Blood Diamonds: The Civil War In Africa

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When someone thinks of a diamond, happiness and joy might come to mind because diamonds are suppose to be a symbol of new beginnings and love, but that is not the case for people who live in diamond-rich countries. Instead, beautiful diamonds represent violence, death and civil wars in countries like Sierra Leone and Angola. These specific diamonds are called “blood” or “conflict” diamonds, because over the past several decades they have intensified conflicts in many countries and caused children to be kidnapped, abused, raped, and turned into killers. These specific diamonds are very valuable and highly demanded by consumers, which is why rebel groups like Revolutionary United Front (RUF) enslaved thousands of people to make them dig for these diamonds, which has caused a brutal eleven year long civil war in Africa. The …show more content…
For example, Sierra Leone’s government was full of corruption, economic issues, and destruction once Siaka Stevens, the third prime minister, took office in 1968. Amber Pariona, author of Civil War in Sierra Leone and the Role of “Blood Diamonds”, discusses this issue further by stating “He served for seventeen years and during his term, created a one party political system which led to the further dismantling of public administration offices and extreme levels of corruption” (Pariona, 2016). Sierra Leones’ government system became even worse once the fourth prime minister, Joseph Momoh, caused the country to suffer from an economic crisis in 1985. By 1991, Sierra Leone became the poorest country in the world, making it extremely easy for its citizens to form rebel groups and take advantage of the lack of government and easy accessible diamonds; which was the start to an extremely violent and brutal eleven year civil war between Africa and rebel

Blood Diamonds Research Paper

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