Blood Diamonds - No one's best friend
November 7th 2006 07:54
photo by Mario Sarto, 4 Feb 2004*
In 1953, Marilyn Monroe famously sung six words, in the hit film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which to this day, echo through the minds of every privileged girl on this earth - Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.
Indeed, they are.
There is just something so captivating about a diamond that no other rock seems to match. It’s clarity is mesmerizing. It’s sparkle is magic.
But did you know that these mesmerizing and magical wonders of Mother Nature are also being used to fund civil wars in Africa?
Such diamonds are more commonly known as blood diamonds or conflict diamonds. They are generally mined in African war zones by rebel groups to financially support their terrorist activities, including the purchase of arms and ammunition.
Remember the Angolan Civil War in the 1990’s? Or how about the more recent conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia or the Demoratic Republic of Congo? These were all diamond-related conflicts that resulted in horrific bloodshed.
Would Marilyn Monroe have sung those infamous words if she had known the possible origin of the 5-carat rock on her finger?
The United Nations General Assembly has recognized that blood diamonds play a significant role in prolonging wars in certain regions of Africa. As a result, the United Nations have passed a number of resolutions to ensure the link between the illicit transaction of rough diamonds and armed conflict is broken.
This is largely done through a “Certificate of Origin” Scheme so that buyers know exactly where their diamond came from. You’ll find that most diamond dealers in Australia will provide you with a “Non-Conflict Diamond Certificate”, though this is not as of yet an entirely common practice.
Of course, in addition to a certification scheme, the UN says that member states should each implement their own laws so that diamond imports can be closely monitored and governments can demand the strict enforcement of sanctions for those who do not comply.
How effective these measures will be are yet to be seen. But with the expected release of the new film Blood Diamond starring Leonardo Dicaprio, one thing is for sure. More people will be informed about this sick, sick market.
*this photo was taken from wikipedia.com - Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
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