Kathy Stielsa

Posts Tagged ‘bands’

If you are in the market for a beautiful piece of diamond jewelry, such as an engagement ring, it is vital that you pause to consider where that beautiful diamond comes from. Although diamonds have for long been loved and admired for their unique beauty, people have not known anything about where they actually come from. Now that is changing, as more and more people have access to information. You may have heard of conflict diamonds and perhaps you would like to avoid buying any; however, finding out if they are conflict diamonds is actually more difficult than you might think.

Blood diamonds are also known as conflict diamonds; essentially, they are stones that have been sold in order to fund wars, either through purchasing guns or paying soldiers. In many cases, they are funding illegal and unlawful operations run by rebel and terrorist groups, and they have played a significant role in the way that wars are run in some African countries. There are several countries that have been strongly impacted by the trade of blood diamonds and this has resulted in civilian casualties across the board, where people have suffered terror, mutilation and murder at the hands of groups who were funded in large part by the diamond trade.

One of the countries that has suffered severely “thanks” to the trade in blood diamonds is Angola, which became independent from Portugal in the mid 1970’s. At that time, a number of different groups were fighting to gain control of the country and one of them was the National Union for the Total Control of Angola (UNITA). In order to fund themselves and finance the war, UNITA sold diamonds internationally. But Angola is not the only affected country. A route that enables diamonds to be taken out of Liberia as well as the war torn country of Sierra Leone, cuts its way through Cote d’Ivoire. Even countries that have no diamond mining industry, such as The Republic of Congo, are affected. Congo exports many diamonds and yet they provide no information as to where the gems are from.

The free world has begun looking into means that will allow them to curtail the use of the diamond market by people who would finance military action, but in many cases it has been a hard struggle. The biggest step towards this goal is known as the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. Pushed through by the UN, this is a process that is designed to certify the origin of all rough diamonds that have come from sources that are considered conflict free. The primary goal of the Kimberley Process is to halt the movement of blood diamonds into retail space and to ensure that human rights abuse funded through the illegal trade of diamonds is stopped.

Currently, there are 48 parties that actively participate in the Kimberley Process, with 74 countries represented. These participants include all major countries who have a hand in producing, importing and exporting diamonds. This is certainly an important step when it comes to banning the presence of blood diamonds in the market, but the truth of the matter is that the process still has a long way to go. There is a great deal of debate when it comes to ascertaining how diamonds are sourced and even how to track them.

It is truly essential that when you are faced with the issue of a diamond’s origins, that you attempt to find out the truth as to whether it might be a conflict diamond. Although this is oftentimes far more easily said than done, it is still vital that you be persistent about the matter. Some companies will say almost anything to discourage the consumers from pressing the matter, even going so far as to claim that it is impossible for anyone to know where the diamond originated.

You need to be persistent and insistent if you want to avoid purchasing a conflict diamond, thereby funding terrorists who perform horrendous crimes against innocent civilians, as well as causing many, many deaths. Make sure that you ask the jeweler if the gem you are interested in is a blood diamond, but do not just take his or her word for it. Ask them to show you proof of the diamond’s origins. Also, you have the right to read the company’s policy on the issue of conflict diamonds so request a written copy. You can also ask to see the statements of their particular suppliers. If any or all of this is denied to you, for whatever reason, you can be sure that something is definitely not right.

Although it might require some extra effort, it is so important that you do your bit in helping to ban the blood diamond trade. Your conscience will be clear because you will also know that you have not contributed in any way to the ongoing suffering of countless thousands of innocent people.