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MatthewGriffinandKyleRitchie
Ms.DowlingandMrs.Smith
EnglishII
17May2016
BloodConflictDiamonds
Thehappiestmomentinawoman'slifecouldbethesaddestinafamilyslifeinAfrica.
Eventhoughsomeonegotadiamondthatmakesthemhappy,itcouldalsomakesomeone
elsesfamilyverysad.SomepeoplearereallyhappyabouthowPeoplecanbekilledovera
diamondbuttheycanalsocausecivilwars.BlooddiamondsinAfricaiscausedbypeople
wantingcivilwarsandwantingtogetdiamondswhichleadstomanypeoplelosingtheirlives
andmanypeoplebeinghurt.
Blooddiamondscanbeusedtopayfororfuelcivilwarsandtheycouldbeusedtostart
theminsomecases.ABlooddiamondalsocalledconflictdiamondasdefinedbythe
United
Nations
(UN),any
diamond
thatisminedinareascontrolledbyforcesopposedtothe
legitimate,internationallyrecognizedgovernmentofacountryandthatissoldtofundmilitary
actionagainstthatgovernment(BloodDiamond).Therearealotofpeoplewhohavedied
fromdiamondsduetocivilwarsandtheminesnotbeingsafe.TheseDiamondscanbeused
tofinancenewcivilwarsandterroristattacks(Forman61).Thesediamondscanbeusedto
payforthecivilwarsandcanbeusedtopayforothermilitaryrelatedthings.Itrequiresthat
eachdiamondbroughttomarketbeinspectedbyagovernmentofficialtoinsurethatitislegal
andthateachdiamondbecertifiedbyalegaldocument.(Forman65).Whenpeoplefindthe
diamondseachdiamondhastobecheckedbythegovernment.Blooddiamondshavefunded

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devastatingcivilwarsinAfrica,andstillcontributetoextremeviolence,workerexploitation,
andenvironmentaldevastation(Facts).Blooddiamondscouldbeusedtocausesomecivil
warsbecausetheyareusedtopayforthecivilwarsandpeoplekeepfightingoverthe
diamonds.
Theseblooddiamondsarecausingconflictinmanydifferentcountriesaroundthe
worldandinAfrica.InSierraLeoneagroupknownastheRevolutionaryUnitedFrontkilled,
threatened,andevencutoffthearmsofpeoplelivingandworkingindiamondvillagesuntil
theywereabletotakecontroloftheminesinthearea(How).TheRUFortherebelsare
threateningpeoplebutnotonlyisittheRUForinSierraLeoneitcouldalsobepeoplefrom
othercountries.Threespecificconflictsin
Angola
,the
DemocraticRepublicoftheCongo
,
and
SierraLeone
directedworldattentiontothedestructiveroleofdiamonds,thoughthe
problemaroseinothercountriesaswell(BloodDiamond).Theseblooddiamondsarecausing
conflictallovertheworldandinsomecountriesinAfrica.Thetruthisthatthereareindeeda
fewcountriesthataretrappedincyclesofconflict,suchasSudan,Somalia,andCongo
(Prendergast).Theseblooddiamondscanbeacauseofthecivilwarshappeninginsome
countrieslikeAfrica.In2013,acivilwareruptedintheCentralAfricanRepublic,withboth
sidesfightingoverthecountrysdiamondresources(Facts).Civilwarsallovertheworldare
causedbyblooddiamondsfuelingthewarorbecausebothsidesofthewarwanttouse
diamondsformoney.
IncertaincountriesinAfricatheblooddiamondscancausepeopletobekilledor
injuredoverminingdiamonds.

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Theseblooddiamondscancausecivilwarsandlotsofdeaths.Thewarbetween1991
and1999claimedover75,000lives,caused500,000SierraLeoneanstobecomerefugees,and
displacedhalfofthecountries4.5millionpeople.(Johnson).PeopleinSierraLeoneandother
countriesarebeingkilledorarehavingtofightorminefordiamondsduringcivilwars.Wars
thathavecausedanestimated3.7millionlives(Conflict).Theblooddiamondsthatcausethe
civilwaralsocausepeopletobekilledorinjured.Soldierchoppedoffthehandsandlegsof
peoplewholivedneartheminesandforcedothertoworkasslavesinthemines(Forman51).
Peoplearebeinginjuredandforcedtoworkintheminessothattheycanfindthediamonds
thatfuelcivilwars.AsBloodDiamondportrays,duringthe1990sdiamondminesinSierra
Leonehelpedfundthatnationswarandassociatedhumanmisery.(Anderson)Thereare
warsinsomecountriesinAfricalikeSierraLeonewherethediamondsarefuelingtheCivil
Wars.
InAfricatherearecivilwarsthatarefueledbyblooddiamondsanddiamond
companiesarealsohelpingfuel/startthesecivilwars.DeathfromdiamondfueledCivilWars
havebeeneighttimesgreaterthanallU.S.MilitaryDeathsinthelast70years(Death).More
peoplearebeingkilledfromthesediamondfueledcivilwarsthantherearedeathsintheU.S.
Military.Inrecentyears,howeverwhendiamondcompanieshavediscoverednewareasfor
mining,theyhaveworkedouttreatieswithcountriesortribesthatownthatland.(Forman71)
Peoplearebuyinglandtotakecontrolofminingareasandtheyhavecompaniesmonitor
miningareassothatmorepeopledonotdie.Thelegaldiamondindustryregulatesthe
diamondtradeandworkstopreventdiamondsfromfundingviolence.(Forman100).The
miningareasarebeingmonitoredforpeoplesafetyandthemoneythatisusedbythediamonds

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areusedforgoodthings.Moneymadefromdiamondexpertscanbuildinfrastructure,
includingroads,schools,andhospitals(Forman100)Peopleareusingthemoneytobuild
thingsforpeoplethatneedthingsfortownsinAfrica.
Itisshockingtofindoutthatpeoplehavetodiebecauseawomanwantsanice
diamond.Peoplereallydonotknowwhatishappeningandhowtheygettheirdiamonds.
Peopledonotknowaboutwhathappenstohavethatdiamondfoundandwhatthatdiamond
couldcause.Whenawomangetsadiamondsheishappybutshedoesnotknowthatitcould
beverysadforanotherfamily.Manypeoplemightbeshockedtofindoutthatlotsofpeople
haveorwilldiefromtheseconflictdiamondsanditcanbeaveryupsettingtimeformany
familiesinAfrica.

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WorksCited
Anderson,RoryE."DyingforaDiamond?'BloodDiamonds'StillFuelConflict."
SojournersMagazineMar.2007:7.StudentEdition.Web.26Apr.2016
"BloodDiamond."Britannica.N.p.,2016.Web.29Apr.2016.
"ConflictDiamonds."AmnestyInternational.N.p.,2016.Web.29Apr.2016.
DeathfromDiamondFueledCivilWars."
TheGreenerDiamond.
N.p.,2014.Web.29Apr.
2016
"FactsAboutConflictDiamonds."BrilliantEarth.N.p.,2016.Web.29Apr.2016.
Forman,LillianE.TheDiamondTrade.Edina,Minn.:ABDOPub.,2011.Web.
"HowtheAfricanDiamondTradeWorks."HowStuffWorks.AliaHoyt,2016.Web.29Apr.
2016.
Prendergast,John."ContinentofHope:Respect,Democracy,andDiplomacyShouldGuide
Johnson,Eric."Stanford."BloodDiamonds:TheConflictinSierraLeone.6Dec.2002.Web.
29Apr.2016.