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    Blood Diamond: Conflict Diamonds and Kimberly Process

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    Deepak
    The document discusses blood or conflict diamonds, which are diamonds mined illegally in African war zones and used to fund militant groups. It introduces the movie Blood Diamond, which dramatized this issue in Sierra Leone's civil war. It then explains the Kimberley Process, which was established to regulate the diamond trade and reduce conflict diamonds. However, issues still remain such as some diamonds escaping certification and human rights abuses in mining countries like Zimbabwe. While progress has been made, further improvements are still needed to fully address the problems caused by conflict diamonds.

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    Blood Diamond: Conflict Diamonds and Kimberly Process

    Uploaded by

    Deepak
    255 views4 pages
    The document discusses blood or conflict diamonds, which are diamonds mined illegally in African war zones and used to fund militant groups. It introduces the movie Blood Diamond, which dramatized this issue in Sierra Leone's civil war. It then explains the Kimberley Process, which was established to regulate the diamond trade and reduce conflict diamonds. However, issues still remain such as some diamonds escaping certification and human rights abuses in mining countries like Zimbabwe. While progress has been made, further improvements are still needed to fully address the problems caused by conflict diamonds.

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    The document discusses blood or conflict diamonds, which are diamonds mined illegally in African war zones and used to fund militant groups. It introduces the movie Blood Diamond, which dramatized this issue in Sierra Leone's civil war. It then explains the Kimberley Process, which was established to regulate the diamond trade and reduce conflict diamonds. However, issues still remain such as some diamonds escaping certification and human rights abuses in mining countries like Zimbabwe. While progress has been made, further improvements are still needed to fully address the problems caused by conflict diamonds.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    255 views4 pages

    Blood Diamond: Conflict Diamonds and Kimberly Process

    Uploaded by

    Deepak
    The document discusses blood or conflict diamonds, which are diamonds mined illegally in African war zones and used to fund militant groups. It introduces the movie Blood Diamond, which dramatized this issue in Sierra Leone's civil war. It then explains the Kimberley Process, which was established to regulate the diamond trade and reduce conflict diamonds. However, issues still remain such as some diamonds escaping certification and human rights abuses in mining countries like Zimbabwe. While progress has been made, further improvements are still needed to fully address the problems caused by conflict diamonds.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 4

    Blood Diamond

    Blood or conflict diamonds mined illegally, often using forced labour, in African
    warzones. The diamonds are then used to fund warlords
    or insurgents trying to take over a country. Huge
    amounts of money are at stake, murder, gamble, bribes,
    threats, torture are modes of operation. This is why the
    term "blood diamonds" is used. The popular Hollywood
    film, Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCaprio,
    dramatised the role of the gemstone in Sierra Leone's
    civil war, which took place between 1996 and 2002. In
    1999, this trade was at the peak of the conflict and
    worth $138 million a year was estimated by the World
    Bank. The Antwerp Diamond Exchange has estimated
    that blood diamonds from across Africa accounted for 15 per cent of market trade in
    the 1990s. Today illegal diamonds are considered to be under one per cent of trade.
    The story of Blood Diamond is based upon facts which describe how a mineral resource
    can ignite the oppression and slaughter of thousands of innocent people. That diamond
    changed and ended many lives, and the story of that stone carries a strong social
    message.

    The movie Blood Diamond based upon facts, describes that a large pink diamond found in Sierra
    Leone in the 1990s by a fisherman working as a slave in a rebel-controlled diamond mine.

    Conflict Diamonds and Kimberly Process:


    Blood Diamonds are also called Conflict Diamonds. The trade in Blood diamonds
    has been responsible for stimulating conflicts in Angola, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast,
    Liberia and the Congo. And the gems mined illegally area controlled by rebel forces and
    often using forced labour of men,
    women and children, in African. These
    gemstones are then smuggled into the
    international diamond trade and sold
    as legitimate gems and often the main
    source of funding for the rebels

    What is the "Kimberly Process"?

    The flow of Conflict Diamonds has


    originated mainly from Sierra Leone,
    Angora, Liberia, Ivory Coast and
    Congo. The conflict diamond
    producing zones, were in control of the Revolutionary United Front, which account for
    2% of the world's production. Instead of helping Sierra Leone, the world's poorest
    country, the diamonds were drained off to arm and
    supply the rebels that left more than 120,000
    people dead and millions homeless. Trailing the
    Sierra Leone war, the UN set up the Kimberley
    Process to regulate the trade in rough diamonds.
    Their approach was to develop a procedure,
    certified by government, known as the "Kimberly
    Process."

    The certification process accounts for all rough


    diamonds, through every step of their movement, from mine to retail sale. This
    procedure requires each nation to certify that all rough diamond exports are produced
    through legitimate mining and sales activity. All rough diamonds exported from these
    nations are to be accompanied by certificates. These certificates state that the
    diamonds were produced, sold, and exported through legitimate channels. Retail
    customers buying a cut diamond are encouraged to insist upon a sales receipt that
    documents that the diamond originated from a conflict-free source.

    Limitation of Kimberley Process: It applies only to rough diamonds: As the


    Kimberley Process applies only to rough diamonds, Faceted stones are no longer
    polished. In 2013, despite placing an embargo on diamonds sourced from Central
    African Republic conflict diamonds sourced from areas under the control of armed
    groups in the country still reached international markets. Also, Kimberley Process is not
    authorised to address the broader range of risks to human rights posed by the trade in
    diamonds, such as those which have been documented Zimbabwe.

    However, Legal Diamond Trade The legitimate diamond


    trade provides jobs for over 10 million workers all over
    the world. That brings expansion to areas where this
    activity occurs. Support of the Kimberly Process by all
    nations and consumers can convert slavery into jobs and
    smuggling into respected commerce. The efforts are
    working. Today, almost all of the diamonds brought to
    retail markets come from conflict-free sources.

    "No Conflict Diamonds"

    All the nations who agree to take part in the Kimberly process are not permitted to
    trade with non-member nations. The Kimberly Process is believed to have reduced the
    number of Conflict Diamonds that are reaching international gem markets. Today
    approximately 81 governments and several non-government organizations abide by the
    Kimberly Process. The only two nations which remain under Kimberly Process sanctions
    as of December, 2006 were Liberia and Ivory Coast. The World Diamond Council
    estimates that 99% of all diamonds are now conflict-free.

    Black Truth of Blood Diamond:

    Over a three year period the national army has visited alarming abuses on civilians
    in Marange's diamond fields yet nobody has been
    held to account for these crimes and joint venture
    companies nominally brought in to improve
    conditions are directly linked to the Zimbabwe. Zanu
    PF political and military dictatorship are seeking to
    capture the country's diamond wealth through a
    combination of state-controlled violence and
    introducing opaque joint-venture companies and
    Kimberley Process Certification Scheme not only
    unable to end the trade in conflict diamonds but it is
    failed to react effectively to the crisis in Zimbabwe.
    The Global Witness report describes how the MOM (Minister of Mines), has been at the
    forefront of efforts to block oversight of the joint venture companies. Investment in
    diamonds lack transparency and are done with scant regard for legal process, against a
    background of violence and deterrence.

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