‘Blood Diamond’ —we are very much familiar with this term these days. A Hollywood movie of the same name starring Leonardo DiCaprio and others got Oscar Nominations this year (OnJanuary 23, 2007 , it was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Best Supporting Actor (Djimon Hounsou). Though it failed to bag any award, the impact is so intense that, according to Survival International reports, the Bushmen of Botswana’s Kalahari have keenly requested DiCaprio to  lend a hand in protecting their land from diamond mining which make them difficult to survive as common people with a fear to lose their livelihood.

^{_{So what does this ‘Blood Diamond or Conflict Diamond’ mean?}}

The United Nations officially defines it as a “diamond that originates from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council.”

In a word, it means  any diamond that is collected from a mine situated in such an area where there exists war or armed conflict.

There always exists that game of demand and supply in every commodity in this market. Obviously that precious diamond is no different from the rule. The more sell the more profit. So you have to finance war, conflict among the group of people to get hold of the mines. But the buyers should by no means be noticed about all these happening under the curtain. The blood stains on that dazzling substance must be wiped out completely before showcasing it to the world.

Blood diamonds featured in the Sierra Leone civil war and in Angola , Cote d'Ivoire , and the continued instability in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), among other places.

Instead of being considered  the mostly endowed nation with diamonds, Sierra Leon the West African country bordering Liberia and Guinea, have been termed as the poorest and one of the most vulnerable country. It suffered a civil war from 1991 to 2000. The so-called Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel group, kept on attacking both the government soldiers and civilians. The aftermath was horrendous. Tens of thousands were killed and more than 2 million of the country’s total population of 5.5 million were displaced. 

The most appalling significance of the situation is that of those innocent children’s hapless contribution in this sordid game. The RUF started abducting and recruiting forcefully those children into their ranks. With guns in their hands and trained like blood hounds those kids have already entered in this killing field with gleeful frenzy. Shooting any one from point blank and sometimes without any valid reason is nothing to them.

The rebels control much of the diamond region. They also kidnap boys to work in diamond mines and chop off their hands when they gain adulthood! 

The sale of diamonds by rebels and that too supported by then Liberian President Charles Taylor prolonged the conflict in that region.

For being considered as an anarchy state Liberia   was like a beehive where blood diamonds mined in Sierra Leone and other African countries were poured in. There with money and arms anybody could be a successful business man if he had some connection with Taylor .

The man is, however, currently in custody in The Hague . His trial by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for crimes against humanity and his role in fueling the civil war in Sierra Leone is still awaiting.

Using blood diamonds to fund their terrorist activities is not the ploy of the rebels of those regions only, but of others like Al-Qaida, Hezbollah et al too. At that time Bin Laden and his associates focused their activities in Liberia .   Hezbollah also sent countless Lebanese in Africa to carry out their activities. Big time criminals also operated in there exchanging weapons for diamond.