Conflict/Blood Diamonds

1. Conflict/Blood Diamonds In Africa

2. Diamonds • How are diamonds formed? • Diamonds take 3 Billion years to make • What are diamonds? • They are made of carbon that has been crystallized from billions of years of pressure • http://youtu.be/vHPOp69SO9E

3. Rough Cut Diamond

4. Colored Diamonds The rarest colors are red and purple The colors come from impurities in the stone (some other tiny mineral added to the carbon)

5. How are diamonds used? • 25% of mined diamonds are used for jewelry • Diamonds consist of 80% of the gem trade • Clear diamonds are the most popular • Used in tools and in manufacturing • 2/3 of the world’s diamonds come from Africa (about 8.5 million dollars worth)

6. The 4 C’s of a Good Diamond • Cut– can be cut into different • shapes • Clarity- how clear is it? • Carat- how much does it weigh? • Color

7. What are blood diamonds? • They are diamonds mined in war zones and sold to finance the purchase of ammo and war supplies. • Essentially, diamonds are being sold to other nations in exchange for weapons to be used in war

8. Who digs up the diamonds? • Slave laborers dig up the diamonds • Militaries force the villages to dig up the diamonds • Some join willingly and hope to make some money as a miner • Many live separately from their families (in other countries) in hopes of making a living in the diamond mines • Two kinds of diggers: • “Some are paid about a dollar a day and 30 percent of the value of their stones, which they must hand over to a representative. • Others work for a percentage of the gravel they extract and own any stones they find. • They should get a fair sale price, but dealers often exploit (take advantage of) their ignorance.”

9. Conflict

10. 1968: Sierra Leone • Siaka Stevens became prime minister of Sierra Leone • He recognized how lucrative (profitable) the diamond trade industry was • Stevens made a lot of money from mining and trading diamonds illegally

11. 1991-2001 Sierra Leone • Because of Steven’s greed, rebels (the RUF) step in and try to get rid of him • This starts a Civil War in Sierra Leone over power of the diamonds • RUF ousts the government and takes control of the diamond mines • RUF ends up being BRUTAL to the people of Sierra Leone over the diamonds

12. Rebels vs. Government • Most people thought that the RUF (rebel group) wanted to get rid of Stevens because he was exploiting the diamond industry and wanted to become wealthy. • Unfortunately, RUF wanted to control the diamond mines, too. • The fighting got ugly, fast.

13. With RUF in control of the diamonds… • Labor conditions in the mines were extremely poor • harsh punishment for small mistakes • To show their power, RUF cut off hands and legs of many people in Sierra Leone • They wanted to make the people move away from the diamond mine areas, so by cutting off parts of their body, they sent a message. “Move away!” • More than 10,000 people lost a body part to the RUF

16. 17 year old boy in Sierra Leone lost both hands from rebels’ machetes

17. Women left without hands after a village raid in Sierra Leone

18. Results of the Civil War • “An estimated 50,000 people died during the war and untold thousands were permanently scarred.” • Hundreds of thousands to millions of Sierra Leoneans were refugees because of the violence • The RUF mined diamonds illegally and shipped them around the world in order to receive more money for weapons • $125 million dollars= the amount of money Europe spent on buying illegal diamonds (blood diamonds) during the Civil War. • “This means that this staggering amount of money went to fund the RUF who killed thousands of people during the civil war in Sierra Leone.”

19. Refugees

20. African refugees leaving war torn regions

22. Blood Diamonds in Africa

23. Rebel guard guarding a diamond mine in Angola during civil war

24. 13 year old boy carrying a sack of rock in Mbuji-Mayi, the Congolese “diamond capital.”

25. Children work in Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond mines

26. Blood Diamonds Video: the Beginning • http://youtu.be/aenFOPbBvQo

27. Mine Conditions • Cold and damp • Injuries • Rocks falling • Sharp objects • Brutal mine owners or “managers” • Poor nutrition • Very little pay • Many are forced into working (slavery) • Child Labor

30. Impact of Diamond Mining on Environment • http://youtu.be/2TT3NfoeDrc

31. DeBeers • Started by Cecil Rhodes • Operates in more than 20 countries • Has a monopoly on the diamond industry

32. DeBeers con’t… • DeBeers just sold its 40% stake of the company to Anglo American plc for $5.1 Billion in cash • This ends the 80 rule of the DeBeers empire by the Oppenheimer family

33. How do we stop the countries from selling diamonds in exchange for money? How do we stop the sell of blood diamonds?

34. Kimberly Process • What is the Kimberley Process? • The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (Kimberley Process or KP) is an international governmental certification scheme that was set up to prevent the trade in diamonds that fund conflict. Launched in January 2003, the scheme requires governments to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are conflict-free.

35. KPCS Certificate

36. Blood Diamond Movie Trailer • http://youtu.be/yknIZsvQjG4

37. Lupe Fiasco “Blood Diamond” • http://youtu.be/i3Z4K_WWeBA

38. Diamonds are expensive… but they shouldn’t cost people their lives. - Paul Kelbie, journalist

39. What price for these diamonds?