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Movie
Sparks Debate over Diamond Trade |
Posted:
12.04.06
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The movie "Blood Diamond," which premieres this month,
is putting the media spotlight on conflict diamonds and has the
diamond industry worried about negative fallout.
For an in-depth lesson on conflict diamonds click
here.
Printer-friendly version: PDF
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 Conflict
diamonds, sometimes referred to as blood diamonds, are gems that
are illegally sold to fund civil wars and rebel conflicts. Billions
of dollars worth of profit has been used to buy arms for civil
wars in African countries, including the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone.
"Blood Diamond," starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon
Hounsou, is set in Sierra Leone in the 1990s, when rebels took
control and profited from the country's vast diamond mines. The
movie includes graphic images of violence, child soldiers and
victims of rebel mutilation.
 The
war in Sierra Leone ended in 2002, but human rights groups say
the problem of diamond-funded conflicts persists in other African
countries, such as Liberia and Cote D'Ivoire. Two such groups,
Amnesty International and Global Witness, have partnered with
the movie to raise awareness on the issue.
"This is a Trojan horse message, because people will walk
out of this movie and not view diamonds the same way," said
Amnesty International's director of Artists for Amnesty, Bonnie
Abaunza.
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Defending
diamonds |
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Concern in the diamond industry over a potential backlash from
the film has been building for more than a year.
"Can you imagine its impact on the Christmas-buying audience
in America if the message is not carried through that this is
something of the past?" Jonathan Oppenheimer, a director
of the world's largest supplier of rough diamonds, De Beers, said
at a trade convention in South Africa last fall.
The United States purchases about 65 percent of the world's diamonds,
and 60 percent of the world's diamonds originate in Africa.
Earlier this year, the industry group the World Diamond Council
(WDC) launched a multimillion-dollar public relations campaign
in anticipation of the movie's release. The group has taken out
full-page ads in major newspapers and launched a Web site describing
strides taken to reduce the impact of conflict diamonds, as well
as the economic benefits of the diamond trade to African countries.
 The
WDC also appealed to the movie's director, Edward Zwick, asking
him to add information to the movie on changes in the industry,
in particular a regulation system called the Kimberley Process.
Zwick refused and has said he welcomes the opportunity for the
movie to raise questions among consumers.
"What I wanted to create in their minds is consciousness,"
Zwick told National Public Radio. "A purchase of a diamond
just has to be an informed purchase."
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A problem
of the past? |
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The Kimberley Process, put
in place in 2003, requires diamond shipments to be accompanied by
certificates stating they were not mined in countries at war.
Before the Kimberley Process, the diamond industry estimated conflict
diamonds made up 4 percent of the global trade, while nonprofit
groups, such as Partnership Canada Africa, estimated the total at
around 15 percent. The industry claims the Kimberley Process has
curtailed the trade to less than 1 percent.
While everyone involved agrees the Kimberley Process is a step
in the right direction, problems arise in measuring its success,
in part, because of diamond smuggling.
 A
panel of United Nations experts reported in October that a significant
number of diamonds are smuggled each year from the war-torn country
of Cote D'Ivoire into Ghana, where they are certified as legitimate.
Tom Zoellner, a journalist and the author of a book on the diamond
industry, says the Kimberley Process has not really affected how
diamonds are smuggled across national boarders. "It is a
really superficial process," he said.
The Central African Republic mines can produce only about half
the quantity of diamonds that are listed as originating from the
country, Zoellner said in his book. Imbalances like this indicate
holes in the process.
WDC spokesman Carson Glover agrees smuggling is still a problem.
"Diamonds are the most portable commodity in the world, and
smuggling is one of the oldest professions in the world,"
Glover said. "[The Kimberley Process] was not intended to
stop smuggling."
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Consumer
response |
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Jewelry stores are bracing for the film's opening to see whether
the power of its political statement is matched by commercial
success.
Other films released this year that made political statements,
including "Thank You for Smoking," which skewered the
cigarette industry, and "Fast Food Nation," which painted
an unflattering picture of the fast-food industry, did not perform
as well as expected.
--
By Talea Miller, NewsHour Extra
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The display of the Confederate flag is an act of imparting information or ideas and falls under the constitutional guarantees that protect free speech at school.
