An international governmental certification scheme, known as the Kimberley Process, was set up to prevent the trade in conflict diamonds.
The Kimberley Process (KP) is an international, multi-stakeholder trade regime created in 2003 to increase transparency and oversight in the diamond supply chain in order to eliminate trade in conflict diamonds, defined as rough diamonds sold by rebel groups or their allies to fund conflict against legitimate ...
The Kimberley Process has ultimately failed to stem the flow of blood diamonds, leading key proponents such as Global Witness to abandon the scheme. In addition, there is no guarantee that diamonds with a Kimberley Process Certification are in fact conflict-free.
How does the Kimberley Process work? The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) imposes extensive requirements (*) on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as 'conflict-free' and prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade.
In the last decade, blood diamonds have been virtually eliminated from the global marketplace. Stricter regulation, as well as a renewed commitment from diamond manufacturers and retailers to work only with ethical suppliers, has transformed the global diamond industry for the better.
The Clean Diamond Trade Act was signed into law on July 29, 2003, and prohibits the "importation into, or exportation from, the U.S. of any rough diamond, from whatever source, unless the rough diamond has been controlled through the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS)." Rough diamonds, also known as conflict ...
This conflict lasted over 10 years and lead to over 50,000 deaths and the displacement of over 2 million people and many whom were injured. In the later years between 1999 and 2001, the government of sierra Leone and The RUF decided to stop the war and compromise starting with the Kimberley Process.
There are four possible explanations for these figures: The countries have polishing factories that are either illegally importing rough diamonds from Kimberley Process participants or are importing rough diamonds from non-Kimberley Process participants, and then selling these polished diamonds on the world market.
As such, corruption and smuggling are still a part of the diamond trade. Simply put, while the Kimberley Process has been successful in slowing down the conflict-diamond trade, it's not perfect. There's still no way to know with 100% assurity whether a Kimberley Process diamond is truly conflict-free.
So if you're determined not to buy a blood diamond, ask where the stone originally comes from and refuse to be fobbed off with anything less than a clear answer. It is as simple as that.
Diamond reserves have been stable in recent years at 2.3 billion carats, a sufficient level to sustain current annual production for the next 18 years. New pipeline and expansion projects along with currently operating facilities will generate around 172.3 million carats in 2025.
History of War and Violence by Governments. Over the past few decades, several African nations, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, the Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have endured violent conflicts fueled by diamonds.
Very few places in the world have pink diamonds
Since the closure of the Argyle mine, pink diamond mining has become a rarity in itself, making the desirable coloured stones themselves even more sought after.
An estimated 1 in 4 diamonds on the international diamond market have been mined under horrific conditions. Remember as a conscious consumer, you hold the power! You can use your economic power. The most important thing you can do to avoid buying blood diamonds is to research where to get truly ethical jewelry.
Though Blood Diamond revolves around fictional characters, the events are based on real experiences of individuals in Sierra Leone during the civil war. The film depicts village attacks by rebel groups, the enslavement of Sierra Leoneans, the use of child soldiers, and illicit markets that are often ignored.
The very specific UN definition of blood diamonds was formulated during the 1990s, when brutal civil wars were being waged in parts of western and central Africa by rebel groups based in diamond-rich areas of their countries.
The Kimberley Process has failed on its own terms: corruption and smuggling are rife, and in the past few years, the system has begun to unravel further from the inside.
Criticism of the scheme
The Kimberley Process' definition focuses solely on preventing the mining and selling of diamonds that contribute to rebel movements. While this is a major problem, unfortunately, funding conflict is just one of many ethical issues surrounding the mining of diamonds.
Kimberley Mine (now called the Big Hole; 0.9 mile [1.5 km] in circumference), long the richest diamond-producing mine in the world, was closed in 1914, but several other mines remain productive, and diamond mining and cutting remain prominent industries.
This hole, now filled partly with water, is the remains of an early diamond mine in a kimberlite (a rock type named after the town of Kimberley) pipe. The pipe was mined from 1871 to 1914 and today can be safely visited and observed (from a walkway) as part of a visit to The Big Hole Museum.
On 4 August 1914, work was stopped at the Kimberley mine after 43 years of operation. The mine became uneconomical to operate as it reached a depth of 1 083 m without yielding production.
Health. Between 1897 and 1899, a total of 7,853 patients were admitted into Kimberley Hospital. 5,368 of these patients were black and admitted into special designated wards, i.e. a "Native surgical ward" for black miners and a special ward for black women and children. Of these black patients, 1,144 died.
The History Of The Koh-I-Noor
It has been described as 'the bloodiest diamond across history' and is thought to bring extremely bad luck to previous owners. A Hindu text in 1306, believed to be referring to the Koh-I-Noor, states that 'He who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes.
#1 – The death toll caused by blood diamonds was estimated to be 3 million people. #2 – Rebel groups cut off the limps of thousands of people and this included children. #3 – Average pay for a blood diamond worker was $0.07 per day. #4 – 15% of the diamonds produced by Sierra Leone were suspected to be illegal.
Riddle: What has fifteen diamonds but isn't rich? Answer: A deck of cards.