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Blood diamonds (also called conflict diamonds, brown diamonds, hot diamonds, or red diamonds) are Diamond mining in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, an invading army's war efforts, terrorism, or a warlord's activity. The term is used to highlight the negative consequences of the diamond trade in certain areas, or to label an individual diamond as having come from such an area. Diamonds mined during the 20th–21st century civil wars in Angola, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau have been given the label. Conflict Diamonds. United Nations Department of Public Information, March 21, 2001, archived online 23 October 2013. "Conflict resources: from 'curse' to blessing" by Ernest Harsch. Africa Renewal: January 2007. The terms conflict resource or conflict minerals refers to analogous situations involving other natural resources. Blood diamonds can also be smuggled by organized crime syndicates so that they could be sold on the black market. According to the Kimberley Process, global trade in rough diamonds in 2023 totaled approximately 112 million carats.
Deep mining for gold, Kimberlite or other minerals requires the operation and maintenance of a capital-intensive facility; alluvial deposits by contrast, can be exploited cheaply using artisan tools for however long the relevant land is secured. Alluvial diamonds are therefore more easily exploited by rebels. These differences between primary and secondary diamonds in resource diffusion and cost of extraction are the basis for Lujana et al.'s rejection of non-resource based claims for Botswana and Sierra Leone's different experience of stability and conflict, since both countries have extensive diamond resources but in different formations.
Despite efforts to frustrate the sale of resources emerging from conflicts, a notable workaround is the agreement of what Michael Ross terms 'booty futures',Ross, Michael L. (2005). Booty futures. Working Paper, University of California, p30. citing examples mostly from the 1990s concerning diamonds and oil from conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, the Congo Republic, and Democratic Republic of Congo. In these agreements, worth tens of millions of dollars, both rebels and government parties to conflict negotiate deals to realize value now from the prospect of resource exploitation in the future. This enables the presence of valuable natural resources to finance fighting for either side without being in production or even in the possession and control of said fighters. Natural resources still funding fighters who don't possess them he argues is particularly 'dangerous' because this finance is available to those otherwise losing, or even yet to initiate armed conflict, so can make new conflicts possible or have the effect of lengthening those where defeat may have come sooner.
The different mode of production of kimberlite and alluvial diamonds explains why the presence of the latter in fought over areas fuels conflict in ways the former does not. The need to realise financial value from the resource, means that the availability of 'futures' contracts, and suitability for looting, are key to its influence. Gemstones and rare minerals are much better suited to this activity than heavier or otherwise less portable resources, however valuable those may be in times of peace.
These findings have moved campaigners, policymakers and diplomats to devise regulatory interventions intended to prevent natural resources from funding continued fighting in the hope that this might hasten an end to those conflicts. In the twelve years that followed the end of the Cold War, resolutions imposing sanctions on resource exporters in ten different conflicts were passed by the United Nations Security Council.Le Billon, Philippe (2003) Fuelling war: Natural resources and armed conflict. Adelphi Paper 357, Table 3 p66
Despite the UN Resolution, UNITA was able to continue to sell or trade some diamonds in order to finance its war effort. The UN set out to find how this remaining illicit trade was being conducted and appointed Canadian ambassador Robert Fowler to investigate. In 2000, he produced the Fowler Report, which named those countries, organizations and individuals involved in the trade. The report is credited with establishing the link between diamonds and third world conflicts, and led directly to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1295, as well as the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). Still, after the report was published in 2013, smugglers from these African countries were selling blood diamonds through channels less sophisticated, such as social media posts. Rhinestones from Angola, produced by UNITA, were being traded to Cameroon for acquisition of a Cameroonian certificate naturalization to then be sold as legitimate.
Despite UN sanctions, the illicit diamond trade still exists in Ivory Coast. Rough diamonds are exported out of the country to neighboring states and international trading centers through the northern Forces Nouvelles controlled section of the country, a group which is reported to be using these funds to re-arm.
Around the time of the 1998 United States embassy bombings, al-Qaeda allegedly bought gems from Liberia as some of its other financial assets were frozen.
Having regained peace, Liberia is attempting to construct a legitimate diamond mining industry. The UN has lifted sanctions and Liberia is now a member of the KPCS.
In December 2014 however, Liberian diamonds were reported to be partly produced using child labor according to the US Department of Labor's List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.
