Avoiding Conflict Diamonds

Conflict diamonds are diamonds that are sold to fund the unlawful and illegal operations of rebel, military and terrorist groups. The countries most affected by conflict diamonds are Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo--all places where citizens have been terrorized, mutilated and killed by groups in control of the local diamond trade.

In 2000, South African countries with a legitimate diamond trade began a campaign to track the origins of all rough diamonds, attempting to halt the sales of stones from conflict areas. Their efforts eventually resulted in The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), an international effort to rid the world of conflict diamonds.

Kimberley Process Goals

In May 2000, African diamond producing countries initiated the Kimberley Process in Kimberley, South Africa, to discuss the conflict diamond trade. Participants now include states and countries of the European Union involved in the production, export, and import of rough diamonds; as well as representatives from the diamond industry, notably the World Diamond Council, and nongovernmental organizations.

The goal is to create and implement an international certification scheme for rough diamonds, based primarily on national certification schemes and internationally agreed minimum standards for the basic requirements of a certificate of origin.

The scheme's objectives are to

• stem the flow of rough diamonds used by rebels to finance armed conflict aimed at overthrowing legitimate governments; and
• protect the legitimate diamond industry, upon which some countries depend for their economic and social development. U.N. General Assembly Resolution 55/56, adopted on December 1, 2000, requested that countries participating in the Kimberley Process present to the General Assembly a report on progress developing detailed proposals for a simple and workable international certification scheme for rough diamonds.

The goals of the process are to document and track all rough diamonds entering a participating country, with shippers placing stones in tamper-proof shipping crates and providing enough detailed information about their origins to prove they did not originate in a conflict zone.

The KPCS isn't fully operational probably normal for an agreement that involves the cooperation of dozens of governments and non-governmental agencies, and there are countries that haven't yet committed to the program.

The goals of the KPCS will take time to achieve, but what's already been accomplished is a beginning, and with more cooperation the program can have a huge impact on the trade of conflict diamonds.

Retailers cannot guarantee that the diamond you purchase is not a conflict diamond. As consumers, we have the power to change that, by demanding details about the diamonds we buy. Demanding proof that a stone is conflict-free sends a powerful message to the world that we will not support an industry or nation that helps fund terror groups. Change won't happen overnight, but it will happen if we are persistent.