The True Price of Diamonds
This seventeen-year-old lost both hands to rebelsÂ’ machetes. (Waterloo camp, Sierra Leone, 1998. UNICEF / HQ96-0566 / Giacomo Pirozzi)
Conflict diamonds, sometimes also known as "blood diamonds," are any diamonds that come from places that are controlled by forces who oppose legitimate and internationally recognized governments. Diamonds are one of the most profitable resources on earth, and often times illegal armed forces militarily take over diamond-rich areas in order to tap into the tremendous wealth potential. In turn, they often use the money that they have to fund violence, terrorism, torture, rape, and atrocities. Today, conflict diamonds are mostly found in Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The UN, along with some governments and many human rights groups, are pressuring the international community to make it illegal to import conflict diamonds.
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well, deBeers and the rest of the diamond trade say they don't have these blood diamonds... but the war rages on in those places... does not take a rocket scientist to figure things out...
stop the buying and the atrocities will stop...