What Diamonds are Blood Diamonds?

Introduction
My mother has taught me to think critically of human rights, and looking back, that is one of the
greatest qualities she could have taught me. This report represents weeks of research into a
topic that my family has been raised to question since we were children. That topic is the
circulation of diamonds across the world that was bought from mines that used the funds to
help create a military that would enslave many parts of Africa. Corrupt people in power are
willing to sacrifice innocent lives to earn money to fund more senseless killing. These diamonds,
widely known as blood diamonds, can be found in almost every corner of the world. Ask
yourself, how many humans died so you could have that rock on your finger? These days, it is
hard to find a diamond that doesnt have a conflicting history. I made this report to investigate
the questions:
Are there any alternatives to buying diamonds that could potentially be from
conflicted areas?
How can you tell if a retailer stocks blood diamonds?
How did diamonds become so popular in America?
My findings come from a plethora of different sources. I have found multiple peer reviewed
articles from the Salt Lake Community College databases offered to every student. I also have
an uncle who orders diamonds for a product that he produces. And there are also multiple
websites I discovered that offered plenty of information regarding my topic. Hopefully, my
findings will help enlighten others searching for conflict free diamonds.
Findings
A brief history of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Christopher Mullins offers a history of every major power to be in control of the Congo in his
article Gold, diamonds and blood: International state-corporate crime in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. Colonized by the Belgians towards the end of the nineteenth century,
the explorer Henry Stanley was ordered to create a base that claimed the land under Belgian
rule. Africa was ripe with unused resources, such as trees, and multiple minerals. This area of
Africa was subject to being dominated by whites looking to mine the resources for good money
because things like timber and ores were hard to come by in the European industrialization age.
After World War 2, Belgian began to lose profits in the Congo colonies, and abandoned them.
Leaving the citizens to form their own government and do as they please. This sudden
independence lead to years of civil war between multiple sides of militia lasting until the late
1960s. The UN sent in peace keepers to try to give the area of Congo a westernized culture, but
ultimately failed. Eventually, a man named Mobutu Sese Seko rose to power. He ruled with
corruption, often hosting executions and riots. His power ended during the first Congolese
world war in 1996, in which multiple countries attempted to take control of the Congo for the
precious stones such as gold and diamonds. Armies would export tons of gold and diamonds,
mined by humans who had no choice, in exchange for money used to further their military
campaigns. The miners used were exploited and subjected to extremely poor conditions, and
often times tortured to get these precious minerals. This is typically where the term Blood
Diamond is coined from. As time came to the present, many Congan mines were taken over by
local militia as other armies slowly withdrew. Eventually, Ugandans invaded the Congo again
during the second Congolese war in 2003. A lot of mining still takes place to this present day.
(Mullins, C. W) The Democratic Republic of Congo hasnt seen peace since the nineteenth
century. The land and the people have been exploited by so many different powers just for the
extra money.
Have there been any attempts to stop the spread of blood diamonds?
In 2003, local governments as well as the United Nations created the Kimberley Process
Scheme. Aofie Allen covers the beginning history of the group in her article Kimberley Process
'whitewashes' blood diamonds. This group was formed to regulate the trade of diamonds from
Africa. Diamonds that had a spotty history were referred to as conflict diamonds. These were
typically described as rough diamonds used by rebel movements . . . to finance conflict aimed
at undermining legitimate governments. (Winetroub, A. H.) These were taken out of
circulation by members of the KP. The group got many big countries to join, including the
United States as well as many countries in Europe. Countries that were a part of the KP group
were only allowed to trade with other members of the group to keep out conflict diamonds
from circulation. In 2011, the KP lost one of its biggest financers, Global Witness. This led to the
relaxation of policies controlling circulation of diamonds because the Kimberley Process no
longer had the resources to enforce it as it used to. Ian Smillie , an advocate for ethical
diamonds, said that The government in *the Democratic Republic of+ Congo has no idea where
40% of its diamonds come from. The trade is being so poorly regulated that the group cant
even keep track of almost half of its diamonds. (Brilliant Earth) Venezuela dropped out of the
KP group the same year. The country began to traffic drugs directly from conflict diamond
mines in Africa and moves them into circulation within the US. The Kimberley Process has
become ultimately unsuccessful in regulating diamond trade in recent years. The Kimberly
Process claimed in 2012 that 98% of diamonds in circulation in the US were conflict free.
