USA calls all Nations on the Illegal rough diamonds from Sierra Leone

Hi friends, do you Nations find this ACT of Sierra Leone legal or illegal? What do you think should be done and give your views.

What are Blood Diamonds?

Blood Diamonds, also known as Conflict Diamonds, are used in the illegal trading of diamonds to finance conflict, civil wars and human rights abuses in Africa. Profits from this illegal diamond trade in diamonds have been used by warlords and rebels in Africa to buy arms. The countries involved in the illicit trading of blood diamonds include Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

The nature of diamonds makes them attractive to criminal elements. Diamonds are found in remote areas of the world and can be extracted both through capital-intensive deep mining techniques as well as from alluvial sources using rudimentary technology. Individual diggers across west and central Africa mine alluvial fields that are widely scattered and difficult to monitor, a problem made worse by porous borders and corruption. Diamonds are easy to conceal and smuggle across borders, and smuggling routes are well established by those who have done so for decades to evade taxes. Though it may be possible for experts to identify the source of an unmixed parcel of rough diamonds, once diamonds from various sources are mixed, they become virtually untraceable. Identifying the origin of alluvial diamonds is complicated by the fact that the river systems depositing those diamonds run across government- and rebel-held areas as well as national borders. Although rough diamonds can be marked, once they are cut and polished, any form of identification is erased. All of these factors, combined with inadequate customs and policing worldwide, make diamonds attractive to criminal elements who may use them to trade arms, support insurgencies, and plausibly engage in terrorism. Likewise, diamonds can be used as a means of currency in connection with drug deals, money laundering, and other crime or as a store of wealth for those wishing to hide assets outside the banking sector where they can be detected and seized.

The major source of hard currency in Sierra Leone consists of the diamond mining. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in Sierra Leone attempted to overthrow the government, and an illicit diamond trade was used to fund the war effort. These gems were referred to as African Blood Diamonds or Conflict Diamonds. The Civil War in Sierra Leone claimed over 75,000 lives and caused 500,000 to become refugees, and displaced half of the population of Sierra Leone (4.5 million people) to become displaced. From 1989 to 2003 Liberia, an adjoining country of Sierra Leone, was also engaged in a civil war and became the main route for exporting conflict or blood diamonds from Sierra Leone.

History - The United Nations (UN) highlights the issue of African Blood Diamonds
The United Nations identified the issue of African Blood Diamonds being used as a source of funding for the civil wars in Africa in 1998.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

Aph

The Netherlands wonders what you want us to do?

Reply 2

Sena5

USA says STOP Blood Diamonds. As a result, the US government became even more motivated to do something to put an end to this cycle of violence and abuse. Yet even before this event, the US had already laid down some measures regarding blood diamonds.President George W. Bush signed executive order 13312, or Additional Measures with Respect to Prohibiting the Importation of Rough Diamonds from Sierra Leone, in 2003. This was the latest revision in the series of executive orders that President Bush put through that deals with the blood diamond issue. Executive order 13312 is actually derived from executive order 13194.
In this executive order, the US government explicitly recognized the role that the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) played in war-torn Sierra Leone. The executive order also clearly states that it is against the illicit mining of diamonds by the RUF and other rebel factions as well as the trading of these diamonds in order to obtain weapons and ammunition. As a direct result of this, all rough diamonds from Sierra Leone are to be considered illegal in the US.
Of course, those that go through the certification process (as mandated by the government of Sierra Leone and the international community) are not covered by this law.
STOP Blood Diamonds!

Reply 3

Sena5

Original post by Aph

The Netherlands wonders what you want us to do?

Do you agree with the diamond activity by Sierra Leone? Will Netherlands allow it to be legal to sell these Diamonds in Netherlands?

Reply 4

Aph

Original post by Sena5

Do you agree with the diamond activity by Sierra Leone? Will Netherlands allow it to be legal to sell these Diamonds in Netherlands?

Their sale is already illegal in the Netherlands (I think) and is banned by international law. Unless there is a call for military action we cannot help.

Reply 5

Sena5

Original post by Aph

Their sale is already illegal in the Netherlands (I think) and is banned by international law. Unless there is a call for military action we cannot help.