JessiccaBlood covered diamonds - What are they?
February 14th 2007 01:50
Article extracted and compiled from MSN.Money
Some of you may be scouting for a diamond in a more affordable price for valentine's day, but before you bling your love ones with these dashing stones, be sure that they are not stained with blood.
This article from MSN.Money talks a little more about Blood diamonds and it gives a broader information, in conjunction of the movie blockbuster Blood Diamond, which stars Leonard DiCaprio. The film is set in Sierra Leone at the height of the civil war in the late 1990s. DiCaprio plays a smuggler who learns the brutal lesson that diamonds are the currency of war.
What is Blood Diamond?
Blood diamonds – also known as conflict diamonds – is the term for gems that are used to fund conflicts and civil wars, mainly in Africa. Profits from the trade amounting to billions of dollars were spent by warlords and rebels on arms during bloody conflicts in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia and Sierra Leone – conflicts that cost an estimated 3.7 million lives.
The civil war in Sierra Leone, for example, lasted for more than 10 years and at least 50,000 people were killed. The rebel group - the Revolutionary United Front – was thought to be mining up to $125 million of diamonds a year at the height of the war and diamond sanctions were imposed by the United Nations in 2000. The sanctions were lifted in 2003, when the war was over and when 70 governments signed the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
Trade is now illegal
The process makes it illegal to trade in conflict diamonds and requires governments to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are conflict-free. The international diamond industry also agreed to a voluntary system of warranties to ensure diamonds are tracked right up to the point of sale.
The process has made it more difficult to buy and sell conflict diamonds. The peace agreements in Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia have also cleaned up the market.
Blood diamonds still make it to the market
But the trade in blood diamonds has not stopped. The United Nations recently reported that poor controls are allowing up to $23 million of conflict diamonds from the Ivory Coast to make it onto the international market – and possibly to your local jeweller. The gems are mined in the rebel-held area of the West African country and smuggled through Ghana and Mali.
Links to crime and terrorism
Diamonds are also still used for money laundering, tax evasion and organised crime. Al-Qaeda has even been linked to the diamond trade.
Global Witness, which campaigns against human rights and environmental abuses, estimates that illicit diamonds represent up to 20% of the global trade. It argues there are serious loopholes in the Kimberley Process and is calling for tougher controls.
Some of you may be scouting for a diamond in a more affordable price for valentine's day, but before you bling your love ones with these dashing stones, be sure that they are not stained with blood.
This article from MSN.Money talks a little more about Blood diamonds and it gives a broader information, in conjunction of the movie blockbuster Blood Diamond, which stars Leonard DiCaprio. The film is set in Sierra Leone at the height of the civil war in the late 1990s. DiCaprio plays a smuggler who learns the brutal lesson that diamonds are the currency of war.
What is Blood Diamond?
Blood diamonds – also known as conflict diamonds – is the term for gems that are used to fund conflicts and civil wars, mainly in Africa. Profits from the trade amounting to billions of dollars were spent by warlords and rebels on arms during bloody conflicts in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia and Sierra Leone – conflicts that cost an estimated 3.7 million lives.
The civil war in Sierra Leone, for example, lasted for more than 10 years and at least 50,000 people were killed. The rebel group - the Revolutionary United Front – was thought to be mining up to $125 million of diamonds a year at the height of the war and diamond sanctions were imposed by the United Nations in 2000. The sanctions were lifted in 2003, when the war was over and when 70 governments signed the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
Trade is now illegal
The process makes it illegal to trade in conflict diamonds and requires governments to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are conflict-free. The international diamond industry also agreed to a voluntary system of warranties to ensure diamonds are tracked right up to the point of sale.
Blood diamonds still make it to the market
But the trade in blood diamonds has not stopped. The United Nations recently reported that poor controls are allowing up to $23 million of conflict diamonds from the Ivory Coast to make it onto the international market – and possibly to your local jeweller. The gems are mined in the rebel-held area of the West African country and smuggled through Ghana and Mali.
Links to crime and terrorism
Diamonds are also still used for money laundering, tax evasion and organised crime. Al-Qaeda has even been linked to the diamond trade.
Global Witness, which campaigns against human rights and environmental abuses, estimates that illicit diamonds represent up to 20% of the global trade. It argues there are serious loopholes in the Kimberley Process and is calling for tougher controls.
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Comment by katyzzz
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Better stick to my computer art diamonds.
katyzzz
Comment by Jessicca
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Malaysia Found
hi Katyzzz, yes you could be absolutely right!
Thanks for dropping by.
Happy Valentine's Day
Jessicca
Comment by Wendi