What is the significance of conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone?

Sierra Leone’s “blood diamonds” helped fuel atrocities in the impoverished West African nation in the 1990s. The war has now been over for a decade, and the country’s most valuable resource is no longer known as the product of a conflict.

Why are Sierra Leone diamonds called blood diamonds?

These diamonds are often the main source of funding for the rebels; however, arms merchants, smugglers, and dishonest diamond traders enable their actions. Enormous amounts of money are at stake, and bribes, threats, torture, and murder are modes of operation. This is why the term “blood diamonds” is used.

What happened in Sierra Leone blood diamonds?

Under the cover of warfare the rebels committed heinous crimes against humanity in the form of murder, rape, and mutilation. The war between 1991 and 1999 claimed over 75,000 lives, caused 500,000 Sierra Leoneans to become refugees, and displaced half of the countries 4.5 million people[6].

How did the blood diamond conflict start?

Ivory Coast began to develop a fledgling diamond mining industry in the early 1990s. A coup overthrew the government in 1999, starting a civil war. The country became a route for exporting diamonds from Liberia and war-torn Sierra Leone. Foreign investment began to withdraw from Ivory Coast.

What is the history of the diamond trade in Africa?

The story of diamonds in South Africa begins between December 1866 and February 1867 when 15-year-old Erasmus Jacobs found a transparent rock on his father’s farm, on the south bank of the Orange River. Over the next few years, South Africa yielded more diamonds than India had in over 2,000 years.

Why is it difficult to stop the conflict of diamonds?

Why has it been difficult to stop the flow of conflict diamonds? Since rebels are forced to mine the conflict diamonds, they are able to illegally sneak in the diamonds by paying someone off. What is the most practiced economic activity of West Africa?

Does Sierra Leone still have diamonds?

Diamonds are found in about a quarter of Sierra Leone in the south-east and east of the country, with the diamond fields cover 7,700 square miles. The main production areas are concentrated around the drainage areas of rivers in the Kono, Kenema and Bo Districts.

Are Costco diamonds conflict free?

Costco does make a point on its website to emphasize the quality and integrity of its diamonds including the fact that they are nearly flawless and conflict free.

Why did Sierra Leone have a Blood Diamond War?

Decade-past Sierra Leone’s Blood diamonds. The term blood diamonds is used in reference to conflict diamond. Sierra Leone, suffered deeply under the Civil War, caused by RUF rebels, who used diamonds to fuel their insurgency. The insurgents left nothing but terror, and atrocities in one of Africa’s poorest nations.

Why was there a civil war in Sierra Leone?

The Civil War in Sierra Leone has been one of the most grotesque ones in history, and the nation’s rich diamond reserves have driven much of the violence. Diamond miners in Sierra Leone sifting through the sand in search of diamonds.

When did the diamond trade start in Sierra Leone?

The diamond history of Sierra Leone began in 1935 when De Beers legally took complete control of the dining prospects in Sierra Leone for the next 99 years. Despite De Beers presence, Lebanese traders within Sierra Leone quickly discovered the immense profits that could be made by smuggling diamonds out of the country.

How did blood diamonds contribute to the Civil War?

Blood diamonds became the fuel that fed the civil war fires. Blood diamonds are any diamonds that have been mined in a zone of conflict and sold for profit to finance war efforts. Alluvial diamonds are easily found within riverbeds and along river banks and can be obtained with simple tools.