Blood Diamonds

Tweet

Conflict diamonds, also known as Blood Diamonds, are diamonds illegally traded to fund conflict in war-torn areas, particularly in the nations of central and western Africa. The United Nations defines conflict diamonds as "...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.

"These gems captured the world's attention in the 1990s during the intense conflict in Sierra Leone, but they have also been used by rebels to fund conflicts in Angola, Liberia, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo The controversy over these diamonds in meticulously chronicled in 2006 film, Blood Diamond, by Edward Zwick, the Academy Award-winning director of Glory and The Last Samurai. The film features Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou De Beers Group, which controls the vast majority of the diamond trade, has expressed reservations the film will reduce public demand for diamonds. The company, which many believe have an unfair monopoly on diamonds, pushed hard to have a disclaimer on the film saying the events are fictional and in the past. Obviously, the association of diamonds with brutal conflict is diametrically opposed to the carefully constructed brand De Beers has crafted for diamonds. De Beers wants the world to continue to associate diamonds with love, romance, and engagement rings. This was an artifice created to sell diamonds, which are actually not rare at al. Their incredible price tag is created through a bottleneck in the distribution system. Before the campaign, diamonds were not associated with marriage or engagement rings at all. Rapper Kanye West also contributed to the upsurge in public awareness of Blood Diamonds when he released his song, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", So should you return that ring you got for Christmas? No. Most diamonds are now clean. In 2002, a coalition of governments, non-governmental organizations and the diamond industry worked together to address this issue. They established the Kimberley Process Certification System, a process that has virtually eliminated the trade in conflict diamonds. Now, over 99% of the world's supply of diamonds are conflict free."