A history on blood diamonds
The earliest blood diamonds were found in India and Borneo in south east Asia in river beds. One of the first diamonds found in Africa was found between December 1866 and February 1867 on a small farm. After 1866, the diamond rush swept over Africa. Cecil Rhodes bought out all of the diamond mines in 1888 and named the company De Beers, and was one if the first companies to become involved in the diamond industry after their discovery. Today, 2/3 of the worlds diamonds come from De Beers. Rhodes seized control of the supply, and controlled the supply of diamonds to match the demand, so that diamonds would not lose their value. In 1947, De beers company launched the phrase "A diamond is forever," hence creating the tradition of diamond engagement rings. By 1982, De beers was marketing diamonds across the globe to countries in Europe, Japan, Singapore, Thailand,and Taiwan. De Beers stock pile began to backfire on them when it became too large and they became engulfed in legal trouble by the United States Department of Justice.
The mining in Africa, Sierra Leon specifically, has devastated their economy and social structure. The mining has created civil wars between the government and notorious rebel groups. The war between 1991 and 1999 took over 75,000 lives and over 500,000 Sierra Leonians have become refugees. The Liberian government assisted in supporting rebel groups, such as the Revolutionary United Front militia. The 11 years of civil war that followed the support of this group led to a high level of violence, which contributed to inclination of violence. About 5,000 children are forced to be child soldiers by the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) and given drugs in order to make it easier for them to commit crime and murder. Children are usually abducted and put on the front lines or forced to steal goods and carry military equipment, while girls that are abducted are usually raped. The RUF is also widely known for the mutilation of citizens. The rebels are said to have severed the limbs (mainly hands) of 20,000 people. |
- Blood diamonds are mined in war zones
- Most common in Central and Western Africa
- The people looking for the diamonds are torchered by the warlords
- Revolutionary United Front would kill and cut off peoples arms and other limbs to invoke fear and power into the masses
- Sierra Leone has had over 20,000 people mutilated
- Blood diamonds are responsible for over 4 million deaths
- Government officials are paid off to let the blood diamonds through