Over
time , wearing diamonds has always been seen as a symbol of wealth,
eternal love, beauty and glamour. Marilyn Monroe herself showed her
love for diamonds in her song hit « Diamonds are a girl's best
friend » but the truth about this industry is completely different.
Central
and southern African countries are known to be the world’s main
suppliers of diamonds and each year about
65%
of the world's production comes
from African countries.
South
Africa's economy depends a lot on the production of diamonds, mining
represents a driving force for this country.
The
Democratic Republic of Congo contributes 19% of the world's diamond
production and it's quite similar in Botswana where the mining
industry provides 40% of the country's revenue and contributes about
20% of the world's diamond supply making it the biggest diamond
producer in Africa.
A
bloody trade
The
diamond industry drives economic growth in these African countries
but few
people are aware
that
diamond
mines produce not only wealth and diamonds but also civil wars,
violence and human rights violations.
Over
the last few decades, about 7 African countries have been struck by
civil wars and diamonds have played an important role in these
conflicts because they have been used to finance rebel groups. The
terms «blood diamonds» and «conflicts diamonds» are used for
diamonds mined in war zones and sold to finance rebel groups or
warlords.
Diamonds
sold illegally by rebel groups have produced billions of dollars that
have been used to fuel conflicts.
An
example is Sierra Leone where rebel groups terrorized and
attacked people working in diamond villages until they were able to
take control of their mines. About 75,000 people were killed and
20,000 were mutilated because of this thirst for profit.
Although
many diamond fuelled wars have now ended, blood diamonds remain a
serious problem in the Central
African Republic where
there is a civil war between Christians and Muslims. Armed groups on
both sides of the conflict have been profiting from the diamond
trade.
Thousands
of people have died and more than a million have been
displaced. Moreover, wars fuelled by diamonds have taken about 3.7
million lives in the African continent.
Responsibility
of governments
It's
important to specify that not only rebel groups are responsible for
this violence but also governments . The former Liberian dictator
Charles
Taylor
was found guilty of supporting a civil war. In exchange of diamonds
he provided weapons for rebels fighting in Sierra Leone who forced
children to fight. Disembowellings, beheadings,
amputations and rapes against local populations were also common.
From 1991 to 2001, more than 500,000 people were killed or abused and
many of them were forced to work in mines during the Sierra Leonean
conflict. Weapons were sent from Liberia in sacks of rice and blood
diamonds were sent back to Charles Taylor.
Economic
and environmental impact
Blood
diamonds represent a brake on the African economic development
because the amount of money generated from this industry isn't
always used to build infrastructures but it is used instead to
finance and fuel conflicts or to enrich dictators. Thousands of
people have had to leave their business and flee from conflict areas,
and these conflicts have driven away investors both local and
foreign and have made any kind of economic development impossible.
The
fight against blood diamonds
In
2000, a coalition of governments and non-governmental organizations
worked together in order to find a solution to the blood diamond
issue, so in 2002 they established the
Kimberley process. Today,
more than 70 countries participate in this initiative. They try to
ensure that trade in diamonds doesn't fuel conflicts in Africa. But
this process doesn't stop human exploitation in diamond mines. Today,
besides the fact that they are extremely underpaid, many diamond
miners work in very dangerous conditions and a lot of children are
forced to work in these mines in « back-breaking »
conditions.
If
you don't like watching documentaries and like learning by watching
movies, you might enjoy « Blood diamonds » starring
Leonardo di Caprio and Jennifer Connelly because it depicts the
harshness of the diamond mining industry in Africa.
Sarah
T.
Hello Sarah,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting article! I think it's really important to talk about this issue. I'm always shocked by African governments' involvement in this kind of crisis people are contending with. I wish international organizations could solve the problem as soon as possible. Thanks for your suggestion, i'm going to legally download the movie right now!
Amélie D
Hello Amelie ,
Deletethank you for your comment :)
Yes unfortunately a lot of African governments are involved in this industry, and even if most of these civil conflicts are now ended, nothing has been done to help former child soldiers and people who have suffered from these conflicts, they might suffer from psychological problems and they don't have any help and this has bad effects on the development of these African countries.
