Bling Over Life

When reading an article about blood diamonds on Amnesty.org, I came across this quote:

“A diamond trader in Antwerp, Belgium, admitted to Amnesty International in October 2000, more than three months after the UN Security Council banned the export of non-certified diamonds from Sierra Leone, that: ‘If someone offers me a diamond at 30 per cent discount, will I suspect something? Of course. It is probably a conflict diamond. Will I buy it? Of course. I'm here to do business. Have I done it? I can't tell you that.’ “

For Full Article: Amnesty Article

If this is the attitude of one diamond trader, it can’t be far off from others. Granted there has been the instillation of the Kimberly Process, which was put in place to stop the buying and trading of rough diamonds to sell to consumers, and the promises of many major diamond retailers that they abide by it, but that does not mean that the market is 100% clean from dirty diamonds. The consumer market is still being infiltrated with conflict diamonds.

“conflict diamonds from Côte d'Ivoire are finding their way through Ghana into the legitimate diamond market. As the brutal conflict in Sierra Leone has shown, even a small amount of conflict diamonds can wreak enormous havoc in a country.”

For Full Article: Amnesty Article

This attitude of money matters more than the lives and rights of human beings is not only repulsive, but it’s allowing the profit from blood diamonds to still exist.