Buy Conflict Diamonds
Conflict diamonds or "blood diamonds" are diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments. Since the issue of conflict diamonds first gained notice within the diamond industry ten years ago, the flow of blood diamonds has been dramatically reduced, most significantly by implementation of the Kimberley Process.
buy conflict diamonds
The Kimberley Process, launched in 2003, is an international initiative to prevent proceeds from the sale of conflict diamonds from financing civil wars, rebel uprisings, and other forms of unrest which have led to the suffering of many innocent people groups.
The 80 countries that participate in the Kimberley Process agree to trade rough diamonds only with those other countries which have adopted the process. The Clean Diamond Trade Act of 2003 and Executive Order 13312 were used to legally commit the U.S. to the Kimberley Process, and established a framework for how the process is implemented.
As a result of the Kimberly Process, diamonds are now among the most monitored and audited of any natural resource in the world. The extensive certification process prevents conflict diamonds from entering the supply chain by isolating non-participating countries from the world diamond market. By depriving illegitimate forces of what was once a significant source of funding, the Kimberley Process has become an important factor in restoring civil order and economic stability to developing nations.
Reducing the flow of conflict diamonds from illegitimate sources has also increased the flow of legitimate diamonds from smaller, developing countries which otherwise might have been overlooked in the diamond trade.
The adoption of the Kimberley Process by the world's leading diamond producers and consumers has reduced conflict diamonds from 15% of all diamonds sold in the 1990's, to less than one tenth of one percent today. Conflict-free diamonds are now a source of prosperity, especially in Africa:
Every Lumera Diamond is sourced from Kimberley Process compliant importers. Every Lumera receipt includes the following guarantee: "This diamond has been purchased from legitimate sources in compliance with United Nations Resolutions. Lumera guarantees that this diamond is conflict free, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by our supplier."
For questions regarding conflict diamonds or the Kimberley Process, please call 1-888-6LUMERA or contact us at [email protected]. You can also chat online; a representative will respond immediately during store hours.
Even under the best of circumstances, spending a few thousand dollars on a diamond can be a fraught decision. Add to that concerns that the diamond in question may have funded a far off conflict, contributed to human rights abuses, unfair labor practices or harmed the environment in its extraction, and the process becomes downright agonizing. Until the diamond industry can establish a transparent certification process similar to one that lets you drink your fair trade coffee with peace of mind, splashing out on a solitaire or a tennis bracelet in an ethical way requires some legwork. Your 10-step guide for the responsible consumer.
*Avoid diamonds that come from countries like Zimbabwe and Angola, where human rights abuses in and around mines have been well documented by organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
*Consider alternatives. Synthetic diamonds have the same sparkle, with none of the dirt. And colored gemstones, while plagued by the some of the same issues as diamonds, are much easier to trace. Columbia Gem House and Nineteen48 are a good place to start.
One of them, Sader, says he lives in Beirut. He drives a large 4x4 and loves dollars, cigars and Hezbollah propaganda videos. On his Facebook page, he posts pictures of gold bars on a scale showing 10 kilograms, and a multitude of diamonds spread out on trays.
Sader sounds at ease and relaxed, if somewhat in a hurry to complete the transaction. This is despite the fact that he is offering to traffic diamonds that are forbidden for export; gems that bypass the Kimberley Process, the international regulation for certifying rough diamonds that made it possible, in June 2015, to lift part of the embargo on the Central African Republic. This easing of the rules applies only to certain zones. But Sader does not care and posts his gems on Facebook.
"These online tools give them the ability to quickly create a network of partners to bring Central African diamonds to the international market," Aliaume Leroy, a campaign leader for Global Witness, says. "Establishing this supply chain used to take a long time, but today, with social media, it only takes a few seconds."
Then the stones are sent to Cameroon by land or air. Some traffickers offer logistical services between the two countries. Global Witness, who conducted investigations in Cameroon in 2014, recalls being assured, "We'll send people by motorbike, for example, to Berberati (a city in the West less than 100 kilometers from the border) to pick up the diamonds and then deliver them to you." In Cameroon, these diamonds are "naturalized" as Cameroonian, and thereby become "legitimate" on the international market.
When asked how she feels having fun in a country under dictatorship, Carmen says she used to feel guilty because she sympathized with the pain of the families of the victims of April 2018, when 30 people lost their lives during nationwide protests against social security reforms decreed by President Daniel Ortega, which included higher taxes and reduced benefits. This was the deadliest civil conflict since the end of the Nicaraguan Revolution.
Conflict diamonds (also known as blood diamonds) are those which are sold or traded in order to finance conflicts or wars in various regions, usually in Africa. The United Nations defines conflict diamonds as:
The 49 current participants in the Kimberley Process represent 75 countries and control 99.8% of the total diamond supply. After the introduction of the Kimberley Process, the share of conflict diamonds fell from approximately 4% to less than 1% of global trade.
In 2002, the UN created a procedure to prevent conflict diamonds from making their way into retail establishments around the world. These rules and regulations were collectively known as the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. It was named after the South African city where the diamond producers originally met to begin these discussions. More than 80 countries are part of the KPCS, and they account for about 99.8% of global diamond production. The Kimberley Process serves to monitor the entire export-import pipeline of diamond production. If no evidence is found that a stone is a conflict diamond, then it is given a Kimberley Process certificate to illustrate its procedural purity. Furthermore, the people and companies who manufacture, trade, and sell diamonds must also abide by a set of guidelines to ensure that their diamonds are conflict-free. The System of Warranties requires these entities to post this statement on all of its invoices whenever a diamond changes hands:
Each participant in this system must keep all warranties and invoices on file. Also, they must be audited annually to ensure that conflict diamonds do not slip into the pipeline and make their way into retailers.
Deep mining for gold, kimberlite diamonds or other minerals requires the operation and maintenance of a capital-intensive facility; alluvial deposits by contrast, can be exploited cheaply using artisan tools for however long the relevant land is secured. Alluvial diamonds are therefore more easily exploited by rebels. These differences between primary and secondary diamonds in resource diffusion and cost of extraction are the basis for Lujana et al.'s rejection of non-resource based claims for Botswana and Sierra Leone's different experience of stability and conflict, since both countries have extensive diamond resources but in different formations.[6]
Despite efforts to frustrate the sale of resources emerging from conflicts, a notable workaround is the agreement of what Michael Ross terms 'booty futures',[7] citing examples mostly from the 1990s concerning diamonds and oil from conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo. In these agreements, worth tens of millions of dollars, both rebels and government parties to conflict negotiate deals to realise value now from the prospect of resource exploitation in the future. This enables the presence of valuable natural resources to finance fighting for either side without being in production or even in the possession and control of said fighters. Natural resources still funding fighters who don't possess them he argues is particularly 'dangerous' because this finance is available to those otherwise losing, or even yet to initiate armed conflict, so can make new conflicts possible or have the effect of lengthening those where defeat may have come sooner. 041b061a72