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BLOOD DIAMONDS

By:Areka
Areka@excapethematrix.com

 

"Little was known of Sierra Leone and how they connect to the diamonds we own," says Kanye West in the ever-popular song "Diamonds are Forever". Who would have ever thought that the diamonds we wear as pendants or rings would be in the middle of wars and battles? I mean yes, we all heard the song and we all knew that Kanye must have been talking about something insightful if he referenced Africa. I’m not sure if anyone took the time to delve into it and see what he was actually talking about. We as privileged Americans live in a world run more by the media and less of the truth. Our media feeds us what we "need" to know. And when it’s time for us to learn of distant problems they will send us a memo when they get a chance.

Now to fill you in on the recent events of Africa. This isn’t something that will take you days to understand or even your 30-minute lunch break. It involves six African countries, which like the other African countries recently gained independence less than 40 years ago. It’s almost as if African countries gained freedom and didn’t know what to do next. Rivalries grew plentiful and organization minimal, all leading up to disruptions far beyond horizons. Among the pitiable are Sierra Leone, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, The Ivory Coast, Liberia, and The Republic of Congo.

These six countries are major producers of diamonds, a total of 4% of exports, and this is one of the main ways that they earn their living besides subsistence agriculture. These countries are abundant in natural resources such as copper, gold, oil, cocoa beans, coffee beans, and natural gas among others. With all these resources they are still disease ridden with aids, malaria, and hepatitis and have a mere life expectancy of only 40 years. The Blood diamonds in Sierra Leone, an English speaking country, are also known as the Conflict diamonds. They are diamonds which are found by families or communities by digging along the shore banks of a river or by mining with very basic equipment to end up in the hands of those needed to fund wars to oppose a legitimate government. Sierra Leone specific internal rebels were the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and they opposed the current government. Foday Sankoh, with help from a close neighbor Charles Taylor of Liberia, initiated the RUF. In exchange for rough diamonds Charles Taylor, then president of Liberia, trained and provided arms for the RUF to proceed with their reign of terror among the innocent citizens of Sierra Leone. Among the inhumane acts against the Leoneans were amputations of limbs to send a message that if the people didn’t have hands or arms then they couldn’t vote for the government. They also weren’t able to grow rice to feed the government that the RUF was opposing. Initially the RUF was supposed to be started for the sole sense of pan-africanism, which means the unification of native Africans. There was no other reason for this coup. This was based on the roots of gaining power and respect but in turn exploded into exploitation of the primary reasons of unity.

Child soldiers were forcefully recruited and trained in the most brutal of ways to murder their own family members or anyone that opposed the RUF. They were given drugs to minimize sensibility in committing horrendous acts and brainwashed as if under hypnosis. Boys as young as 8 years old were kidnapped by the militia and required to carry looted weapons and people alike to use for their enjoyment. Women and girls were raped in front of husbands and brothers and left to die after mutilation. During these atrocities, which started in 1991, United Nations Peacekeepers were in fact captured by the RUF with their freedom being negotiated by the president of Liberia, Charles Taylor. Prior to the capture of 500 UN Peacekeepers, camps were set up by the UN to demobilize the young soldiers. During the UN imprisonment demobilized soldiers were abducted back to the RUF ranks. While in the demobilization camps child soldiers were taunted by the RUF and told false rumors that the reunion of their position would lead them to their families along with other bogus lies.

In 2000 Charles Taylor was accused of the conspiracy to supply the RUF with their weapons and force. Also the banning of imported rough diamonds from Sierra Leone was sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council. This would lead up to the agreement to the Kimberly Process which "prevents conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate diamond supply chain and provides and assurance that diamonds are from conflict free sources."

Now we want to multiply this similar situation for the additional five countries that went through like periods. As it stands the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola are actively participating in the Kimberly Process and are producing 8% of the worlds diamonds, which are contributing to the reconstruction of the social and economic infrastructure as with Sierra Leone. At the same time, the Ivory Coast still experiences repercussion from the original overthrow of the government in 1999 and since then has no control over the region. Liberia civil war began in the early 1980’s until 2003 with the resignation of Charles Taylor as their president. 2005 brought peace along with the first female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, with hopes in joining in the Kimberly Process. Lastly but likewise as the previous countries, Republic of Congo gained independence in 1960 along with civil wars to follow in 1992 for leadership and authority. Not being able to account for the mass diamonds ready for export, the Republic of Congo was barred from the Kimberly Process.

I’m sure this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg or the real first layer of the story but this by far will go down in history as one of the many genocides on our motherland. I say our motherland because it birthed kings and queens from which we emerged. It beared fruit for our ancestors as well as painful memories of slave trade and betrayal. This is where history for people of color began and this is how the present unfolds to convey the unwelcoming future. The conflict free diamonds are giving our brothers and sisters healthcare and education but what about the ones left out. There are still child soldiers and there are still motherless infants with nothing but a number on a refugee list. Our past left a mark on us hoping for reparation and respect in America but our humility should take off the blinders and look further than the hands we have wide open for handouts and quick opportunities.