Blood Diamonds

There are many economic issues all around the world and one of these problems is the sale of conflict diamonds in countries throughout Africa. Conflict diamonds, also known as blood diamonds, dirty diamonds, and war diamonds, are diamonds that are mined and sold to fund war activities in different countries. The lives of millions are being destroyed by the civil wars in Africa and it is an issue that I believe should be addressed. Not only are the profits being used to fund wars but also to buy weapons that are being used to kill many people.

These diamonds are being mined throughout Africa in countries such as Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1998 the United Nations forbade other countries to buy diamonds from Angola. This was the first time that the UN did anything about diamonds being used for funding wars. There was a civil war going on in Angola and that is when rebels began to trade diamonds to fund their war. This caused the UN to enforce the ban of buying diamonds from Angola. In Sierra Leone, there was also a civil war that lasted eight years and that used the selling of diamonds to fuel the war. This war led the Security Council to adopt resolution 1306 which put a ban on the import of diamonds from Sierra Leone. In 2000, the Liberian president, Charles G. Taylor, was accused by the UN of supporting rebels from Sierra Leone with weapons and training for diamonds. The United Nations banned Liberian diamond trade and Taylor stepped down from the presidency and was exiled to Nigeria. In 1999 Ivory Coast became a route for exporting diamonds for Sierra Leone and Liberia leading to a ban of exports of diamonds in the Ivory Coast. The Democratic Republic of the Congo became a member of the Kimberly Process causing them to export about eight percent of the world’s diamonds. The sale of diamonds to fund wars is an important economic issue that has an impact on the lives of