Writing One

Blood/Conflict Diamonds
“Diamonds are a girls’ best friend.” This saying has reflected the aesthetic side of diamonds for many years. Few people know that there is a much darker side to the diamond business. Even less are aware that these glittery rocks have killed over a million people within the last ten years; Leaving even more disabled or maimed. Being so that this evil mineral is my birth stone; I feel that the people of the United States should know the consequences of their “Bling.”
Diamonds are extremely small pieces of carbon with no great intrinsic value, yet these minerals have become the cause of widespread death, destruction, and misery for almost a decade in the country of Sierra Leone. These “conflict” diamonds are diamonds that originate from areas controlled by militia groups that are opposed to legitimate government, this illegal diamond money is used to fund military action in opposition to said “respectable” governments.
Blood Diamonds are a huge issue in places like Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; many people have been murdered in process of mining these precious stones. Most of these miners have been forcibly taken from their families by rebel groups who need the diamond money to continue their uprisings. They force innocent people to dig or sift through rivers in search of diamonds, and if workers tire or try to rebel, the rebel soldiers would hurt or kill them. It is suspected that more than 4 million people have died mining these diamonds.
In the 1990s, savage fighting took place between the Sierra Leone government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The RUF was one of the rebel militia who tried to take over the country of Sierra Leone. It was started and led by Foday Sankoh.. The rebel group stood for a new type a government, they promised to give the diamond profits to the people of Sierra Leone. After taking over some major diamond mines, the RUF did not keep their promise. Instead, the RUF supported their revolution by selling Blood Diamonds.
The RUF became notorious for their child soldiers. Almost 23,000 children served in the RUF army. The children were in the age range of 7 to 12 years old. To make the kids killers they would force them to kill their parents along with many other horrific acts. They made kiddy soldiers take horrific names like “The Killer” ”Wicked to Women” or “Bloodmaster.” There are accounts of officers rubbing cocaine in the kids’ open cuts in order to make them pumped up and ready to kill. The RUF was notorious for the savage severing off limbs of the victims they did not kill. They cut off the limbs of tens of thousands of Sierra Leoneans; many of the victims were children
Finally, in 1999 the United Nations stepped in. They sent out peace keeping militia and cut off RUF of their ammunition supply. It all ended with a gruesome two week battle that killed an estimated 6000 people. Today, the blood diamond industry seems to have almost fallen apart. The UN set up acts such as the Kimberly Act. When diamonds cross international borders they are put into a tamper proof box, and with a Kimberly Process certificate. The Kimberly Process has been very successful. Over 70 countries are part of the Kimberly Process. It has made it much more difficult for rebel groups to sell diamonds mined under horrendous conditions to be sold internationally. So next time you decide to purchase some bling; make sure it is conflict free.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_diamond
http://www.un.org/peace/africa/Diamond.html
http://www.amnestyusa.org/amnestynow/diamonds.html