Then and now: Blood diamond war in Sierra Leone
The ongoing wars in Angola and Sierra Leone, West Africa, may be over, but they have left the West African region with numerous lingering problems. Although fighting in the Dutch Consortium for Rehabilitation (DCR) has decreased over time, blood diamonds, also referred to as conflict diamonds, continue to be an ongoing issue in the United States market.
Diamonds, brutality and death over the past decade in Sierra Leone
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has been working against the Sierra Leone government and residents for more than a decade, CBS News Correspondent Bob Simon reported back in 2009. According to Simon, RUF terrorized the population and turned one of the poorest cities in Africa into a gold mine. Although the people of Sierra Leone live in extreme poverty, the diamond mines located in and around the city are one of the richest mines on earth.
The RUF use the diamonds as bargaining chips. Most of the diamonds are sold or exchanged for cash and weapons in an effort to maintain control over the country and its people. Partnerships have formed between vendors and the rebels, which has increased Sierra Leone's prosperity. Both the diamond industry and local government officials have helped the RUF succeed in smuggling blood diamonds into the United States jewelry market by forging package certificates and locations in which these diamonds have been mined.
CBS reported that approximately 10-20 percent of the diamond market in the United States is made up of blood diamonds from Sierra Leone. According to the source, many retailers are not educated enough to decipher the difference between a legitimate diamond and a conflict diamond.
Social awareness regarding conflict diamonds
Just because the intense, ongoing war over diamonds has ceased in Sierra Leone does not mean that the issue over blood diamonds has ended. Many retailers today still fail to provide their customers with information regarding where their diamonds were mined or sufficient assurance that their product is conflict-free. Brilliant Earth mentions that civil conflicts regarding blood diamonds are still ongoing in Cote d'lvoire, the Central African Republic and the DCR, so customers will want to inquire about the origins of the diamonds they are purchasing.
As many individuals and group efforts have been made to raise awareness surrounding blood diamonds and the brutality that comes with them, Brian Gavin Diamonds has made an effort to provide authentication to our clients that the diamonds available on our website are sourced from ethical and legitimate companies within the supply chain. We hope that by raising awareness and providing manufacturing information upfront to our customers, they will make a more conscious effort to support the end of conflict diamond mining.
