On the right hand side of this page is a reproduction of an advertisement UMCOR placed in the July 2001 issues of Mother Jones, The Christian Century, and Christianity Today magazines. The question asked at the top of the ad conjures up questions of safety and cleanliness like: "It's ten o'clock; do you know where your children are?" and "Do you know where those hands have been?" Questions that evoke images of violence and contamination. What have these images to do with diamonds? All too much. Conflict diamonds, also known as "blood" diamonds, make up 10 to 15 percent of the international diamond trade. They are indeed associated with violence and filth. In Sierra Leone, rebel soldiers gained control of diamond-rich areas by terrorizing the population. Civilians were brutally murdered, raped, and mutilated. Those who survive are maimed emotionally and physically. Many have had their limbs hacked off with machetes. Thousands of children, women, and men in Sierra Leone are learning to live without their hands, arms, legs, noses, ears, or lips. Diamonds fund the cycle of violence. Rebels sell the diamonds they steal to buy guns and continue the war. Currently, there is no way to know whether the diamond you buy is a conflict diamond or one that has been legally harvested and sold. |
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You can help end the trade in blood diamonds and support
those who have suffered:
1. Urge your congresspersons to support the Clean
Diamond Act, now before both houses of
Congress, and advocate for the U.S. to play a
leadership role in the Kimberley process—the
development of a global certification system for
rough diamonds. Currently, it is impossible for
retail jewelers, and thus consumers, to determine
a diamond's country of origin.
2. Consider postponing your diamond purchase
until a certification system is in place to ensure
that your diamond is not responsible for the suffering
of people in Sierra Leone, Angola, or the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
3. If you are shopping for a diamond, ask jewelers if
they can prove that their diamonds are not conflict
diamonds. "No," is the honest answer. Your
inquiry will add your voice to the many who are
expressing their concern to the diamond industry.
4. Give to UMCOR. You can support community
development and emergency relief work in Sierra
Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of
Congo-- all countries affected by the conflict diamond
trade.
5. Learn more and help raise awareness of the
issue. Further information is available on the following
websites:
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/conflictdiamonds.stm
http://www.partnershipafricacanada.org
http://www.amnesty-usa.org/diamonds/
6. Pray for those who suffer from these acts of terror
and ongoing war. Pray for the wisdom and
will of the international community in stopping
the trade of conflict diamonds.
