The power of stone
It is hard to imagine that a stone smaller than the size of a dime is fueling a civil war and a corrupt government in many countries throughout Africa. The power that this stone has is difficult to comprehend and that power is being used in the worst way possible. This stone is often used as a symbol of love, commitment and honor but on the other side of the world it is referred to as a blood diamond. The blood diamond industry is a very corrupt system and the diamond consumers do not understand the hardships and tasks that the blood diamond miners are being forced to do on the daily, not just in the workforce but among their families. Not all diamonds that are placed in the diamond industry are blood diamonds, The Kimberley Process is a process that is still developing in an act to prevent blood diamonds from entering large corporations. This is a huge factor in the blood diamond industry and once people are educated about this, then they will find out that the diamond on their ring is a blood diamond I am sure you could imagine the amount of shock that they would be facing.
Some people may ask what a blood diamond is and how it is affecting the world today, that is sadly the real problem at this point in todays time. People have not heard of this crisis and not enough people are educated about the issues going on throughout multiple different countries. Future generations are living and working in these broken environments, without a way to escape from it. Some of this children could have the potential to be a doctor, lawyer or even a professional athlete but they will never get the chance to know any different if this issue does not come to an end. Children are being forced to work long stressful hours that their bodies are not developed for, their minds are tired from the abuse and harassment, their bodies are tired from the long hard work days. One survey of diamond miners in the Lunda Norte province of Angola found that 46% of miners were between the ages of 5 and 16. (Harvard University's human rights program) Children are put to the test because they are an easy source for cheap labor. A lot of this children are working in the mines because their parents were killed in the civil war or fighting as a current soldier in the war, their homes have been invaded, villages burned to the ground and younger siblings that have no future but mining for diamonds.
The dictionary definition of a blood diamond is "an uncut diamond mined in an area of armed conflict and traded illicitly to finance the fighting". Proceeds from diamond sales were used to buy arms and war materiel for the rebel groups, some of which conducted extremely violent campaigns that brought great suffering to civilians.(Zwick) Once these diamonds are cut and processed they look like any other diamond that would be sold on the market, the issue for them is getting passed those who know how to identify a "conflict diamond"(Locka) There is a number of steps taking that jewelers take to determine where the diamond came from, the diamond industry takes their stones very serious. With that being said there are a number of steps that are officially put into place in order for stones to be entered into the fashion and jewelry business.
The countries with the most valuable resources are usually poor and the fortunes from the resources are usually handed out to political leaders. Africa is a main source for distributing uncut blood diamonds throughout the global diamond industry."7.9 billion rough cut diamonds were converted into jewelry and worth 54.1 billion U.S dollars last year, 15% of the diamonds globally were uncut blood diamonds."(Nicolson) The civil wars are being fueled by the trading process for conflict diamonds, it has dispersed throughout West and Central African countries, these specific countries have diamonds that are easier for mining and smuggling.(Brown)
The political and war leaders mistreat the workers and hold them at their will and abuse them into working for them, that goes for men, women and children.Most of the abuse comes from the detention centers that women and children are put into for not completing a certain amount of work. Victims said that while in detention, groups of members of various security forces repeatedly demanded sex from female detainees, and threatened them with beatings or death, or offered food in exchange. (Johannesburg)"Victims said that while in detention, groups of members of various security forces repeatedly demanded sex from female detainees, and threatened them with beatings or death, or offered food in exchange." (Johannesburg)
People and organizations are trying extremely hard to keep the world in order and at peace and it is operations like blood diamond and civil wars that make it hard for them to meet these expectations. The Blood diamond topic is something that needs to be discussed more, there is a small percentage of people around the world that are properly educated on this and that actually understand the issues that victims are facing. The Kimberley Process is an organization that has made a plan to stop the circulation of Blood Diamonds and regulate the diamond industry. The frustrating part is that they don't have any support and as time passes they gain more and more problems for themselves to deal with. At this point in time they are working extremely hard to gain support, manage the blood diamond process and help those being violated of their human rights. One of the main points this process is trying to succeed at is for people to gain self-awareness about the diamonds they are buying and the diamonds that are being circulated throughout the diamond industry. The Kimberley Process had the job to prevent this from happening and for people to gain their own awareness and the futures awareness about this issue before it becomes global. It has gotten to the point where there is so much troubles and hardships going on that they can not handle everything on their plate. There also has been processes put in place that if a mining company is not able to prove where their diamonds were mined and whether they are conflict-free or not they have the power to be suspended from the international diamond trade.(Baker)
