering of the resources and the destruction of the prior political system in the Congo. It is noted that during reign of King Leopold and the rest of Belgium rule over the Congo, 10 million people died because of supposed disobedience or rebellion . This group that killed the Congolese was called the Force Publique, a group that also “control the slave laborers” (Macmillan). Also the Force Publique, would target anyone of any age and would punish people if they did not produce enough rubber or gold, by burning down village and mutilating peoples bodies. This was done to ensure the production of rubber and maintain control of the Congo to give Belgium more money to use to bring progress in their own nation and build up their

The definition of Economic Liberalism is the idea of approaching the market with private property, limited government intervention and the encouragement that a free market will be driven by supply and demand fueled by citizens that desire to succeed…. This is the complete opposite approach Leopold took in the Congo. In a free market, there is the notion that it will succeed because the people want to work for their own success. In the Congo, Stanley, Leopold’s consultant doing the groundwork, refers to the locals as lazy and needing guidance while he promotes “the gospel of enterprise,” (68) known today as free enterprise. Almost as if going along with Modernization Theory, he continues to say that they are too idle and the issue is Africans themselves, they are barbaric and clothesless. In a treaty created between the Belgians and the locals through Stanley, they decide the payment for the forced

“To Europeans, Africans were inferior beings: Lazy, uncivilized, little better than animals... In any system of terror, the functionaries must first of all see the victims as less than human, and Victorian ideals about race provided such a foundation” (Hochschild 121). The society in which King Leopold II lived shaped his view that the people of Africa were inferior, that their lives were significant, and this idea began to spread to most of Europe. This allowed the Belgian king to focus on his main purpose of colonizing the Congo: money. Despite his portrayal that his main motivation for colonizing the Congo was not profit, King Leopold was definitely motivated by money, and and because of this motivation he turned a blind eye to what was happening in

Leopold never actually stepped foot in Congo, he had used explorers such as Stanley Mortan and other white men to establish the colony for him. To sneakily undergo his objectives without other countries noticing, he created organizations in which he could operate under. For instance, the International African Association to stop the outspread of slavery. Leopold additionally hosted conference meetings to speak on human rights. “If he was to seize anything in Africa, he could do so only if he convinced everyone that his interest was purely altruistic”. (46) King Leopold succeeded at convincing every one of his goodwill, that he was supported financially from the Belgian government in introducing free trade and religion in the Congo.

Over the course of human history, many believe that the “Congo Free State”, which lasted from the 1880s to the early 1900s, was one of the worst colonial states in the age of Imperialism and was one of the worst humanitarian disasters over time. Brutal methods of collecting rubber, which led to the deaths of countless Africans along with Europeans, as well as a lack of concern from the Belgian government aside from the King, combined to create the most potent example of the evils of colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s. The Congo colonial experience, first as the Congo Free State then later as Belgian Congo, was harmful to that region of Africa both then and now because of the lack of Belgian and International

King Leopold II ruled the Congo from 1885 to 1908. “He ruled the Congo less as a colony but more as his own personal priority. He treated the native Congolese nearly as slaves and used the wealth of the Congo to grow his own personal wealth.” (http://drcimperialism.weebly.com/life-under-imperialist-power.html). Under his rule the people of the Congo were treated horribly. The Congolese experienced a humanitarian disaster consisting of enslavement, exploitation, and even extermination. Moreover, by the end of this era it was estimated that the population was cut in half. “Eventually international outrage forced Leopold to turn over his personal colony to the Belgian government.” (Esler 572) Nonetheless, during the years of Leopold’s rule imperialism thrived.

“Diamonds are forever” it is often said. “But lives are not”, says Martin Chungong Ayafor, Chairman of the Sierra Leone Panel of Experts, “We must spare people the ordeal of war, mutilations and death for the sake of conflict diamonds.” (United Nations 2). This is a very powerful quote from someone who has and is experiencing (Gerund) firsthand the gruesome terror of the conflict over diamonds in Africa. This war has started because of the greed for money and power in the abundant diamond industry in the different parts of Africa by the R.U.F. In Sierra Leone alone, about 20,000 innocent people have suffered bodily mutilation, 75,000 people have been killed, and around 2,000,000 people have fled Sierra Leone because of the genocide, or

The Sierra blood diamonds were rather known as the war diamonds because they were mined in a war zone to help finance invading armies and warlord activity. War diamonds have bad consequences for trying to trade them in certain areas because of where they come from. Ivory Coast had started a http://www.ijmonitor.org/2015/09/american-arrested-for-enslavement-and-pillage-of-sierra-leone-blood-diamonds/diamond mining company in the 1990s and they got overthrew in 1999 starting a civil war. The country became a place for exporting diamonds from Liberia and Sierra Leone. Even though the UN Security Council banned all diamonds to be shipped to and from the Ivory Coast, diamond trade still exists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_diamond

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.