BLOOD DIAMONDS

Diamonds symbolize wealth, love, and grace around the world In several African nations they have been a means to power a reason to terrorize millions of innocent civilians, and may have even helped finance some of the world's most brutal terrorists

The History

In 1991 a few hundred men crossed the Liberian border and attacked towns in eastern and southern Sierra Leone

Once the war began money became scarce and people took things into their own hands by searching for other means of finding money to fund the war Africa is known for there diamonds, it is the most valued item

The War

Liberia is the main area of conflict: key meeting place for rebels, terrorists and other criminal groups to exchange blood diamonds for weapons Criminals are able to trade these diamonds with ease and are rarely caught, they use the money to purchase illegal weapons

Thousands of Sierra Leoneans have been killed and mutilated mainly because there was no large scale, international intervention in the early stages of the war

The ongoing Blood Diamonds War has yet to cease

The Government

The Kimberley Process is an international government initiative to stop criminals who profit from the illicit trade in rough diamonds A diamond certification evaluation sheet must be completed, that displays the diamonds origin Otherwise the shipment of that diamond must be confiscated

The major difficulty is deciphering between a “ genuine ” diamond and a “ conflict ” diamond Once any diamond is sent off and polished, discovering its origin is impossible ! Blood diamonds still contribute to 30% of global trade

The Victims

Guiltless children are turned into soldiers and forced to mine for small bits of carbon that have no intrinsic value in themselves, and no value whatsoever to the average Sierra Leonean 50,000 have been killed Half the population displaced More than two-thirds of its already severely limited infrastructure destroyed 130,000 people have been killed Tens of thousands raped, abused, and mutilated Children make around twenty cents a day Global diamond trade makes around $80 billion a year

Something MUST be done!