Moreover, they also occupied the diamond mines in order to get access to funding and continued support of their actions. For example, during that time, RUF was mining up to $125 million of diamonds yearly. Since diamonds are used as a funding source, they also created opportunities for tax evasion and financial support of crime. Therefore, United Nations Security Council imposed diamond sanctions in 2000, which were then lifted in 2003. According to National Geographic News, all of these civil wars and conflicts created by rebel groups resulted in over four million deaths in the African population and injuries to over two million civilians. Another conflict diamond statistic from Statistic Brain revealed that Sierra Leone has been listed as second highest in the production of conflict diamonds, which is shown as 1% of the world's production, after Angola, which produced 2.1% in 2016. 15% of Sierra Leone's diamond production are conflict diamonds. It shows that the production of conflict diamonds still exists in Sierra Leone.
According to the US's 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices of Africa, serious human rights issues still exist in Sierra Leone, even though the 11-year civil conflict had officially ended by 2002. Sierra Leone remains in an unstable political situation, although the country has elected a new government. The huge consequences of blood diamonds still remain a mainstream issue in Sierra Leone. One of the biggest issues is people still being abused by the security forces, including rape and the use of excessive force on detainees, including teenagers. Child abuse and child labor are other serious issues which took place in Sierra Leone after the civil conflicts. As they need a high number of workers, the security forces started kidnapping and forcing young adults to be their slaves; children were forced to join their army as soldiers, and women were raped. They even burned entire villages. Thousands of men, women, and children are used as slaves to collect diamonds, and they are forced to use their bare hands to dig in mud along river banks instead of digging with tools.
A report from Global Witness, "The Truth About Diamonds: Conflict and Development", mentioned that Sierra Leone is listed as second from the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index. It also showed that Sierra Leone was still making slow progress, in 2016, in such different aspects as education, health, and human rights, since 1990, which is also the year that conflicts took place in Sierra Leone. It shows that it is a huge consequence of blood diamonds that it brought into the country, even though the war had ended in 2002 and the government tried to improve and adjust the cooperation of the diamond industry. Sierra Leone resulted in an increase of over US$140 million in 2005 and attempted a percentage return of export tax to diamond mining communities. However, it does not improve anythingthe money is not reaching the public and it has not provided benefit to anyone in the communities. For instance, the Kono District in Sierra Leone has been mined for 70 years, but there are still no basic facilities, like electricity and well-maintained roads. Houses are destroyed because of the civil wars. It also examines the ethical issues of how rebel groups treat those locals. They used brainwashing of inexperienced young children and forced them to be child soldiers as they lost their personal freedom and rights under command that included violence and intimidation.
The 2001 Central African Republic coup attempt and subsequent unrest were put down by Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, who was subsequently able to finance the continuation of the Second Congo War by laundering Congolese conflict diamonds through the CAR.
The CAR was a founding member of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) in 2003; however, it was suspended for two months that same year following the takeover of General François Bozizé in the 2003 Central African Republic coup d'état. It was un-suspended following the President's assurances that the country would work towards reduction of the conflict diamond trade; in response, the CAR formed a government body, BEDCOR, to certify diamonds as compliant with the scheme in conjunction with the USAID Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development Project. The initiative was not completely successful, however, and insurgent groups in the country continued to successfully fund operations using conflict diamonds.
Following the rise of the Séléka alliance in 2013 during the Central African Republic Civil War, the Kimberly Process suspended the CAR from the KPCS by administrative decision on 23 May 2013. A second Kimberly Process administrative decision on 11 July 2014 was enacted with the intent of reducing diamond smuggling from the country.
Following the 2015–16 Central African general election and the beginnings of stabilisation in the southwest regions of the country, the KPCS suspension of diamond exports from eight sub-prefectures of the Central African Republic was lifted and legal diamond production gradually began to return. Even so, however, problems with conflict diamonds continue to exist in the CAR; the Wagner Group paramilitary forces who were brought into the country in 2018 to stabilise the southwest region have been linked to conflict minerals, and illicit diamond smuggling into Cameroon remains a concern. Despite this, the demand for illicit diamonds from the CAR has been significantly reduced due to the international nature of the diamond trade and the requirements of the KPCS, causing rebel groups to turn to gold mining as a source of income instead.
Welcomes the proposal that a meeting of experts be convened for the purpose of devising a system of controls to facilitate the implementation of the measures contained in Resolution 1173 (1998), including arrangements that would allow for increased transparency and accountability in the control of diamonds from their point of origin to the bourses, emphasizes that it is important that, in devising such controls, every effort be made to avoid inflicting collateral damage on the legitimate diamond trade, and welcomes the intention of the Republic of South Africa to host a relevant conference this year.
