Africa is commonly referred to as "The Heart of the World"; if this were interpreted literally our heart has a serious condition that’s not receiving the attention it so desperately deserves. The purpose of blood diamonds is simple; they’re used as currency to buy warring factions and warlords armaments and fuel civil wars in unstable countries as well as continued guerrilla tyranny throughout countries like Angola and more famously Sierra Leone. When addressing the issue of blood diamonds mined from Sierra Leone, understanding the country’s geography, civil and political aspects are crucial. Blood diamonds often have a misconstrued meaning, and the definition of what they are requires a clear explanation. The brutal process of acquiring the diamonds begins with the actions of a greed driven rebel, to diamond company executives trying to extend their control in the international diamond market. Even with United Nations implementing the Kimberly process there are a few weak links in the chain that make it very easy to bypass the laws that prohibit the purchasing of conflict diamonds. Lastly, workers forced into slavery, most often children, are subject to horrid working conditions and extreme abuse. The issue of Blood diamonds is a complicated subject involving civil war and forced labor that leaves an ominous cloud of transgression over Sierra Leone, as well as numerous other diamond rich countries. Sierra Leone, resting on the western coast of northwestern Africa, is half the size of the state of Illinois with a total land area of about 30,000 miles (State). Coastline cities are often the most populated with the capital city Freetown, with a population of over 1 million people, lying in the northwest side of the country. Sierra ... ... middle of paper ... ...s. United Nations Department of Public Information, 21 Mar. 2007. Web. 25 Feb. 2011. . Fofana, Lansana. "Children working in Sierra Leone mines." British Broadcasting Company. BBC, 28 Aug. 2003. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. Fofana, Lansana. "Child Miners: Legacy of Conflict." Inter Press Service. Inter Press Service News Agency, 7 May 2009. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. Hoyt, Alia. "How the African Diamond Trade Works." How Stuff Works. United Nations Department of Public Information, June 2008. Web. 25 Feb. 2011. . "The Kimberly Process." Global Witness. Global Witness Foundation, Feb. 2007. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. Schure, Teri. "Blood Diamonds Still Bloody." World Press. World Press, 14 May 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. .
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Being located in the west coast of Africa and between Guinea and Liberia, “Sierra Leone has an abundance of easily extractable diamonds”(BBC News). The diamonds had brought “encouragement” for violence in the country in 1991. Attacks of the Revolutionary “United Front (RUF) ,led by former army corporal Foday Sankoh”(Encyclopedia Britannica), were on government military and civilians. In response to a corrupt government, the RUF performed violent and terrorist acts that scarred many. “The RUF captured civilians and forced them to work”(Analyzing the Causes) in their army to gain control over Sierra Leone. The savages went a...
“Child Soldiers Global Report 2001- Sierra Leone.” refworld. Child Soldiers International, 2001. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
...violent and underground culture of diamond workers. These workers were treated terribly and would often be exploited for their man power by the rebel army in order for the army to have more weapons to fight the government of Sierra Leone. However, when I comes down to the real issue, the rebel army is the center of all the problems that arise, including the child workers and soldiers. The army was one of the major reasons why Sierra Leone's Civil War was as violent as it was. There was nothing to stop them from doing what they wanted and the diamond industry was seen as a income source to fund themselves against the government. However despite all the money and power the rebel army had, they were defeated and the government was reestablished, with order and democracy leading the new leaders reign.
"Sierra Leone." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1-3. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 November 2013.
Education | Global March Against Child Labour. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2017. (-- removed HTML --) .
Some of the highest producing diamond mines are countries in Africa. Countries that had some of the highest rate of conflict were Angola, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The ...
It’s hard to imagine that a mineral could be fueling wars and funding corrupt governments. This mineral can be smuggled undetected across countries in a coat pocket, then be sold for vast amounts of money. This mineral is used in power tools, parts of x-ray machines, and microchips but mostly jewelry. Once considered the ultimate symbol of love, the diamond has a darker story. "Blood" diamonds or "conflict" diamonds are those mined, polished, or traded in areas of the world where the rule of law does not exist. They often originate in war-torn countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire were rebels use these gems to fund genocide or other questionable objectives. Even with a system known as the Kimberly process which tracks diamonds to prevent trade of these illicit gems, infractions continue as the process is seriously flawed. The continuation of the blood diamond trade is inhuman, and unethical, and in order to cease this illicit trade further action to redefine a conflict diamond, as well as reform to the diamond certification prosess is nessasary.
Deep within African mines, elusive diamonds lay enveloped in the Earth’s crust. Possessing much influence, beauty, and tension, nature’s hardest known substance causes parallel occurrences of unity and destruction on opposite sides of the globe. Diamonds, derived from the Greek word "adamas", meaning invincible, are formed deep within the mantle, and are composed entirely from carbon. Moreover, only under tremendous amounts of heat and pressure can diamonds form into their preliminary crystal state. In fact, diamonds are formed approximately 150km- 200km below the surface and at radical temperatures ranging from 900-1300 C°. When these extremes meet, carbon atoms are forced together creating diamond crystals. Yet how do these gems, ranking a ten on Moh’s hardness scale, impact the individual lives of millions of people besides coaxing a squeal out of brides-to-be? These colorless, yellow, brown, green, blue, reddish, pink, grey and black minerals are gorgeous in their cut state, but how are these otherwise dull gems recognized and harvested? Furthermore, how and why is bloodshed and violence caused over diamonds in Africa, the supplier of approximately 65% of the world’s diamonds? (Bertoni) The environmental, social, and economic impact of harvesting, transporting, and processing diamonds is crucial because contrary to popular belief, much blood has been spilled over first-world “bling”.
The "World Report 2013" Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, 2013. Web. The Web. The Web.
N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 10 Jan. 2014. Ferreira, Blayne.
...l the flow of conflict diamonds. Both assure consumers that more than 99% of rough stones today come from conflict-free sources which are regulated by the Kimberley process. According to the people who profited from diamonds, the blood diamonds problem is passé5. Further research tells us that it is not. According to Father Rocco Puopolo of the Africa Faith and Justice Network, he says “It’s not passé,” “the diamond industry can claim what they want and the film will always serve as a template for what is going on in Africa today.” This point out that labour exploitation and conflict (for control of precious resources such as gold) may still be going on in Africa.
Global Research. Global Research. 7 Mar 2012. Web. The Web.
The World of the. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'S Web. The Web. The Web.
Web. The Web. The Web. 14 May 2014. Stanley, Jay.