Blood Diamonds Are Back | Foreign Policy

Posted by Matt in December 24th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Africa, angola, Blood Diamonds, BloodDiamonds, Conflict Diamonds, Conflicts, Decade, Foreign Policy, Gregory Campbell, Gunpoint, Human Rights Groups, Prisoners, radar, Rough Stones, Sierra Leone, Slaves, weapons, Western Consumers

Why the U.N.-sanctioned system that’s supposed to ensure that gemstones aren’t mined at gunpoint is backfiring.
“Conflict diamonds,” also known as “blood diamonds,” are rough stones mined at gunpoint by slaves and prisoners for the enrichment of those holding the weapons. They were a cause célèbre at the beginning of the decade, when human rights groups [...]

Nigeria’s oil curse

Posted by Matt in June 1st, 2009 | no comment

Published in Africa, Oil, African Man, Audience, Blood Diamond, Cinema, Curse, Diamonds, Government Forces, Lagos Nigeria, Laughter, Leonardo Dicaprio, Leonardo Dicaprio Film, Oil Wealth, Old Man, Photos, Rebels, Sierra Leone, Surveys, Vicious Civil War, Violence

The story in photos behind the fight for Nigeria’s oil wealth.
During a scene in the Leonardo DiCaprio film “Blood Diamond,” an elderly African man surveys a village destroyed in Sierra Leone’s vicious civil war and laments the violence tearing his country apart as rebels and government forces fight for control over access to diamonds and [...]

Blood Diamonds

Posted by Matt in July 17th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Africa, African Nation, Antwerp Belgium, Array, Blood Diamonds, Brutality, Cobblestone Streets, Correspondents, Diamond, Diamonds, Display Cases, Documentary, Finest Jewelry, Full Length, Illicit Diamonds, Insurrection, Jewelry Stores, Landscape, Love Affection, National Geographic, Pits, Precious Gems, Sierra Leone

Full length National Geographic documentary on illicit diamond trafficing.
Long a symbol of love, affection, and faithfulness, the diamond is now increasingly linked with war, blood and brutality. In the diamond rich West African nation of Sierra Leone, rebels used the precious gems to bankroll a violent ten-year insurrection, leaving a terrorized population and a ravaged [...]