BLOOD DIAMONDS: A TAINTED LUXURY

Image Credits: Brilliyond Jewellery

Abstract

A diamond radiates its shine, symbolising the unbreakable bond of marriage, enticing commitment and trust between partners. Marriage is seen as a new beginning in our lives, and by giving diamonds, one can ensure the bond of love, however many engagement rings, which symbolise the mark of forever in your life, have come from brutal forced labour, assault, exploitation, and mass killings. The concerns raised on a humanitarian level were sky-high. The continuous human rights conflict between rebel groups to acquire a diamond monopoly was rising. Numerous regulations, preferably the Kimberley Process, were designed. As the certification process for diamonds became stringent, people started creating loopholes, and the Kimberly Process was faced with criticism. The journey to remove tainted diamonds, although successful in all these years, still failed to decrease the influence of small diamond artisanal manufacturers completely. The Hollywood industry, being one of the most influential factors in the popularity of diamonds, remains deeply connected to their production and continues to dominate global influence.

Keywords: Monopoly, Human exploitation, Forced labour, Human rights, War  

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INTRODUCTION

The history of blood diamonds feels like reliving the history of Africa all over again. Despite rigorous efforts by the government, the diamond industry still ended up being tainted. Back in 1997, a diamond mine on the western coast of South Africa became famous, and workers there were given constipation relief medication so that they wouldn’t end up smuggling diamonds inside their bodies. Strict rules and confidentiality were being maintained. If a worker died due to working in harsh conditions, the news used to be buried deep inside, just like their bodies were buried in the same ground they worked on. Diamond manufacturing companies wanted to hold their monopoly over the market, and hence, they tried everything in their control to regulate trade, even if it meant going against human rights. Soon, diamonds became a mark of luxury and a status symbol, and they were marketed as something too valuable to have, as they were in short supply. All these diamond companies, through their cunning advertisements, deceived the general public into believing that these diamonds are rare and their value will only go up if you own them. These companies used famous people from Hollywood to showcase the timeless value of diamonds, but in reality, they hold minimal intrinsic value when compared to gold as diamonds cater to a very niche market while gold is considered highly liquid. Gold is considered a better investment. The race to become stronger through the diamond business got to the point of civil war in Africa.  

THE BEGINNING

Diamond Legacy started with a company called De Beers in the 1860s when a diamond mine was discovered in Africa, and it soon acquired 90% of the world’s diamond trade. The founder of De Beers, Cecil Rhodes, saw the market potential and started an advertising campaign with the trademark statement A Diamond is Forever. Then, with World War I and the Great Depression of 1929, the stock market crashed, and the economy was in danger,  hence the demand for diamonds was met with a shortage, but with the help of their marketing strategy, they were able to create a loophole. The company fooled people by creating an artificial shortage of diamonds when, in reality, there were a lot of diamond mines available in Africa. The 2006 movie Blood Diamond, which Edward Zwick directed for the first time, shed light on the atrocities that were committed in Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone  marking the beginning of the cause being presented on the global platform.

Image Credits: DCLA

ROLE OF DIAMONDS IN FUELING WARS 

These diamond mines were vulnerable and slowly became a breeding ground for civil war. Due to growing poverty, people saw it as an opportunity to work there, but to their surprise, the revenue generated was used to fund rebel groups. In Sierra Leone, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) used diamond mining as an income source to fund civil wars. The main root cause of these wars rarely originated from diamond disputes but was more from political clashes, inhumane working conditions of labourers, and land ownership in the case of Sierra Leone and Liberia; diamonds were just a scapegoat. The conditions in South Africa were brutal.

To tackle the worsening situation, the Kimberley Process was designed along with 54 countries in 2003 to ensure that diamonds that are sourced in the market came from legitimate manufacturers and non-conflict areas. Kimberley Process is a Certification Process which was made to ensure conflict free diamonds are sourced in the market. Strict regulations were imposed on import and export of diamonds. Proper annual reports have to be prepared detailing the implementation of the process in the country. The structure of KP is very unique as it contains a Plenary, highest decision making body governing different working bodies including Monitoring, Diamond Experts, Statistics, and Ad-hoc committees The process included stringent rules and regulations but was ultimately faced with criticism. The diamonds produced illegally were smuggled into legitimate markets and got certification and therefore traded further globally. Another shortcoming of the Kimberley Process was that it only mentioned conflict diamonds, which meant diamonds that fund rebel groups are illegal, but what about diamonds being produced from the harsh and exploitative labour conditions, which were, in return, supported by the government? These diamonds were considered legal. One such case study is of Zimbabwe’s Marange Diamond field, where diamonds were produced by extortion, brutal and excessive hours of labour, torture, and cracking down on residents and miners, which was a clear indication of human rights violations, labour law violations, and trade violations. State-owned companies were looting diamond revenue, even if it meant violating privacy and morality. People were bombarded with excessive violence, tear gas, child exploitation, beating, and cruelty. Diamond industries need to make sure their symbol of love and commitment is not being produced from violence and human suffering.

