Essay on The Truth About Blood Diamonds

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

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.

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

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

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

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

In one online article, the author quotes a man that was a part of the mining in Congo, and shows how the trade of conflict minerals across the world is funding a war. He says that more

Blood Diamond is a 2006 film. Directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou. The movie is about diamonds mined in war zones and sold to finance conflicts, and thereby profit warlords and diamond companies across the world. Blood Diamond is an adventure, drama and thriller type of movie. The movie is not based on book but is based on the real life happenings in Sierra Leone. Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Charles Leavitt and C. Gaby Mitchell are the writers of the movie and is directed by Edward Zwick.

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

I began my research by looking into how long the war was. Starting in the year 1991 the RUF was formed by guerrilla units joining with dissidents from around Sierra Leone. The war was then declared over in 2002 in a statement after the reelection of Kabbah in freetown. “On May 15, 2001, the Sierra Leone government and the rebels once again agreed to stop fighting and began to disarm… By the beginning of 2002, disarmament was complete. This time there was no blanket amnesty.” (Sierra Leone: Lasting Peace or Cruel Mirage?) To fuel a war for two decades there needed to be a source of income. Looking into it, Sierra Leone was rich in diamonds. Not only did they produce diamonds, there were, “One of the world’s largest producers of diamonds, the country is also rich in such minerals as chrome, bauxite, iron ore, and rutile.” (Funk and Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia). These minerals were used to fuel the rebels with guns and ammunition that were shown prominently throughout the country. They also found loopholes to getting weaponry like abusing the disarmament system. They would get money for turning in their guns and in exchange get the equivalence of 300 US dollars. However this usually resulted in the money being used for buying better weaponry. “..many rebels have turned in their guns during disarmament proceedings, only to use the US$300 they were given for obsolete weapons to buy newer and

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

Wexler goes on to even say that blood diamonds are an African resource curse due to this (1717). The diamonds are the source of conflict while Falls and Rapaport show that companies and consumerism is the stimulant to the ongoing conflicts. Rapaport pleads to the audience to put an end to the consumerism because “every time we buy or sell a blood diamond, we are sending a message of encouragement to the perpetrators of these inhumane crimes” (4). Though authors such as Rapaport tell us about the rape and murder occurring and Mullins and Rothe tell us about the acts of genocide occurring, there has been no cases of public outcry in other countries and this is because of large retail companies as Falls conveys. The large retail companies advertise these diamonds as precious, rare and clean gems, but throughout Falls’ article this is disproven, yet these companies’ sly advertisement schemes keep them far away from any connection to blood

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