Blood diamonds, or conflict diamonds, are diamonds mined in a war zone and sold to finance military activity, including insurgencies and civil war.
Countries Involved
Countries with a history of the practice include Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Ivory Coast, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Congo.
Certification methods
South Africa instituted a certification method, called the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, to assure consumers they are not contributing to violence. Canada implemented its own certification to respond to the African crisis, including laser etching of its diamonds.
Proportion
It is estimated that conflict diamonds represented about 4 percent of the world's diamond production in the late 1990s, according to the World Diamond Council. More recently, that has been reduced to considerably less than 1 percent.
Al-Qaida-Fueled, Diamond-Financed Civil War
In response to the freezing of much of its assets after its bombings in 1998 of U.S. embassies in Africa, al-Qaida allegedly transferred its cash into high-value commodities, including blood diamonds from Sierra Leone.
Artificial Diamonds
Artificial diamonds do not fuel violent conflict, since they are created in labs. That a diamond is artificial can be verified by expert inspection.
Movie and Documentary
The History Channel began airing the documentary "Blood Diamonds" on Dec. 30, 2006, to coincide with release of the Oscar-nominated movie "Blood Diamond." Notable were interviews with civilian diamond conflict victims, including those coerced with amputation, and the warlords behind the conflict.
0 comments:
Post a Comment