The diamond industry has learned its lesson. People buying diamonds as a symbol of romantic love want to make sure that they aren’t supporting bloodshed and conflict on the other side of the world. That’s why the Kimberley Process has taken great pains to regulate the purchase and sale of diamonds, particularly from areas, like Zimbabwe, known to have a history of using diamond mining and diamond sales to finance warfare in their regions.
Africa in the Spotlight
Warlords in Africa, and other countries, had been using the trade of diamonds to get funding for weapons to support conflict amongst different tribes. Since the mining and sale of diamonds is so lucrative, many times warlords would subjugate the surrounding tribes and enforce slavery in order to mine the precious mineral. Conditions in mines run by warlords in Sierra Leone were also said to be extremely dangerous. Human rights abuses were prevalent with many innocent people pressed into work, killed, or maimed. Things were so bloody that a movie came out to bring attention to the plight of diamond workers in a movie called “Blood Diamond.” This caused the public to demand that some system to be put in place to make sure the diamond purchased in New York wasn’t funding war in Africa. These were called “conflict-free” diamonds.
The Kimberley Process
The diamond industry got together and began to institute a process whereby the sale of diamonds was better regulated to keep offensive blood diamonds out of the main International market. Certain countries were quarantined from markets, if the diamond industry was found to violate human rights in the area as well as fund conflicts. Only after some progress was made was a country allowed to sell conflict-free diamonds on the open market, otherwise, their exports were banned.
Africa Struggles to Remain Conflict-Free
The biggest problem areas were in Africa. Liberia, which was trading in Sierra Leone diamonds, was banned for many years for being a producer of blood diamonds. However, today Liberia is a member of the Kimberley Process and has a legitimate diamond industry that follows the code of ethics set by the Kimberley Process. This shows that despite some lapses, countries that agree to abide by the rules of the Kimberley Process can be allowed to sell diamonds once they’re proven they’ve made progress on the human rights violations or conflicts that originally kept them out of the market.
It can also work the opposite, however, in places in Africa, like Zimbabwe can also lose their Kimberley certification if violations come to light. Right now, human rights activists are calling attention to human rights violations and diamond smuggling in the Marange region of Zimbabwe, which has now been banned under the Kimberley Process. Even four days of deliberations at the Tel Aviv conference of the Kimberley Process membership was not able to clear that loss of revenue for this African nation as long as there is any indication that the sale of diamonds may be funding conflicts or engaging human rights violations. Zimbabwe can continue to appeal their case in future meetings of Kimberley Process members nations and stakeholders.