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The illicit trade in diamonds has funded wars and human rights abuses for decades. Global Witness was the first organisation to bring this issue to the world’s attention. Despite positive steps, the links between diamonds and abuse will only be fully broken when all companies involved in the trade c…

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Digital threats Forests Fossil fuels Greenwashing Holding corporates to account Land & environmental defenders Natural resource governance Stop Russian oil View campaign archive Countries & regions Expand Countries & regions menu. Brazil China Democratic Republic of Congo European Union Republic of Congo Myanmar Papua New Guinea The Philippines United States All countries & regions Press Blog Donate Select language Français 中文 Español English Global Witness Conflict Diamonds Share this Tweet Share Facebook Share LinkedIn The illicit trade in diamonds has funded wars and human rights abuses for decades. Global Witness was the first organisation to bring this issue to the world’s attention. Despite positive steps, the links between diamonds and abuse will only be fully broken when all companies involved in the trade change their behaviour. Read more Diamonds have funded brutal wars in countries such as Angola, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, resulting in the death and displacement of millions of people. There is a reason they are dubbed ‘Blood Diamonds’. Global Witness was the first organisation to bring the world’s attention to this problem. Our ground-breaking report, A Rough Trade, released in 1998, exposed the role of diamonds in funding the civil war in Angola. It also highlighted a global problem, putting  the secretive practices of the global diamond industry into the spotlight for the first time and prompting governments and industry to take action to eliminate conflict diamonds from global markets.  An international governmental certification scheme, known as the Kimberley Process, was set up to prevent the trade in conflict diamonds.Despite these positive steps, the issue has not gone away. Our research has shown how profits from diamonds helped fund the conflict in the Central African Republic, which has left hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes. In Zimbabwe, we exposed links between mining companies operating in the Marange area and members of the military and secret police. The Kimberley Process is not going to clean up the trade alone. The United Nations General Assembly has encouraged strengthening of the Kimberley Process to ensure it ‘remains relevant’. Yet increasing evidence of the government-led certification scheme’s limitations have also seen the World Diamond Council not only take up the call for eform, but, critically, speak to the need for the diamond industry to change its own behaviour to ensure diamonds are sourced and traded responsibly.  What companies can doCompanies involved in the trade of diamonds must check their supply chains to ensure that they do not facilitate the trade in diamonds linked to human rights abuses and other harms and to ensure that these diamonds do not enter global markets. Then they must report on their efforts. This process, known as supply chain due diligence, is essential if we want to end the trade in diamonds associated with abuse.What consumers can doAs for consumers, let jewellers and the companies in their supply chains know you care by asking a few simple questions. Ask to see how they know they are sourcing diamonds responsibly. Then ask to see their human rights due diligence report (a Kimberly Process certificate alone does not guarantee anything, unfortunately). All responsible companies should have this report and should make it public. Only then can we break the link, so that it’s the citizens of diamond-rich countries, not corrupt elites, who benefit from their country’s natural resources. Leave no stone unturned The management of Zimbabwe’s valuable diamond industry will indicate whether the new government is serious about reform and willing to match rhetoric with action. A Game of Stones While the international community is working with the Central African Republic’s government and diamond companies to establish legitimate supply chains smugglers and traders are thriving in the parallel black market. Latest All Investigations Press Releases Blogs All Article | February 21, 2020 Stones, seed and suffrage Press Release | July 11, 2019 Open letter to the Responsible Jewellery Council Blog Post | March 11, 2019 Are the winds of change blowing through the diamond sector? Blog Post | April 18, 2019 Zimbabwe’s diamond industry is on the move. But in which direction? See all Investigations Article | February 21, 2020 Stones, seed and suffrage Report | December 01, 1998 A Rough Trade See all Press releases Press Release | July 11, 2019 Open letter to the Responsible Jewellery Council Press Release | December 06, 2018 Marange diamond industry is the litmus test of Zimbabwe’s reform Press Release | November 12, 2018 Diamond industry fails to clean up its act Press Release | September 11, 2017 Zimbabwe’s vast diamond riches exploited by secretive political and military elites, report shows See all Blogs Blog Post | March 11, 2019 Are the winds of change blowing through the diamond sector? Blog Post | April 18, 2019 Zimbabwe’s diamond industry is on the move. But in which direction? Blog Post | July 23, 2018 Polls apart? Two countries blighted by kleptocracy go to vote Blog Post | June 25, 2018 Is ZANU-PF’s hidden hand in Zimbabwe’s diamond industry revealed by secret document? See all The Kimberley Process Global Witness first exposed the problem of blood diamonds in 1998 and played a key role in establishing the Kimberley Process (KP), Zimbabwe Zimbabwe's diamond trade should be funding development. Instead, there is a risk that diamonds are funding repression. Donate Find the facts. Expose the truth. Change the system. 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