"Blood Diamond"

Essay by HYPERSDTUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, August 2007

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The movie "Blood Diamond", starring Leonardo Dicaprio, moved me enough for me to write an essay on the ongoing trouble and struggle in Sierra Leone which is located in West Africa. Conflict diamonds were used to fund wars in West Africa, where it cost many people their lives. One of the major reasons that they are now called "Blood Diamonds" is because of the number of casualty caused to attain the valuable stones. They were extremely lucrative to the international gem trade because of their size and color before 1999. Major jewelry companies all over the world were able to buy these diamonds at extremely low prices, not knowing that the true price was much more valuable then any currency could buy; human lives. As soon as the public got word of the horrible things that were happening to the people of Africa and across the world just because of diamonds, they started to pressure their governments to do something about it.

"It is clear that diamond jewelry competes in an increasingly hostile environment where the consumer is becoming more sophisticated, better informed and more demanding, particularly on issues that effect our reputation. Turning a blind eye to where our diamonds come from will no longer be overlooked or tolerated by society" (Africa's diamond industry faces new threats to ethical practices, 2007). That's when the Kimberly Process was launched; it was created in 2003 and has been used to certify diamonds that have not been used by rebel groups to overthrow recognized governments. It has played a major role in cutting down on the trade of conflict diamonds. Kennedy Hamutenya, who is Namibia's diamond commissioner, has agreed that a lot of countries have been putting a real effort to keep diamond sales legal. It seems like the industry really didn't...