However, since there are no laws that say a retailer has to reveal the origin of their diamonds.
So this number can be highly exaggerated since theres no way to prove otherwise. Theres a
very good chance that most retailers have blood diamonds in their stocks.

Where did the diamond trend come from?
A big name in the diamond industry today is the company De Beers. Eric Goldshien wrote a very
detailed history of the major diamond company. De Beers has been around since the late
1800s. Cecil Rhodes began buying up diamond fields in Africa all the way back in 1880. It only
took a few years until he had a monopoly on almost all of the diamond mines in South Africa.
Rhodes decided to limit the export of diamonds to increase the demand and therefore the price
of diamonds across the world. Rhodes died in 1902, controlling well over 90% of the worlds
diamond production. In the early 1930s, Earnest Openheimer began a marketing campaign in
America that suggested love comes from how big of a ring you buy your fianc. De Beers
eventually coined the term a diamond is forever. This set off the cultural stereotype of
proposing with a diamond ring. (Goldschien, Eric.) Weve been proposing with diamonds ever
since.
Are there any alternatives to diamonds outside of Africa?
Canada has become a major export of diamonds over recent years. They have had three major
mines open since 2008. Kolson Schlosser covers the diamond tracking process that many
retailers in Canada have implemented in his article. Canada has chosen to advertise their
diamonds by comparing their ethical standards to be well above blood diamonds from Africa. A
company known as CanadaMark created a type of laser that creates a tracking number on a
diamond so you can easily track where it originated from. A lot of the companies selling
Canadian diamonds like to give back to the community. For instance, the company Brilliant
Earth donates 5% of their earnings to towns destroyed by mining industry in the hopes of
bringing the lives of the people to a stable standard of living. (Schlosser, K.)
Troy Meier, owner of the company TronCo, orders a different kind of diamond to be used as
drill bits for the oil drills he makes. The diamonds he orders are called synthetic diamonds.
These are diamonds that are created in a lab instead of grown naturally. But these diamonds
are typically used for electronics or drilling. Natural diamonds tend to focus on fashion over
everything else.
Conclusions
The blood diamond trade has tarnished what is a beautiful stone that is a national icon in our
culture. Unfortunately for those looking to buy a conflict free ring, avoiding blood diamonds
isnt a simple thing to do. A retailer doesnt legally have to disclose where their diamonds
originated from. And with the number of diamonds smuggled into American circulation from
the South, theres a very good chance that a diamond purchased from a local retailer can have
some bad history behind it. Luckily, not every retailer hides where their diamonds originally
came from. Canadian diamond retailers offer tracking systems to see where a diamond has
originated from. Companies that mention the Kimberley Process as a form of showing how safe
their diamonds are should not be trusted. The Kimberley Process has failed and diamonds are
extremely unregulated.
Results/Recommendations
Buying diamonds can be a tricky business. If youre looking to tie the knot, it can be hard to find
a retailer you can really trust. Based on my findings, I believe some of the best ways to avoid
supporting the Blood Diamond epidemic is to:
Pressure retailers into documenting where their diamond exports are coming from.
Start a petition so the government becomes aware that we dont want blood on our
fingers.
Purchase from Canadian retailers who offer easy ways to track their diamonds thanks to
the tracking numbers that comes on the diamond. You can usually track the origin of
your diamond online if you check with the retailer.
Avoid diamonds. A ruby or a sapphire can say I love you just as well as a diamond can.
If you still want that diamond look, theres always the fake diamond called cubic zirconia.
It looks just like a diamond to the naked eye. A jeweler can easily spot a fake when it
comes along. But maybe your fianc wont have that keen of an eye.