Blood: The Price of Beauty

Anyone who has seen the 2006 film Blood Diamond, (starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou), already possesses some general knowledge on what is happening with these conflict diamonds and why they have earned the name blood diamonds. This natural resource that should be an asset has become fuel to the fire that is tearing Africa apart. Zimbabwe for example, has recently discovered extensive diamond mines that have been estimated to have the ability to earn them up to $600 million dollars in a month alone! They are in need of that to even begin to make some headway in fulfilling their goals to improve their country. However, Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe since 1980, is so corrupt that the people are only seeing about 3% of that money. The rest of it is going to line the pockets of Mugabe and his accomplices who are not above murdering innocent people to keep their cash flowing. Zimbabwe is not the only place in Africa with this problem. Sierra Leone, Liberia, Congo, Angola and Cote d’Ivoire are all fighting this same issue. The people of these areas are not benefiting from anything related to the diamond wealth. They are being taken as slaves, treated brutally and many are murdered. Over 500,000  people were killed between the late 1990s and 2002 in Angola alone! The total body count stacks up to millions! The rebel groups are the ones actually forcing the citizens, children included, to become mining slaves and they are the ones doing the vast majority of the killings although much of the government can be held highly accountable since they are not doing anything to stop it. That would, after-all, mean less money for themselves. Corruption is so deeply engraved into the fabric of government here that the prospect of a real, positive change for these people in the foreseeable future is almost unrealistic. Blood diamonds are just one more way for the corruption to continue. Getting the diamonds has proved fairly simple with the help of the enslaved. Once these diamonds are obtained they are smuggled illegally into countries not deemed a war-zone so that they can be sold for lots and lots of money. This money is then used by the rebel groups to fuel the war and prolong the death and destruction. The money goes towards guns and other supplies. The main countries suspected of taking in these conflict diamonds and turning them “clean” are Venezuela, Guinea and Lebanon, two of which are not even located in Africa. The reason they are under such scrutiny is the fact that the number of diamonds they report as export is staggeringly higher that the amount the actually have in the country. They are basically selling things they couldn’t possibly have had in the first place. The concept of this trafficking and “cleaning” is very similar to money-laundering but with a more extensive death toll associated with it. It is highly suspected that Al-Qaeda is another military force benefiting from the blood diamond business. There has recently been much effort to control the trafficking of these conflict diamonds, decreasing the number of deaths as a result. At least that was the goal. A movement called the Kimberly Process was put into effect in 2003 and regulates nearly 100% of the world’s rough diamond trade. In spite of this regulation there is only so much these efforts can do. It cannot really stop this trafficking from occurring and there is no way to really know which diamonds are legitimate and which are “bloody”. It is an honest effort but not necessarily a very effective one. The main element seems to be trust. Trusting the countries who have agreed to be conflict-diamond-free and taking the word’s of the guilty members of the International Diamond Market is not such a great plan. Why would we think that the guilty, corrupt, money-hungry people would ever admit that they are in any way involved? Obvious answer. The inventor of the system, Ian Smillie, has recently thrown in the towel on his own operation. Zimbabwe’s diamonds have been controversial due to the fact that they technically aren’t termed as conflict diamonds since the proceeds are not going to rebel armies. They are going to a corrupt government though and hundreds of people are still being slaughtered. Mr. Smillie is quoted on this particular topic as follows: “They are blood diamonds, they have blood all over them.” This is Africa. Don’t think for a second that the diamonds are the only thing that is bloody. Unfortunately there is much more to talk about! 

To make sure their enslaved workers wouldn't steal, the Guerillas would cut off one of the workers' hands.