Some diamonds have helped fund devastating civil wars in Africa, destroying the lives of millions. Conflict diamonds are those sold in order to fund armed conflict and civil war. Profits from the trade in conflict diamonds, worth billions of dollars, were used by warlords and rebels to buy arms during the devastating wars in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone. Wars that have cost an estimated 3.7 million lives.
While the wars in Angola and Sierra Leone are now over, and fighting in the DRC has decreased, the problem of conflict diamonds hasn't gone away. Diamonds mined in rebel-held areas in Côte d'Ivoire, a West African country in the midst of a volatile conflict, are reaching the international diamond market. Conflict diamonds from Liberia are also being smuggled into neighboring countries and exported as part of the legitimate diamond trade. (Amnesty International)
In December 2000 the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on the role of the trade in rough diamonds in funding and fuelling conflict. This resolution supported the creation of an international certification scheme to end the link between the illicit trade in conflict diamonds and human rights violations associated with armed conflict as witnessed in several African countries. Pressure on governments and the diamond industry from NGOs, including Amnesty International and Global Witness, culminated in the launch of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) in 2003.
Despite the progress made, three years after its establishment the KPCS has not been able to fully address, monitor and end the international trade in conflict diamonds