On January 17–18 of 2001, diamond industry figures convened and formed the new organization, the World Diamond Council. This new body set out to draft a new process, whereby all diamond rough could be certified as coming from a non-conflict source.
The KPCS was given approval by the UN on March 13, 2002, UN 96th plenary meeting, 13 March 2002, accessed online November 6, 2006 and in November, after two years of negotiation between governments, diamond producers, and non-government organizations, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was created.
The KPCS attempted to curtail the flow of conflict diamonds, help stabilize fragile countries and support their development. As the KPCS has made life harder for criminals, it has brought large volumes of diamonds onto the legal market that would not otherwise have made it there. This has increased the revenues of poor governments, and helped them to address their countries' development challenges. For instance, around $125 million worth of diamonds were legally exported from Sierra Leone in 2006, compared to almost none at the end of the 1990s.
The company Materialytics claims that it can trace the origin of virtually any diamond using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. However, there is no way to know whether a diamond purchased online is blood free or not.
The United States enacted the Clean Diamond Trade Act (CDTA) on April 25, 2003, 108th Congress of the United States, April 25, 2003, accessed online December 24, 2006 implemented on July 29, 2003, by Executive Order 13312.Bush, George W The White House, July 29, 2003, accessed online December 24, 2006 The CDTA installed the legislation to implement the KPCS in law in the United States. The implementation of this legislation was key to the success of the KPCS, as the United States is the largest consumer of diamonds. The CDTA states: 'As the consumer of a majority of the world's supply of diamonds, the United States has an obligation to help sever the link between diamonds and conflict and press for implementation of an effective solution.
The United States Department of State also maintains an office for a Special Adviser for Conflict Diamonds. As of October 14, 2015, the position is held by Ashley Orbach. United States Department of State
The KPCS was initiated in May 2000 by South Africa with Canada, a major supporter of instituting the scheme. Canada has now passed several laws that help stop the trade of conflict diamonds. The laws deal with the export and import of rough diamonds, and also how they are transferred. In December 2002, the Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act was passed by the Canadian government. This law acts as a system that helps control the importing, exporting and transporting of rough diamonds through Canada. The Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act also states that the Kimberley Process is the minimum requirement of certifying rough diamonds and a certificate is also required for all shipments of diamonds. This certificate is called the Canadian Certificate, it gives permission for an officer to seize any shipment of diamonds that does not meet the requirements of the Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act.
The Government of the Northwest Territories of Canada (GNWT) also has a unique certification program. They offer a government certificate on all diamonds that are mined, cut, and polished in the Northwest Territories. Canadian diamonds are tracked from the mine, through the refining process, to the retail jeweler with a unique diamond identification number (DIN) laser inscribed on the diamond's girdle. To obtain this certificate one must cut and polish the diamond in the NWT.
In addition, the rise of lab-grown diamonds presents an alternative to mined diamonds. Lab-grown diamonds are chemically and physically identical to mined diamonds but without the ethical and environmental downsides of traditional mining.
Canadian policy
During the 1990s, diamond-rich areas were discovered in Northern Canada. Canada is one of the key players in the diamond industry. Partnership Africa Canada was created in 1986 to help with the crisis in Africa. This organization is also part of the Diamond Development Initiative. The Diamond Development Initiative helps improve and regulate the legal diamond industry.
Technology response
Technical services have emerged that may act as a solution for tracking diamond movement across borders. A service was launched in July 2016 that allows managers to build systems using a blockchain database for tracking high-value or highly regulated items through a supply chain. Everledger is one using such a system to "record the movement of diamonds from mines to jewelry stores" and is one of the inaugural clients of a new blockchain-based tracking service from IBM.
In popular culture
See also
Notes
Literature
Ingrid J. Tamm (2025). 097210335X, World peace foundation. 097210335X
External links
Categories: Diamond Mines, Politics Of Mining In Africa, Aftermath Of War, Luxury Brands, Mining In Angola, Mining In Liberia, Mining In Sierra Leone, Natural Resources In Africa, Mining In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Resource Extraction, Smuggling, Articles Containing Video Clips, Illegal Mining, Funding Of Terrorism, Organized Crime Activity, Human Rights Abuses In Angola, Human Rights Abuses In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Human Rights Abuses In Liberia, Human Rights Abuses In Sierra Leone, War Crimes In The Sierra Leone Civil War, Mining In Ivory Coast, Human Rights Abuses In Ivory Coast
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