Conflict diamond

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For the 2006 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, see Blood Diamond (film).

A conflict diamond (also called a blood diamond or a war diamond) is a diamond mined in a war zone and sold, usually clandestinely, in order to finance an insurgent or invading army's war efforts.

In some cases, the United Nations has prohibited the export of conflict diamonds, arguing that their trade finances combatants, who may at one time or another be fighting for or against a government, but it is civilians who bear the brunt of violence and mutilations.^{[citation needed]} It points to the UNITA rebels in Angola and to the Revolutionary United Front rebels in Sierra Leone (who it states were financed by the government of Liberia, also through diamond sales)^{[citation needed]} as purveyors of conflict diamonds. ^{[citation needed]}

The UN is attempting to implement certification procedures to decrease the number of illicit diamonds on the world market. On July 19, 2000, the World Diamond Council adopted at Antwerp a resolution to strengthen the diamond industry's ability to block sales of conflict diamonds.

In 2002, the UN approved the Kimberley Process scheme aimed at preventing conflict diamonds entering the market.

On July 29, 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush signed executive order 13312, a furthering of earlier executive orders 13194 and 13213. Its preamble contains this statement:

In response to the role played by the illicit trade in diamonds in fueling conflict and human rights violations in Sierra Leone, the President declared a national emergency in Executive Order 13194 and imposed restrictions on the importation of rough diamonds into the United States from Sierra Leone. I expanded the scope of that emergency in Executive Order 13213 and prohibited absolutely the importation of rough diamonds from Liberia. I further note that representatives of the United States and numerous other countries announced in the Interlaken Declaration of November 5, 2002, the launch of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) for rough diamonds, under which Participants prohibit the importation of rough diamonds from, or the exportation of rough diamonds to, a non-Participant and require that shipments of rough diamonds from or to a Participant be controlled through the KPCS. The Clean Diamond Trade Act authorizes the President to take steps to implement the KPCS.

The Ivory Coast was recently found to be supplying conflict diamonds and was barred from diamond export under the Kimberly Process.

The diamond industry website, diamondfacts.org, claims that 99% of diamonds are not conflict by the U.N. definition. The U.S. Government Accountability Office reported in September 2006 that conflict diamonds are still entering the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Current initiatives to continue to improve the situation include the diamond development initiative to improve "artisanal" mining, or subsistence level small scale work. Currently, these small scale mines offer are not secure, and the workers are often underpaid with no regard to safety.^{[verification needed]}

Conflict diamonds may also be becoming less traceable. A recent book, "Blood from Stones," links al-Qaeda to diamonds. The terrorist group is likely using the diamonds in place of cash, which thanks to stronger legislation on seizing terrorist associated bank accounts are not as viable.

The media attention on conflict diamonds, has lead to a number of attempts to promote an ethical alternative to conflict diamonds. Canada and its diamond manufacturers are promoting their domestically-produced diamonds as conflict-free, as are synthetic diamond manufacturers such as Adia Diamonds, Gemesis and Apollo Diamond.

Other substances are sometimes sold the same way as conflict diamonds, such as coltan.

[edit] Conflict diamond references in popular culture

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio released in 2006, is about a diamond smuggler in a conflict region.

In the 2005 film, Lord of War, much of the plot centered around the sale of arms to Liberia, financed by conflict diamonds.

A large part of the plot of the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day revolved around smuggling of conflict diamonds. For many people, this was their first mainstream exposure to the term and the concept.

The topic of conflict diamonds was also the subject of an episode of Law & Order, titled "Soldier of Fortune".

American author Tom Zoellner wrote a nonfiction book published in 2006 called The Heartless Stone which detailed the history of the conflict diamonds, and presented weaknesses in the Kimberley Process.

An episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation centered around the "accidental death" of a trainer by a horse kick. Investigations later reveal that the horse was an unwilling carrier of packets full of conflict diamonds cushioned by lentils.

Blood diamonds were the main theme of the 2004 Australian/Nigerian film Death is a Diamond.

Kanye West touched upon the issue of conflict diamonds in a song titled "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", found on his sophomore album Late Registration. Lupe Fiasco has a song named "Conflict Diamonds", using the same backing track as "Diamonds from Sierra Leone"; after hearing it, West made Fiasco his protégé, featured him on "Touch the Sky", and elected to write on the theme of conflict diamonds himself.

Talib Kweli in his song "Going Hard", regarding conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone

In the 2004 computer and video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, set in 1992, advertisement of the Ammunation firearms store chain can be heard in ammunition stores, stating that buyers can purchase goods with conflict diamonds.

Malaysian thriller writer John Ling has written a non-fiction essay on the subject.

[edit] References

Bergner, Daniel, In the Land of Magic Soldiers, New York: Picador (2003), ISBN 0-374-26653-0.
Campbell, Greg, Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World’s Most Precious Stones. Boulder: Westview Press (2002), hardcover, ISBN 0-8133-3939-1; trade paperback, 252 pages, ISBN 0-8133-4220-1
Cilliers, Jakkie and Christian Dietrich (eds.), Angola’s War Economy (Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2000). Available online at: http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/BOOKS/ANGOLA.HTML
Epstein, Edward Jay, The Rise and Fall of Diamonds, New York: Simon&Schuster (1982), ISBN 0-671-41289-2
The Diamond Invention, book online version
Le Billon, Philippe, Fuelling War: Natural Resources and Armed Conflicts (London: Routledge, 2005), ISBN 0-415-37970-9
Le Billon, Philippe, Fatal Transactions: conflict diamonds and the (anti)terrorist consumer, Antipode, 2006, 38(4): 778-801.
Levy, Arthur V. (ed.), Diamonds and conflict : problems and solutions , Hauppauge, N.Y. : Novinka Books, (2003), ISBN 1-59033-715-8.
Reno, William, Corruption and State Politics in Sierra Leone (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1995).
Tamm,Ingrid J. Diamonds in peace and war : severing the conflict-diamond connection, Cambridge, Mass.: World Peace Foundation, (2002), ISBN 0-9721033-5-X available online at: http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/cchrp/Web%20Working%20Papers/WPF-Tamm%20Diamond%20Report.pdf
Zoellner, Tom, "The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit and Desire," (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006), hardcover ISBN 0-312-33969-0.