The True Price of
Diamonds
This seventeen-year-old lost both hands to rebels machetes.
(Waterloo camp, Sierra Leone, 1998. UNICEF / HQ96-0566 / Giacomo
Pirozzi)
Conflict diamonds, sometimes also known as "blood diamonds," are
any diamonds that come from places that are controlled by forces
who oppose legitimate and internationally recognized governments.
Diamonds are one of the most profitable resources on earth, and
often times illegal armed forces militarily take over diamond-rich
areas in order to tap into the tremendous wealth potential. In
turn, they often use the money that they have to fund violence,
terrorism, torture, rape, and atrocities. Today, conflict diamonds
are mostly found in Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, and the
Democratic Republic of Congo. The UN, along with some governments
and many human rights groups, are pressuring the international
community to make it illegal to import conflict diamonds.
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well, deBeers and the rest of the diamond trade say they don't have
these blood diamonds... but the war rages on in those places...
does not take a rocket scientist to figure things out...
stop the buying and the atrocities will stop...
