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Learning Center  Conflict Diamonds in Africa Conflict Diamonds in Angola
Conflict Diamonds | Conflict Diamonds in Angola | Angola is another African country rife with civil war and violence. It is also home to areas rich with diamond mines. In the seemingly never ending story involving war and diamonds, Angola has played a major role for many years.
Angola''s major rebel group, UNITA, is the key player in this saga. As a matter of fact, the UN imposed major sanctions against the UNITA in 1993 in an attempt to weaken their position in the country. The sanctions covered arms, finances, and travel restrictions. Of course, the issue of blood diamonds was not left out. As with other African countries rich with diamonds, Angola’s rebel groups operated in such a way that they took control of the diamond rich areas. They then carried out extensive mining operations – with the use of slave labor for the most part. These rough diamonds were then sold to the world market for a large profit. The money gained from such practices went straight to the rebels’ coffers to fund their wars. Arms and ammunition were the direct result of these transactions. What the UN aimed to achieve was to stop the flow of cash to the rebels by cutting off their source of income – the blood diamonds.
Legitimate government forces were then called upon to retake control of the diamond mines so as to curtail the illegal mining operations of the rebels. A set of measures were also put in place so as to stop people from buying conflict diamonds from Angola. Provision of a certificate of origin was the main means of identifying diamonds. Anything that didn’t have a certificate of origin would be considered shady and therefore not sellable.
However, this has not stopped the rebel groups in Angola totally. In fact, reports show that Angolan diamonds seem to just vanish into thin air. Despite the large amounts of diamonds being mined in the country, the bulk of the goods do not show up in the legitimate market. The only reason for this would be that they are finding their way into the outside world somehow – and probably through illegal means.
The main problem is the ineffective control system that is implemented. More so, the air is being used to smuggle diamonds out of the country. Once in another country – a clean one to boot – the blood diamonds could then be mixed with untainted diamonds and then find their way to the European and American market. Inefficient air traffic control contributes largely to this. Officials that look the other way for a certain amount of money pose another problem. Even in the early part of the millennium, the Angolan government estimates that the rebels earn as much as $125 million from blood diamonds.
It is true that the Kimberly process and other international mandates have done a lot in curbing the trade of conflict diamonds. However, there is still a long way to go in totally stopping this inhumane activity. The Monitoring Mechanism should be improved and fine tuned to be more effective.
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