Last week the United Nations-backed court in the West African country of Sierra Leone arrested former Liberian President Charles Taylor. He was indicted on 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and is now facing the possibility of referral to International Criminal Court at The Hague.
At the centre of the charges lies a hidden gem – the "dirty" diamonds that Taylor is accused of buying from Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for arms. This illegal trade has resulted in the deaths of over 50,000 people. With Taylor's backing, Sierra Leone guerrillas carried out systematic amputations of limbs on adults and even children during an eight-year brutal campaign, which ended in 2003 when Taylor was exiled to Nigeria. Their goal – to gain control of the rich diamond fields.
"Conflict diamonds", "blood diamonds" and "gem-o-cide" – these are all the new terms that have come to be associated with the lucrative gem trade. For many in Africa, diamonds long ago lost their sign of prestige and instead came to symbolise suffering and despair.
In Angola, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo, insurgents have been trading diamonds to finance their military efforts. As a result hundreds of thousands of people have died, while millions more have been displaced or evicted from their homes.
Despite the billion-dollar profits, hardly any of the proceeds from mining have reached the ordinary people, who remain among the poorest in the world. The Independent reported that hundreds of Ivory Coast labourers are being forced to work in diamond pits in the north of the country to extract up to 300,000 carats of diamonds a year worth more than $US25 million.
"Individuals inside the diamond mines often experience human rights abuses by actually doing the mining. They're standing in knee-deep water for days at a time," said Mona Cadena, a field representative and diamond exploitation expert for Amnesty International in San Francisco, reported New America Media. There are also the dangerous conditions of breathing, eating, and sleeping in the toxic fumes deep within the mines.
In 2003 concrete steps were taken to ensure that the illegal diamond trade would be stamped out from the global market. The Kimberly Process Scheme, a joint government initiative ratified by 61 countries, set out tough regulations for the import and export of rough diamonds. It forced suppliers to obtain legitimate documentation proving that the gems did not originate from conflict areas.
However, according to a Global Witness and Amnesty International report released in February, "conflict diamonds" from Liberia are still being smuggled into neighbouring countries for export and stones from strife-torn Ivory Coast are also finding their way into Europe.
Before considering colour, clarity and carats, Amnesty International asks diamond consumers to check out "conflict free" diamonds. "When conflict diamonds are sold, that means the money doesn't go back into the country; it goes directly to insurgents," said Ms Cadena, reported New America Media.
Amnesty International offers a guide for consumers at www.amnestyusa.org/buyconflictfree . While buying clean diamonds is slightly more expansive, it may be worth its humanitarian weight in carats and the additional saving of lives.
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