Diamonds are a war's best friend

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Diamonds are a war's best friend

Diamonds are a war's best friend
Shopping for that once-in-a-lifetime engagement ring has gotten a bit more complicated than simply evaluating the traditional "four C's." Now, in addition to carat, color, clarity, and cut, socially conscious shoppers must consider two more "C" criteria: "conflict" or "clean." So-called "conflict" diamonds are those mined and trafficked by rebel armies, which use the profits to fund bloody, brutal wars in West Africa. It has been difficult up to now to determine how "clean" a particular diamond actually is.

Now several religious and human rights organizations are adding their voices to those calling for stricter controls to end trade in so-called conflict diamonds. At an interfaith dialogue held May 11 on Capitol Hill, representatives from Catholic, Jewish, mainline Protestant, evangelical, and Mormon organizations gave their support for a bill that would block trade in diamonds used to fund wars in Africa. The event was organized by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC), World Vision, and World Relief. Representatives from the U.S. Catholic Conference and Network, the Catholic social justice lobby, also attended.

The primary co-sponsor of the "Clean Diamonds Act" (HR 918), Rep. Tony Hall (D-Ohio), urged people of faith to speak up about this issue. "Rightly or wrongly, diamonds have become synonymous with love and commitment," he told those at the interfaith dialogue. "And as long as thugs can seize mines and sell diamonds, wars over diamonds won't end. Instead of being a blessing, diamonds will continue to be a curse to those countries."

The true price of diamonds can be painful to measure. Already, more than 2 million people have been killed and some 6.5 million have been driven from their homes in brutal diamond-fueled civil wars in Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Sierra Leone, rebels from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) have committed horrific atrocities, including forcing children in military service or sexual slavery and hacking off limbs of anyone who refuses to cooperate with them. These rebels are funded by profits from conflict diamonds, which are often laundered through Liberia, Togo, Congo, and Burkina Faso.

The Clean Diamonds Act not only insists that U.S. trading partners enforce laws against illegal smuggling of diamonds, but it also would provide some relief for war victims. Any contraband diamonds discovered being smuggled into U.S. market would be seized and sold to pay for prosthetic limbs and other relief efforts. HR 918 already has more than 128 cosponsors in the House, and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is expected to introduce the bill in the Senate within a few weeks, according to Danielle Hirsch of the RAC.

Meanwhile, the diamond industry—led by the powerful De Beers Group—is busy buffing up its image. The World Diamond Council, created last year to deal with the conflict diamond controversy, supports a currently unsponsored bill with less severe penalties. "The whole industry is particularly vulnerable to public opinion because the stone is absolutely without value but for its sentimental associations, and it doesn't take much to damage the sentimental associations," Holly Burkhalter of Physicians for Human Rights told the Washington Post. Physicians for Human Rights is one of dozens of human rights and religious organizations participating in the Coalition to End Conflict Diamonds.

No one is calling for a boycott yet, although U.S. consumers could have a profound impact on the diamond market. Americans purchase 65 percent of the world's diamonds, of which an estimated 10 to 15 percent are conflict diamonds. Unfortunately, no seal of approval can currently guarantee whether a diamond is "conflict" or "clean." That's why activists are calling for a forgery-resistant system that would certify legitimate rough diamonds at their source and bar stones without certification.

At the interfaith dialogue, RAC director Rabbi David Saperstein urged passage of legislation that would "ensure that no diamond [consumers] will buy from now on will result in innocent people killed, maimed, and displaced by those who profit from conflict diamonds. Only then will our loved ones we seek to honor with our gifts know we truly honor them."—Heidi Schlumpf

For more information:
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Physicians for Human Rights' Coalition to End Conflict Diamonds

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