25 Jun 2009
the return of blood diamonds
Top of those is Zimbabwe, where hundreds of diamond miners were massacred by the army as the government effectively militarised a key mining area late last year. Some in the industry have questioned whether Zimbabwe’s gems match the definition of conflict diamonds as they are helping to fund a government, not a rebel army, but Mr Smillie rejected this: “They are blood diamonds, they have blood all over them.”
Zimbabwe is not alone and a host of other cracks have emerged in the system of safeguards meant to “ensure that diamond purchases were not funding violence”. Monitors have pointed to the illegal trade flourishing in Ivory Coast, Guinea, Venezuela and Lebanon.
actually, they never really went anywhere. diamonds have been one of the dirtiest of trades ever since debeers built up their profits as a result of forced apartheid labor— a fact so often missing in the discussion. read blood diamonds by greg campbell before you splooge 1/3 of your annual salary for a ring that society says you need to buy, or try and argue that the kimberly process made everything a-ok. k?