Sarah T.
This is such an interesting article, it really shows the atrocity behind objects some people wear or use in their daily life (in terms of working conditions, clothes factories in some Asian countries would deserve to be boycotted too!). It proves it is important to know where things we buy come from in order not to support that kind of bloody or unfair business. Moreover, the money earned from the diamond industry do not benefit to the citizens, but to an elite or to finance armed group as you said.
ReplyDeleteIrène L.
Hi Irène,
DeleteYes, it shows that we are all responsible for such phenomenon even if it occurs on the other side of the world, they succeed in selling their blood diamonds because there is a strong demand, and we should react by showing opposition and boycotting products which don't respect human rights, in that way, maybe things will change and it will contribute to stop these violences and civil conflicts.
Sarah T.
Hello Sarah,
ReplyDeleteYour article is very interesting, and taught me many things I didn’t know.
I'm sure everyone is aware that many industries in the world strong negative impacts on populations, animals, the environment etc. I think that one proverb illustrates well this situation: “One man's meat is another man's poison.”
Another fact that strikes me in your article is that the former Liberian government gets involved in this situation in order to benefit from it without thinking about repercussions.
This is alarming but unfortunately not that surprising as this is the reality… a sad reality that won’t change tomorrow...
We can also mention the ivory trade (elephants or rhinoceros), or the reptile skin trade, also used for luxury products.
Industries have no limits. This is horrible and I also wish that one day things could change.
Margo V.
Hi Margo,
DeleteExactly, a lot of people are aware of these kind of problems but don't want to face facts, the former Liberian government was also accused of encouraging his soldiers to commit acts of cannibalism against the ennemies during the civil war. Yes industry has no limit when it comes to money , and poverty contributes also a lot to the development of such phenomenon, for example : poverty in Africa which incites people to kill rhinoceros and elephants and sell their ivory in order to survive.
Sarah T.
Hello Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI think that your article explains very well the situation in these African countries concerning the diamond industry and the economic and social consequences of it. To be honest, I wasn't aware of the Liberian government involvement in this situation. It is just shocking how people from the political class can be part of the conflict.
F. Cholakova
Hello Fely,
DeleteThank your for your comment,
I'm happy that my article helped you to become aware that a large number of diamonds are mined in violent and inhumane settings and this, with the support of governments and you have to know that in Africa, it's not the only one problem related to governments, they are often corrupted and a lot of elections are rigged.
I give you another similar example with the Chadian president and dictator Idriss Deby who has diverted money that was intended to counter famine to buy weapons, and this shows that these kind of behaviours prevent African countries from developing socially and economically.
Sarah T.
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting article ! It really important to talk about it, because I assume that medias do not bring the subject ofter in their report. I was wondering myself, do you know which countries did provide weapon to the rebels during the different civil wars ?
Hello Swan ,
DeleteThank your for your interest in my article,
You're right , It's difficult to get information about the diamond industry , if you want to know the truth you have to do some research about it, unfortunately I haven't seen a lot of documentaries on TV about this topic and if you go to a jeweller'store to buy diamonds nobody will tell you anything about violation of human rights caused by the diamond industry.
To respond to your question, as stated in the article Liberia provided weapons to rebels in Sierre Leone during the civil war, it's the clearest example, but the former Chadian president Hissène Habré was also responsible for encouraging terror in his country, thousands of people have been killed and tortured when he was in power, army in South Sudan has also been accused of comitting acts of cruelty and violence against civil populations. Even if they don't provide weapons directly, a lot of governments encourage acts of violence and this is very sad because governments and armies shoud protect and help people, it's not normal that such things happen.
Sarah T.
Hello Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI find your article very interesting because it shows different aspects of ethical problems provoked by this business.
I also liked the film "Blood Diamond".
However, the single negative aspect is that it looks more like an action movie than a documentary which could bring more information.
Illya G.