mil lions more.

currently reaching international markets. The UN recently reported $23 mil lion in blood

diamonds from the Ivory Coast are being smuggled into international diamond markets. Diamonds

have fuelled the conflict in the Congo (DRC), the bloodiest war since WWII; armed violence and

human rights abuses continue over control of diamonds mines in eastern Congo. As the brutal

conflict in Sierra Leone shows, even a small amount of conflict diamonds can wreak enormous

havoc in a country.

serious weaknesses that must be addressed to make this system effective. Government controls

are not strong enough or enforced effectively enough to make sure that diamonds mined by rebel

groups don’t get sold to fuel conflict.

trade in blood diamonds.

along the diamond supply chain and continue to trade in blood diamonds with impunity.

Venezuela. The Kimberley Process must require governments to set up strong diamond

controls and carry out more checks on the industry.

agreed to police itself in support of the Kimberley Process, but it has not made a wholesale

change in the way it operates to make sure that diamonds never again fuel conflicts. Some

members of the industry continue to operate with impunity - breaking the law and trading in blood

diamonds - while the rest of the industry turns a blind eye.

party verification or monitoring to make sure that companies are adhering to the system and

responsibly sourcing diamonds. The warranties system is not backed up with concrete policy

measures.

store, consumers should ask for a guarantee that the diamond they are buying is conflict-free.

important way to raise awareness about how diamonds can fuel conflict. We hope that as a result

of the movie, people will ask more questions before buying a diamond, and that the industry will

take action to make sure companies can provide consumers with adequate assurances that the

diamonds they sell are conflict-free.

have resulted in over 4 mill ion deaths and the displacement of mill ions of people in Angola,

Sierra Leone, the DRC, Liberia, and now in Ivory Coast. These diamonds have been sold to

international diamond dealers giving rebels profits to buy large quantities of small arms.

As the largest grassroots human rights organization in the world, Amnesty International has been

instrumental in educating the public about the problem, and pressing governments and industry

to take action. Over the years, international pressure has increased from a large coalition of

NGOs.

conflict diamonds. Over seventy governments taking part in the process are required to certify

that diamond shipments through their countries are conflict-free, and they are required to set up

diamond control systems to ensure this is true. Governments must pass national laws

implementing the Kimberley Process and they can only trade with other participants in the

process.

diamonds from mines all the way to retail stores – this is generally referred to as the “system of

warranties” or the “system of self regulation.” But it isn’t fully implemented. Every company

dealing in diamonds should have a policy in place to ensure their diamonds are conflict-free.

of the diamond trade to put meaningful systems in place to combat conflict diamonds

(responsible sourcing policies, third party auditing measures). Governments should carry out

periodic spot checks of diamond companies to make sure they have systems in place to prevent

any trade in conflict diamonds. Governments participating in the Kimberley Process have agreed

that it is a priority to set up government checks of rough diamond companies over 2007.

launched an aggressive, multi-mill ion dollar PR campaign aimed at convincing the public that

the conflict diamond problem has been solved. This campaign jeopardizes global efforts to stop

diamonds from fuelling conflict and to protect the legitimate diamond trade in Africa. Industry

profit and inaction come at the expense of economic development in Africa, and at the expense

of people’s lives.

in their soil. Diamond fields are rife with chaos and instability, and rebel groups and terrorists can

still take advantage and access diamonds. The Kimberley Process means little to hundreds of

thousands of men and children digging for diamonds in dangerous, dirty and difficult conditions

in Africa. They often earn less than a dollar a day from artisanal mining, carried out with simple

picks, shovels and sieves.

December 2006