Forever associated with one’s declaration of love, the signature form of carbon, marketed as “a girl’s best friend”, has a dark side that the public is near oblivious too. Instead, the slogan should be aptly named “ a war’s best friend”, a reality in certain parts of Africa. The notorious “blood diamonds” or “conflict diamonds” of Africa earn their status for being mined in war zones, often through forced and unjust labor, and then being used to fund conflicts (Baker). Popularized by the media through the film Blood Diamond, the most famous power struggle involving “blood diamonds” would be the eleven-year civil war in Sierra Leone, lasting from 1991 to 2002 (Flanagin). Other instances of conflicts between warring factions, driven by the greed for these natural resources, led to the formation of the Kimberley Process in 2003. The program was created to combat and restrict African government’s ability to profit from “conflict diamonds” (Blood). Though the program has made great strides in preventing the injustices that are “conflict diamonds”, the illegal mining and trade of these precious stones still have repercussions today in other parts of Africa.
In one of the poorest countries in the world, the Central African Republic, religious conflict between Muslim and Christian forces has been a mainstay since 2013 (Central). Both militias have funded themselves through their control of certain diamond mines, leading to Amnesty International concluding that the government must confiscate these “conflict diamonds” before these factions can further profit from them (Central). Along with this, the Kimberley Process levied a ban on any diamond exports coming out of the Central African Republic, also known as CAR (Flanagin). However, the sanctions placed did not apply to trade within the country, so these “conflict diamonds” began to be smuggled out, to appease the high demand of Western buyers. These diamonds traveling across numerous borders insure that the origin of the jewel cannot be determined “conflict- free”. In addition, these “blood diamonds” also began to be stockpiled in warehouses, where the militia groups would just wait for the sanction by the Kimberley Process to be lifted (Calderwood). Similar loopholes were exploited by the Zimbabwe government, which has always been criticized for its violation of human rights when mining (Blood). For these reasons, the question must be asked, how can these groups circumvent the restrictions placed by the Kimberley Process?
The larger issue that Africa faces regarding the mining and trading of “conflict diamonds” is the recent ineffectiveness of the said Kimberley Process. Loopholes are present for factions to take advantage of the policy. However, the general impact that the process has made should not be ignored. It has played a major part in limiting the profiting of diamonds in larger scale war zones (Blood). The cause of recent criticism is just due to the fact that the program must be reformatted, so it can combat the “entire diamond industry chain”. Suggested reforms could include the increasing the government oversight on domestic trade, essentially eliminating the stockpiling of diamonds. The reformatting of the “investigation” system to include a focus on human rights violations and child laborers would also prevent governments like Zimbabwe to take advantage of the people.
Though there are still repercussions of the larger “blood diamond” conflicts, like in the CAR or in Zimbabwe, the efforts to reform the Kimberley Process provides hope for a better future. Thus, there can finally be an efficient way to combat the illegal mining and trade of diamonds, so that these ravaged African communities can finally see the beauty of these precious gems, not it’s ugly side.
Works Cited:
Baker, Aryn. "Why the Blood Diamond Trade Won't Die." Time. Time Inc. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
"Blood Diamond Trail Leads to Loopholes in Kimberley Process." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 05
Calderwood, Imogen. "'Blood Diamonds' Dug from African Mines by Children as Young as 11, Gold Taken from 25m Underwater by Kids Aged 9: The Slave Labour Scandal behind the Jewellery Hanging around Your Neck." Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers, 02 Oct. 2015. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.
"Central African Republic Warning over 'blood diamonds'" BBC News. BBC, 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.
Flanagin, Jake. "The Blood Diamond Trade Is Tearing the Central African Republic Apart." Quartz. Quartz Africa, 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.
I really like your introduction! I think the way you presented the concept is really clever. My main take away from this article is that blood diamonds are a major issue in Africa, and though a process has been established to try to prevent factions from gaining money from the selling of these diamonds, the process needs to be revamped for greater effectiveness. Do you happen to know which organization/group founded the Kimberley Process?
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