Blood Diamond
Ryan Conde
QU301
Skyers
Blood Diamonds
Conflict diamonds are most commonly found in Africa, and are mined by slaves. The diamonds mined in this area were coined “blood diamonds” because enabled violence and destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives. I believe that as a global community we allowed, and sometimes encouraged the trade of conflict diamonds. Conflict diamonds derived from war zones and were sold to fuel insurgencies and guerilla groups. The lack of care was especially apparent in First World countries. We care more about the materialistic value of a shiny rock, than the knowledge of where that rock came from and it’s journey. We as a global community neglected the malevolent wars that erupted in Sierra Leone and Liberia to be funded by conflict diamonds. Those who did not care what it took to get a diamond out of the ground and on somebody’s ring finger are especially to blame.
The movie Blood Diamond was produced in 2006 and focused on the troubles the diamonds brought to Sierra Leone and it’s main exporter, Liberia. In the early 1900’s, Sierra Leone erupted in civil war. The RUF, Revolutionary United Front, was fighting against the government and eventually took over diamond rich lands. The RUF mined these precious stones and illegally exported them to Liberia, where they were sold internationally. In return, Liberia would supply the RUF with weapons, training, and even soldiers. The protagonist, Solomon Vandy, is a local villager and fisherman. He has a family with a wife, son, daughter and a newborn child. In the opening of the film, Vandy meets with his son after school. On their walk to their hut they discuss how Dia thoroughly enjoys classes. Suddenly, a gang of guerillas drives through Vandy’s village. Immediately the audience notices the majority of the soldiers are children; barely old enough to properly hold the AK-47s they wield. Hundreds of innocent human beings are murdered in cold blood and the RUF soldiers take children and
QU301
Skyers
Blood Diamonds
Conflict diamonds are most commonly found in Africa, and are mined by slaves. The diamonds mined in this area were coined “blood diamonds” because enabled violence and destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives. I believe that as a global community we allowed, and sometimes encouraged the trade of conflict diamonds. Conflict diamonds derived from war zones and were sold to fuel insurgencies and guerilla groups. The lack of care was especially apparent in First World countries. We care more about the materialistic value of a shiny rock, than the knowledge of where that rock came from and it’s journey. We as a global community neglected the malevolent wars that erupted in Sierra Leone and Liberia to be funded by conflict diamonds. Those who did not care what it took to get a diamond out of the ground and on somebody’s ring finger are especially to blame.
The movie Blood Diamond was produced in 2006 and focused on the troubles the diamonds brought to Sierra Leone and it’s main exporter, Liberia. In the early 1900’s, Sierra Leone erupted in civil war. The RUF, Revolutionary United Front, was fighting against the government and eventually took over diamond rich lands. The RUF mined these precious stones and illegally exported them to Liberia, where they were sold internationally. In return, Liberia would supply the RUF with weapons, training, and even soldiers. The protagonist, Solomon Vandy, is a local villager and fisherman. He has a family with a wife, son, daughter and a newborn child. In the opening of the film, Vandy meets with his son after school. On their walk to their hut they discuss how Dia thoroughly enjoys classes. Suddenly, a gang of guerillas drives through Vandy’s village. Immediately the audience notices the majority of the soldiers are children; barely old enough to properly hold the AK-47s they wield. Hundreds of innocent human beings are murdered in cold blood and the RUF soldiers take children and
Cited: "Conflict Diamonds." Diamondfacts.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. "Conflict Diamonds in Libieria." Stop Blood Diamonds. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, Declaration of Human Rights, Human Rights Declaration, Human Rights Charter, The Un and Human Rights." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.