Everyday miners are forced into working long, gruesome hours and they don't see a dime of the work they completed. They are forced to work for free to fund wars that are caused from the diamonds being mined in the first palke. The diamond mining process is a huge chain reaction of bad outcomes. Imagine being forced into work everyday and your choice is either life or death. Women are forced to work and then after work are starved to death, beaten or raped. "The 33-year-old miner struggles every month to harvest at least 80 carats of raw diamonds, a stock that earns him enough to support his wife and 4-year-old daughter."(Locka) People need to understand the hardships that innocent children are facing as well, they are fighting for their innocent young lives and are being put to work to fund a war that their generation was never apart of. "Currently there are over 171 million children that work in these hazardous work sites."(Molina) "Miners die under collapsed pit walls, and divers sometimes do not resurface. Many miners and their families leave their villages to live in makeshift camps near the mines, where they are even more vulnerable to malaria and often contract parasites by drinking from streams dirtied by their own excrement." (Calderwood)
The conditions of these countries are something that the United States has never faced and something that a United States citizen will never have to deal with, because we take part in the United Nations human rights act. Mbuyi Mwanza is a 15-year-old boy who spends his days shoveling and sorting through gravel in small mine that is in the southwest part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, these diamonds symbolize something much more immediate to him such as the opportunity to eat. (Baker) A fifteen year old boy in America is spending his time playing his favorite sport and not worrying about when his next meal will come, along with sturdy clothes and shoes for him to focus on any life task that comes his way. Mining work is grueling, and he is plagued by backaches, but that is nothing compared with the pain of seeing his family go hungry. His father is blind and his mother left them at a young age, his dreams of going to school are gone and he has not come up with a diamond in months leaving him and his family in debt. He has very little money for food and medicine for his father. (Baker) To understand the struggles a little deeper, the roads are not paved, not even the airport runway is paved.(TSHIKAPA) Children in the United States are protected because they hold the future of this country, going to school is a way of life and they will never be forced to work at a young age in such a grueling environment.
Some of the workers are lucky enough to be students and they face the daily struggle of working for their family, taking care of their duties at home and focusing on their academics. In rare cases the young working miners have the opportunity to attend school but straight after school or before they must work long eight hour shifts with no break and no food provided. "Teachers at government schools demand payment from students to supplement their meager salaries"(Tshikapa) Many parents choose to send their teenagers to the mines instead. "We do this work so we can find something that will let us eat" (Mwanza.) "When I find a stone, I eat, there is no money left for school."(Tshikapa) The Kimberley Process does not have the power to address all of these loopholes and can't prevent all blood diamonds from being processed in the United States or for big jewelry companies. Millennials now a days want to know where, what and how their luxury items came to be, so this is a way to keep jewelers accountable. "Tiffany & Co., Signet and De Beers' Forevermark brand have instituted strict sourcing policies for their diamonds that try to address many concerns" (Baker) "Fine-jewelry sales in the U.S.-the world's biggest retail diamond market-have stagnated, growing only 1.9% from 2004 to 2013, even as other luxury items, like fine wines and electronics, have gone up by more than 10%. "Millennial consumers are looking for more than the 4Cs [the classic Cut, Carat, Clarity and Color]"(Baker) "They want a guarantee that it is ethical. They want to know about environmental impact. They want to know about labor practices. They want to know that the communities have benefited from the diamonds they are mining."(Baker)
These countries that think their bad habits will continue to fuel their country financially for eternity have it all wrong. Eventually the United Nations and Kimberley Process will develop a successful way to put this process to an end. It will take time and dedication but this is an issue that needs to be addressed a proper way. The Kimberley Process has great intentions and only time will tell the amount of damage they will put on the process that the rebels and leaders in Africa think they have under control. Africa is running their operations illegally with no regulations they need officials the step in and help guide them distribute the wonderful goods that their country could potentially provide for the entire world. Who knows maybe in twenty years when they meet all the regulations Kim Kardashian will be showing off a diamond necklace imported from Africa the right way.
