'Conflict diamonds' keep fuelling Africa wars

[leftchick]

MOSCOW (AFP) - Trading in "conflict diamonds" continues to help fund wars in Africa despite a certification system intended to root it out, a British non-governmental group said at the close of a meeting of diamond-trading countries in Moscow.

"Weak government controls are failing to stop diamonds from fuelling conflict," said a report by London-based Global Witness, presented at the annual plenary session of the 69 Kimberley Process states.

The Kimberley Process, named after the South African city where its first meeting was held, groups states involved in the diamond business and introduced a certification system in 2002 to prevent diamonds being used to fund conflict.

"Conflict diamonds continue to be certified in countries that are members of the Kimberley Process, legitimised by the very scheme which was designed to eradicate them," Global Witness said

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051117/bs_afp/russiaafricadiamond_051117181100

[pitohui]

1. stop buying diamonds, people

how hard is that

and yet it seems so difficult to get people to take this seriously

i also avoid tanzanite, i think it's dirty as well

[leftofcool]

2. Isn't Pat Robertson...........

involved in some sort of diamond mining?????????

Left of Cool

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. Diamonds, oil, gold

you name it, he's tried it an failed.

They're all just fronts anyway to move money, drugs and arms.

[leftchick]

5. Yes Indeed!

In 1994 he made an emotional plea on The 700 Club for cash donations to Operation Blessing to support airlifts of refugees from the Rwandan civil war to Zaire (now Congo). Reporter Bill Sizemore of The Virginian Pilot later discovered that Operation Blessing’s planes were transporting diamond-mining equipment for the African Development Corporation, a Robertson-owned venture initiated with the cooperation of Zaire’s then-dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. (Note: Mobutu Sese Seko amassed a huge personal fortune through economic exploitation and corruption, leading some to call his rule “kleptocracy.”)

And yes, a diamond mine from the Congo region would qualify as producing “conflict diamonds” or “blood diamonds” - rough diamonds mined in conflict zones that are used by armed groups to finance conflict and commit grave human rights abuses.

http://mainedemocrats.org/?p=360

[Hyernel]

3. What a racket!

I, personally, see no real value in diamonds. Just some carbon. Emeralds are nicer looking.

If you want to have a symbol of love for your bestest girl, it doesn't have to be what DeBeers says it should be. It can be anything...it's a symbol.

Hyernel