Make Sue You Never Buy Blood Diamonds

As more and more people become aware of the blood diamond trade, they are seeking to be part of causing its demise. If you are going to be purchasing a new piece of diamond jewelry for yourself or someone close to you, it is crucial that you take a moment to consider what the origin of the diamond was. Although admired for centuries, it is only now that people are finding out where some of the gems are from and why they are known as blood diamonds. Your commitment to finding out the answer is required, because it is often a lot more difficult as many consumers have discovered.

The way African wars have been conducted has changed drastically as a direct result of the trade in conflict diamonds. Through the blood diamond trade rebel or terrorist groups are able to secure the funds that they need to exist and to finance their wars. As a result, hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children have been injured, tortured, mutilated and killed. Conflict diamonds mean misery and suffering for countless ordinary civilians.

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.

The Kimberley Process Certification System is presently represented by seventy-four countries around the world. Of those there are forty-eight who are actively participating in the Kimberley Process. This group is made up of major countries who are either involved with the production of diamonds, or are involved with the importing and exporting of them. Unfortunately, despite the effectiveness of the process and its UN approval, there is still a long way to go. The reason for this lies in the fact that the issue of how to determine a diamond’s origin and the way of doing so, are both very debatable issues.

So when you find yourself in the market for a diamond jewelry, you might decide that you do not wish to help fund the rebel wars that cause so much pain, loss and misery to thousands and thousands of innocent people. But finding out where the diamond is from is not always easy as many consumers have discovered. Some places will insist that finding out the origin of the diamond is simply not possible, while others merely discourage the consumers in some other way.

But if you are determined not to purchase a blood diamond, there are certain things that you can do that might help. Firstly, ask the jeweler to tell you where the diamonds originated. However, because there are many dishonest people out there you need more than just their word on the matter, and so, secondly, request proof that the diamonds are not conflict diamonds. If the jewelry company you are dealing with cannot provide you with written copies of their policy when it comes to blood diamonds, or statements from their suppliers, then this should definitely be viewed with suspicion on your part.

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.

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