Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
23 August 2011
Blood Diamonds
and the Kimberley Process
A program that is supposed to stop the traffic
in precious stones to raise money for wars
is stumbling says one of its originators
Several African wars – Liberia, Congo, Angola, and Ivory Coast are examples – have been financed by the mining and selling of diamonds.
According to Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), “As much as 15 percent of the world’s $10 billion annual rough diamond production fell into the category of conflict diamonds in the late 1990s.”
The group says the trade caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and the displacement of millions more.
Charles Taylor: Accused Liberian War Criminal
The President of Liberia from 1997 to 2003, Charles Taylor, has been tried for war crimes as a result of his involvement in a civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone. As of August 2011 the court had not delivered its verdict.
As CNN reports (August 2, 2010) “The war crimes charges against him stem from the widespread murder, rape and mutilation” of people that became signature characteristics of the conflict.
One of the accusations levelled against Taylor is that he funded his military adventures by selling blood diamonds, and this has dragged a reluctant supermodel Naomi Campbell into the affair.
Campbell was subpoenaed to testify about a large rough diamond allegedly given to her by Taylor in 1997; a gift that was confirmed by actress Mia Farrow and others.
Prosecutors say Campbell’s testimony about the present confirmed that Charles Taylor, contrary to his denials, was dealing in blood diamonds.
Brian Harrington Spier
Illicit panning for diamonds in Africa.
Process for Banning
Blood Diamonds from World Markets
In 1998, the United Nations put sanctions on rebels in Angola to try to stop them using diamond sales to finance their attempt to overthrow the country’s government.
Two years later, government officials from diamond-
As reported by Lydia Polgreen (New York Times, March 25, 2007), by December 2000, the United Nations passed a resolution that created a system to certify the origin of rough diamonds sold on the world market.
Kimberley Process for Diamond Trade
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) requires governments to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are not fuelling conflict. KPCS says its 49 members “account for approximately 99.8 percent of the global production of rough diamonds.”
And, Partnership Africa Canada claims the trade in so-
Kimberley Process Leader Quits Program
In June 2009, he ended his involvement with the organization, saying “it has failed
to deal quickly or effectively with” most of the challenges it faced. He cited the
violent government takeover of small-
Human Rights Watch reported (June 26, 2009) that more than 200 people were killed and that, “Zimbabwe’s armed forces are engaging in the forced labour of children and adults, and are torturing and beating local villagers…”
In an interview with The Globe and Mail (August 1, 2010) Smillie said the smuggling of diamonds out of Zimbabwe “is still going on right at this minute out to Mozambique just across the border, and the Kimberley Process has been unable to deal with this. The Zimbabwe government denies it and the Kimberley Process seems to just pretend that it isn’t happening.”
Sources
“Diamonds, Death and Destruction: a History.” Undated, Partnership Africa Canada.
“Supermodel’s War Crimes Testimony could be Delayed.” CNN, August 2, 2010.
Diamonds Move from Blood to Sweat and Tears.” Lydia Polgreen, New York Times, March 25, 2007.
“Zimbabwe: End Repression in Marange Diamond Fields.” Human Rights Watch, June 26, 2009.
“Diamonds are Forever, but Liberia’s Taylor Will Have his Day.” Sarah Boesveld, Globe and Mail, August 1, 2010.
© Canada and the World, August 2011
All rights reserved
“Profits from the trade in conflict diamonds, worth billions of dollars, were used by warlords and rebels to buy arms during the devastating wars in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone. Wars that have cost an estimated 3.7 million lives.”
CLEAN DIAMONDS
Canada has become a major player in the world diamond trade with the discovery of rich deposits of the precious gems in the North.
Diamonds from mines in the Northwest Territories (NWT) are given a certification that they are not from conflict or blood diamond origin.
Each NWT diamond is inscribed by laser and recorded in a database. This authentication is given only to diamonds cut and polished in the NWT.