Blood diamond
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"Conflict-free diamonds are diamonds of certified origin which are guaranteed not to be obtained through the use of violence, human rights abuses, child labor, or environmental destruction." |
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Blood diamonds (also called a conflict diamonds, converted diamonds, hot diamonds, or war diamonds) is a term used for a diamond mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, an invading army's war efforts, or a warlord's activity. The term is used to highlight the negative consequences of the diamond trade in certain areas, or to label an individual diamond as having come from such an area. Diamonds mined during the recent civil wars in Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and other nations have been given the label.
In popular culture
- Conflict diamonds are a central plot point throughout the James Bond film Die Another Day (2002).
- The origins of the Kimberley Process were dramatized in Ed Zwick's motion picture Blood Diamond (2006), starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Djimon Hounsou. The film helped to publicize the controversy surrounding conflict diamonds and led to worldwide awareness of the Western African involvement in the diamond trade.
- Danish filmmaker Mads Brügger's documentary Ambassadøren (2011, in English: "The Ambassador") addresses the trade in diplomatic passports in order to make money with blood diamonds.
- Players compete in Diamond Trust of London to extract diamonds out of Angola before the implementation of the Kimberley Process.