CIAO DATE: 09/04

Attempts Made to Control Conflict Diamonds

Rachel Stohl & Anna Franklin

Center for Defense Information

August 2001

Wars from Sierra Leone to Congo are being financed with diamonds, causing millions of civilian casualties and untold suffering. Experts estimate that 6.5 million people have fled their homes because of fighting over control of diamond mining areas, and approximately 3.7 million people have died as a result of these wars. International organizations and U.S. legislators finally have seen enough damage wrought by the conflict diamond trade that they are taking measures to stem the flow of conflict diamonds.

Legislation has been introduced in Congress that would require a series of background checks on exported diamonds to ensure that illegally obtained diamonds are not used to finance wars. The Clean Diamonds Trade Act, HR 2722, was introduced on Aug. 2, 2001 by Reps. Tony Hall (D-Ohio), Frank Wolf (R-Virg.), Amo Houghton (R-N.Y.) and Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and has 35 co-sponsors to date. The companion Senate bill, S 1084, was introduced June 21, 2001 by Sens. Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mike DeWine (R-Ohio). The Clean Diamond Trade Act states that diamonds may not be imported into the United States unless the exporting country has implemented an export and import system for rough diamonds consistent with UN General Assembly Resolution 55/56 (2000) or a future international agreement. The act enjoys the support of the World Diamond Council and the Jewelers of America, as well as the Campaign to Eliminate Conflict Diamonds – a coalition of more than 100 human rights, religious, humanitarian, peace, and development groups committed to ending the trade in conflict diamonds and supporting human rights in diamond-producing countries in Africa.

The act prohibits "the importation of diamonds from any country that has not put in place a regimen of controls on diamonds designed to eliminate conflict diamonds from international commerce," according to the Campaign to Eliminate Conflict Diamonds. The regimen is the "Kimberley process," named for the city in South Africa where talks were initiated last year, and includes diamond producing, cutting, polishing, and importing countries, as well as representatives from the diamond industry. This group is working to establish a framework by which the trade in diamonds can be regulated, preventing conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate diamond market.

Implementation of the act will be overseen by a presidential commission, which will include human rights organizations. Violators will be subject to civil and criminal penalties, and proceeds from seized contraband will be sent to the USAID War Victims Fund. The president will make an annual report to Congress on the system's effectiveness, and the General Accounting Office will analyze and report on the act's implementation and effectiveness within three years of the bill's enactment. The act allows the president to permit a waiver of six months if countries "are making good faith efforts to put the international control system in place."

The bill is expected to move through the House and Senate this fall. Action on conflict diamonds is particularly relevant in the United States as the United States is the world's number one importer of diamonds, accounting for 65 percent of the world total. But meaningful action to eliminate conflict diamonds will not happen if only the United States institutes controls. Conflict diamond producing countries and all countries involved in the diamond trade must take steps to reform diamond trading.

The Kimberly diamond controls are currently being negotiated, and are expected to be finalized and presented to the General Assembly by December 2001, according to the Campaign to Eliminate Conflict Diamonds. But some participants are resisting any type of regulation, as they fear it might cut into their diamond profits. Others believe the Kimberly process must be clear in its commitment to eliminate the untold human suffering caused by the trade in conflict diamonds. "To effectively curtail the illicit trade in conflict diamonds, the international process must be strong, transparent and independently monitored," said Adotei Akwei, Africa Advocacy Director at Amnesty International.

The Clean Diamonds Act will not hurt the legitimate purchasers and buyers of diamonds and diamond jewelry. But it will directly affect those parties who use diamonds to wage war, commit human rights abuses, and terrorize populations. The Clean Diamonds Act is only one in a series of important steps to control the legal trade of diamonds and diamond jewelry. Without such controls, these precious and beautiful stones will be used to purchase weapons that will prolong wars that inflict suffering and death on millions of people around the world.