The murder, mutilation, and displacement of millions of people in parts of Africa due to diamond fueled civil wars has been going on since the 1990’s. So I find it more than just a little disconcerting that only in 2000 did De Beers take a new stance against conflict diamonds.
According to Time.com, De Beers started in July of 2000 to "certify that its diamonds come from clean sources, forcing its suppliers to accept 'best practices' rules" (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,49841,00.html). And when asked about the pressures that are facing the diamond industry about being socially responsible in relation to dirty diamonds, De Beers spokesperson Andy Lamont in London responded with this comment, “Diamonds don’t kill people, people kill people.” So this is the stance that De Beers takes? I guess it never occurred to Mr. Lamont that yes, while people do kill people, people need money to buy the weapons that kill, and the money to purchase these weapons is coming from the sale of blood diamonds. Waiting until 2000 to take a greater concern about this issue and to “officially certify” that De Beers only sells clean diamonds seems to come a little late. Better late than never? Not when you are dealing with millions of people’s lives.
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5 comments:
I didn't know much at all about this important issue until reading your blog, so thanks for making it so informative! I look forward to reading your future posts :)
I literally never knew mutilation and death like this occured because of the diamond hunt. I am SOO glad you chose this as your topic. This HONESTLY needs to be brought to the publics eye and STOPPED!! thanks!
I think this might be my favorite topic out of everyone's blogs. I like that you're covering the history of conflict diamonds, etc.
I think more "what you can do" kind of blogs would be very beneficial at this point as well.
This is a great topic!! I have little knowlegde about this company so it's interesting to see there take on it. This is a major problem that needs to be stopped. Thanks for being so informative on the matter! Can't wait to read more!
It almost seems as if by waiting that long to present a public stance De Beers was either blatantly dealing with the blood diamonds or trying to clean up their tracks.
I am looking forward to more of the history, as well as information about how to protect yourself from purchasing a conflict diamond!
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