Conflict diamonds are sold to fund terrorism and violent acts, with Africa being the most affected region. The diamond industry’s closed nature makes it easy to smuggle blood diamonds, which are exchanged for weapons or currency. The trade has caused millions of deaths, but efforts have been made to combat it, including certificates indicating monitored diamonds and promoting clean diamonds from certain nations.
A conflict diamond, also known as a conflict or conflict diamond, is a diamond sold to fund terrorism or other violent acts, including civil war. The trade in these diamonds has been recognized as a global problem, with terrorist organizations in a wide range of nations benefiting from the trade in these diamonds. The problem is most severe in Africa, where several nations including Liberia, Angola and Sierra Leone have been affected, leading organizations such as the United Nations to issue resolutions to combat the sale of conflict diamonds.
For terrorist organizations, diamonds are seen as an ideal currency, due to the traditional closed nature of the diamond industry. The difficulty of tracking and tracking diamonds makes it very easy to slip one blood diamond into many legitimate diamonds, and by the time the situation is realized, the diamonds have already vanished. Several trade associations have begun responding to consumer pressure on conflict diamonds by implementing better monitoring and control.
Although access to diamond mines is limited, determined individuals can smuggle diamonds for sale. These individuals commonly deal rough diamonds with violent organizations, who pay a small fee for the smuggled diamonds and then resell them to other organizations or groups who can successfully move the diamonds out of the country. The resulting stone is known as a blood diamond because the funds acquired from the sale usually go towards the purchase of weapons.
Sometimes a blood diamond can be exchanged directly for weapons, to reduce the traceability of the transaction. In other cases, diamonds can be exchanged for currency of various nations, often held in bank accounts outside the country of origin. Due to the immense coordination involved, several national governments, including the government of Liberia, have been suspected of being involved in the trade in these diamonds.
The conflict diamond market is a serious political and social problem. Many people are killed in pursuit of these diamonds, including miners who are forced to smuggle diamonds to support growing families or pay off the people who threatened them. Weapons procured from diamonds fuel violent civil wars in which innocent individuals are harmed. Billions of dollars have been made from the sale of these war diamonds, leading to a death toll estimated in the millions.
Recognizing the problem of conflict diamonds, professional organizations have worked with human rights groups to find a way to end the trade. Many diamonds now come with certificates indicating that the diamonds have been carefully monitored at every stage of the manufacturing process, from mining to jewelry setting, to assure consumers that they don’t support the trade. Other diamond-bearing nations such as Canada have promoted a trade in their clean “Arctic diamonds” which cannot mix with rough stones from elsewhere.
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