All of us are fascinated with the beauty of a diamond especially when it is being used as a piece of jewelry.  And why not, it not only evokes beauty, it also is the most precious stone anyone could get on the planet.  We see Hollywood stars, singers and rappers, and rich, prominent people wearing them that probably cost more than what one normal person could earn in their entire life.

But aside from the glitz and glamour that a diamond stone could exude, there is another side of the story behind it and most of the time, while some of the privileged was in all smiles wearing them, someone in the other parts of the world has died because of it.  These diamonds are called “blood diamonds” which literally translates to diamonds that were mined or obtained in a war zone that automatically depicts a place and system of chaos.

What Are Blood Diamonds?

You have probably watched the movie, “Die Another Day” which is a James Bond movie or the one recently by Leonardo DiCaprio entitled, “Blood Diamond”.  In those movies, the tales behind blood diamonds are narrated and give us a new look in the industry of diamond.  Blood diamonds are also known as “conflict diamonds”, “dirty diamonds”, or “ward diamonds” because these are being mined in a war zone and are usually controlled by forces that are opposing to legitimate and internationally recognized governments to fund their wars and armed forces.

Though the mining of blood diamonds has been around for years, it was just last year 2000 when the United Nations General Assembly recognized the big role of this kind of mining to the wars that are going on in Africa.  Because of this, the United Nations came up with resolutions that aim to stop the illicit trade of blood diamonds to other parts of the world, making the people more aware of what these could do to other people in other parts of the world.

Stop The Conflict

You could take action with regards to stopping the mining of blood diamonds by simply not buying and supporting them and this could easily be done when you purchase a piece of diamond jewelry and ask for a paper certifying that they are not involved in an illicit trade and are not conflict diamonds.  As a consumer, it is your responsibility to know where your diamonds came from and if they were involved in some kind of illegal doings.

You could also join an organization that helps in campaigning to stop the trading of blood diamonds and one of which is the Stop Blood Diamonds that aims to create a conflict-free diamond world.  You could visit their website at www.stopblooddiamonds.org to get to know more about what you could do as a consumer in fighting this illicit trade.

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