IMPACT

It has been found that diamond production did increase the likelihood of the onset of civil wars. In Collier and Hoeffler (1998) and Lujala et al. (2005), it has been confirmed that diamond production was linked to funding civil war in these areas. Buhaug and Rød (2006) found that large-scale industrial diamond mining raises the chances of conflicts involving the government, whereas artisanal and alluvial diamond mining lowers the probability of separatist conflicts. Diamond was seen as an opportunity to acquire personal gains at the expense of the lives of innocent workers. The GDP of countries producing diamonds outperformed those that were not producing, especially during the 1960s and 1980s. After the 1990s, the growth between producers and non-producers is evened out

REGULATIONS

Due to sanctions imposed by the UN, the Conflict Diamond Campaign, and the Kimberley Process there has been relief in areas like Angola, Sierra Leone, and other parts of Africa. The focus is being shifted from armed rebellion to sustaining peace. Military interventions have played an important role in controlling diamond mines controlled by rebel groups. One major step to control the situation was to increase large-scale government control of mining rather than small artisanal mining. Foreign industrial investment was given more priority instead of small mining groups operating in Sierra Leone. In Angola, to smooth the process and remove illegal mining groups, there have been the use of punitive measures where the government carried out brutal clean-up operations to evacuate the area.  Also, providing licences to monopolies so that the industry stays concentrated in the hands of a few people. In the meantime, due to regulations, corporations saw it as a means of exploitation where Canadian companies marketed their diamonds as pure and white, instigating racial stereotypes existing in Africa. In addition, the famous De Beers distanced itself from its past practices of diamond production and shifted to a more ethical process.

CONCLUSION

The industry is corrupt on so many levels. The war and the vulnerability it poses due to a shortage of resources are life-threatening. Resource conflicts pose an ego boost and lead to the exploitation of marginalised groups, and alienate them from their basic freedom. To gain control, often governments and rebel groups go against each other at the expense of poor labourers who came on board just to earn an economic opportunity, but end up tied in the hands of slavery. Under all this chaos lie forced displacements of people, violent crackdowns on illegal miners, and corrupt government security forces, increasing grievances and potentially fuelling wars. Reforms like the Kimberley Process will help to smooth the process more in the future and remind us of traditional resource wars that have shattered human rights. All workers deserve fair treatment because, ultimately, the glamour of the red carpet shouldn’t be stained with the blood of those who made it possible. The shift towards artificial diamonds should be encouraged as they are pretty similar to natural diamonds. The main attractive point is the price. One can make the same amount of diamond at a much cheaper rate without any harm to the environment, labourers, and innocent children.

Image Credits: MiaDonna

WAY FORWARD

Despite having international backing the KP failed due to ignorance towards human rights, weak enforcement of laws towards data forgement, political interventions, constant loopholes in supply chain with mixing of pure diamonds with blood diamonds, and corruption. Any country struggling with smuggling groups like this can heal if they decide to form a third party for reporting these cases. Providing protection to the whistleblower is equally important. As diamonds are once cut they lose traceability, to solve this a proper blockchain technology can be used with a unique identity number granted to each stone. There should be encouragement given to NGOs to support the cause and make a civil inclusion society. Preparing a complaint forum where all the complaints can be reviewed by expert authorities and suitable compensation can be awarded. Role of international bodies like the UN and  ILO on surveillance can help a lot. ECOWAS, an African union body can enhance enforcement on mine levels. The utmost goal is to make the Kimberley process transparent, cooperative and ethical.

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By Manasvi Chauhan

Manasvi Chauhan, a second year law student at Dr B.R. Ambedkar National Law University, Sonepat has a keen interest in commercial and international humanitarian laws. Being part of different NGO’s she aims to bridge the gap between law and social justice and vocalize for policy development. 

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