What are Conflict Diamonds
(The article here is the authors own view. This site is
not support or against any group or organization)
By:Ardamun
Summary: Conflict diamonds are diamonds mined in war zones and sold stealthily and illegally to finance conflicts and wars.
Diamonds are always projected as symbols of love, joy and romance.
Conflict diamonds have proved that diamonds can also be associated with
bloodshed and suffering. Conflict diamonds are diamonds mined in war zones
and sold stealthily and illegally to finance conflicts and wars. Gem
diamonds, which are much more expensive than industrial diamonds, are mainly
found in Africa and this is the continent where most of the conflicts occur.
Conflicts in Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Democratic Republic of Congo
have all been bolstered by illegitimate diamonds.
Clandestine trade in conflict diamonds has financed rebels and insurgents in
their wars against legitimate governments. The National Union for the Total
Independence of Angola (UNITA) rebels in Angola and the Revolutionary United
Front (RUF) rebels in Sierra Leone had financed their insurgencies with
these diamonds. Rebel forces have used these diamonds to purchase arms and
fuel other illegitimate activities. It is quite difficult to trace the
origins of rough diamonds and once polished, quite impossible to identify.
It is thought that these conflict diamonds were also responsible for
financing the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in America.
It is unfortunate that the natural mineral resources of a country, which
should have been used for the economic uplifting of its people, have been
used to destroy them. One should not blame these rebels and insurgents
exclusively. We cannot overlook the nexus between the insurgents and the
shadowy traders, smugglers, corrupt local officials, clandestine arms
dealers, and mercenaries. They are equally responsible for the deaths of
hundreds of thousands of innocent people caused by the trade of conflict
diamonds. Conflict diamonds have rightly been called 'blood diamonds'.
Funds from the sales of conflict diamonds have been used by rebels and
insurgents to provide food, weapons, clothing etc for their cadres. It is
estimated that trade in these diamonds have fetched UNITA and RUF rebel
groups about $200 million every year. The role of Angola's rebels in
smuggling diamonds into the international markets came to public attention
in 1998, through a report by a London based NGO. This report also implicated
the world's largest diamond cartel of marketing and 'managing supply' of 80%
of the world's rough diamonds.
Conflict Diamonds and Terrorism
"Illicit diamonds make fabulous profits for terrorists. . . " - Amnesty
Magazine
The international diamond industry has an inexhaustible requirement for
diamonds. To fulfill the legitimate requirements for diamonds, some
unscrupulous diamond traders funded the killings, by buying $125 million
worth of diamonds from RUF rebels of Sierra Leone, each year. They did not
care where these diamonds originated from. The bottom line was - carats
gained. Throughout the 1990s, at the height of the massacres affecting
millions of people in Africa, these traders bought conflict diamonds from
Sierra Leone, without a qualm. At the height of these conflicts,
international media pulled its journalists out of Sierra Leone for fear of
their lives. The massacres continued galore.
The terrorist organizations, exploited the legitimate requirements of
diamonds by selling conflict diamonds through a handful of unscrupulous
traders. According to FBI, Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network started buying
diamonds from RUF of Sierra Leone in early 1998. Al Qaeda blew up American
Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the same year. Two people implicated in
these attacks were seen in Sierra Leone in 2001, overseeing RUF diamond
production. Three months prior to 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and
Pentagon, Al Qaeda bought millions of dollars worth of untraceable conflict
diamonds from the RUF. Following the 9/11 attacks, freezing of Al Qaeda's
assets worth $100 million may not have had the desired impact, as the
terrorists have enough untraceable conflict diamonds from Sierra Leone to
finance their activities.
United Nations and Conflict Diamonds
The United Nations has condemned the sale of conflict diamonds as they were
financing rebel armies in their war against legitimate governments. These
conflicts led to large scale human rights abuses and endless wars. The
insurgencies fuelled by conflict diamonds has led to sanctions, applied
against UNITA and RUF, by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the
United Nations Charter. The sanctions can only succeed by their strict
compliance by Governments, inter-governmental organizations and NGOs,
diamond traders, financial institutions, and arms manufacturers, among other
agencies. In order to promote lasting peace in the areas of conflict, there
is a need to cut off the financial sources, in this instance - the conflict
diamonds.
In May 2000, South African diamond producing states met to set up a scheme
to prevent conflict diamonds from being sold in the rough-diamond market.
This gave birth to The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). In
2002, the United Nations approved the KPCS. The scheme calls for
certification of diamonds coming into the market, as legitimate.
Representatives from diamond manufacturing and diamond trading companies
formed the World Diamond Council, in July 2000, which sought ways to block
sales of conflict diamonds in the world market.
An effectual way of making certain that only officially authorized diamonds
reach the market from government controlled areas is the issuance of
'Certificate of Origin'. Controls need to be put in place to ensure its
effectiveness. There may be a need to standardize the regime of certificate
among diamond exporting countries. There will be a need of transparency,
auditing and monitoring of the scheme.
In the United States, The Clean Diamond Trade Act had been enacted into law
on April 25, 2003. This law, HR 1584, imposes restrictions similar to those
visualized in the Kimberly Process. To overcome concerns of its interference
with the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, the WTO has waived in favor
of the Kimberly Process up to 2006.
Diamonds are easily smuggled and may be difficult to trace. It is incumbent
on each of the 67 member states, including the 25 from European Union, to
come up with their own certification system. This may not be as easy as it
sounds, but many agree that the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is in
the right direction.
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