The city of diamonds

Antwerp, with 500.000 inhabitants the second largest city in Belgium.
The city is the undisputed diamond capital of the world. In the city’s diamond district there are no less than 2,500 seperate companies connected in various ways with diamonds. With an annual turnover of 23billion US dollars Antwerp still remains the most important diamond trade centre in the world.
In brief, more than 85% of the world’s rough diamonds, 50% of cut diamonds and 40% of industrial diamonds are traded in the city. Moreover the diamond sector accounts for 7% of Belgium’s total exports. Today’s stones are mined primarily in Africa, but Antwerp’s diamond industry claims to trade just clean and conflict-free diamonds.
The Jews play a special part in the diamond world in Antwerp. Owing to the dense traffic in the 16th century between Lisbon (the most important European harbour city at that time) and Antwerp, many Portugese Jews had settled in the city distributing diamonds. Furthermore the post-war revival of Antwerp’s diamond industry is due to the work of the Jewish community.
Nevertheless because of the worldwide economic crisis the diamond industry in the city is struggling and facing a downturn in business at the moment.

Global Witness examines the current situation of blood diamonds, like the diamond trade and diamond mining.
As I have introduced the human rights group Global Witness before, the organisation is overseeing and controlling the diamond industry and trade and fights for the abolition of conflict diamonds.
This video is a good summary of some of the points I have mentioned before, like the mining and trading of conflict diamonds and the role of the Kimberley Certification Scheme.
Despite this, the video gives a brief outline of the Hollywood movie Blood Diamond.

Freetown, Sierra Leone: Abu Bakarr Kargbo, 31, was one of the thousands of amputees afflicted by the RUF atrocities during the civil war

When Sierra Leone faced a cruel and brutal civil war and the reign of terror of the RUF, the rebel army Revolutionary United Front, diamonds funded this war. The civil war devastated Sierra Leone from 1991 till 2002. That is why they are called conflict diamonds, because they were involved in it and the basis of the conflict because through this distribution it was possible for the rebels to buy weapons. Diamonds brought weapons to the region. At the height of the conflict, 30 tons of rifles and ammunition were smuggled into Monrovia from Belgium from Nice in France. It was gruesome times. Artillery was fired indiscriminately into the city, killing scores of civilian men, women and children. People who refused to vote for the RUF got their hands cut off, because the RUF said: “If you don’t vote for the RUF, then you shouldn’t be able to vote for any other party.”
Nowadays peace has indeed taken hold in the country, the first time in its 48 year history since independence. The question now is: How long will it last and how will the government deal with new threats to its stability?
Lastly, and most significantly, even though organised rebel exploitation of the diamond mines has ended officially, Sierra Leone has had little to no success in ending smuggling. One of the reasons is that Sierra Leone’s diamond regions are poorly watched. That seriously has to be improved.

An important example of fair trade is the Responsible Jewellery Council that works particularly for the implementation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and fights against child labour, inhumane labour conditions and the smuggling of conflict diamonds and gemstones. It highly approves a certification scheme which is beyond the scope of the KPCS.
One aim the council tries to achieve is to prohibit the financing of terrorism, corruption, smuggling and violence.
With offices in the United Kingdom, the USA and Australia it works worldwide, controlling and overseeing the diamond trafficking.
Nevertheless I have to admit that if diamonds are smuggled out of Sierra Leone, then, like all the blood diamonds that had been smuggled out of the country, they are almost impossible to identify and untraceable. There will be no way to tell whether a cherished diamond ring was once washed with the blood of innocent Africans. That is why the certification scheme is so crucial and why it is important that the scheme should be adopted by all the governments.

Moreover on the same day, namely 27th February 2006, a conference regarding foreign and commonwealth affairs took place focusing on conflict diamonds. Again, Ian Pearson discusses the Kimberly Certification Scheme, this time with a focus on Sierra Leone, Guinea, Togo and Cote d´Ivoire. That means he talks about the impact of the conflict diamond trade on West African economies. To see the whole statement go to
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: Conflict Diamonds – 27th February 2006

Later this year, another Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs conference with a focus on conflict diamonds took place. Geoff Hoon examines the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme in a three-year review; He supports the need for troops and financial support in conflict-torn areas in Africa to abandon the riots. He emphasises that the UK contributes ₤20 million this year. To see the whole review go Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: Conflict Diamonds – 12th December 2006

Again, the KPCS is mentioned in a parliamentary discussion, namely in June 2007. This time Ian McCartney talks about the work of the Government Diamond Office as a department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and how it oversees the UK diamond industry. Again, he mentions the sanctions on conflict diamonds trafficking in Liberia and Sierra Leone, as the current centres of blood diamond mining. Go to Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs – Armed Conflict: Diamonds – 25th June 2007
to read the discussion.

Michael Moore raises the question about the support of the UK of the Kimberly Process. Meg Munn holds the view that Britain implements the KPCS very well in its policies. She explains that an official from the Government Diamond Office has taken in a Kimberly Process review and visited Romania and Bulgaria. In addition in 2007 the UK promoted the chairmanship of the European Union of the KPCS. To see Meg Munn´s whole answer read
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs – Natural Resources: Armed Conflict – 28th January 2008

To read a more in-depth discussion about conflict diamonds go to Africa: Corruption – 19th June 2006.
The main issue the Ministers and MPs talk about in this long discussion is corruption in Africa. Likewise the work of the organisation Global Witness is being discussed especially in the 8.26pm speech. The subtopic conflict diamonds is determined by corruption, human rights issues and illegal natural resource extraction. The discussion gives a broader view on the current situation of Africa, namely poverty, corruption like bribery and social issues. According to that Trevoir Royle from the Sunday Herald said: “Far too long Africa and corruption have been the gin and tonic of the continent’s political affairs. Add a little ice and lemon in the shape of bribes and pocket-lining and the cocktail is complete.” To sum it up the main aim is to introduce a anti-corruption bill to abolish illegal trade and bribing in Africa.