Project Petaling Street Blog

Udi is fourteen-years-old. Like other teenagers in his village, he should be spending time with his friends and playing football. Instead, he is lying on a filthy mattress in a makeshift tent, his eyes darting wearily across the ceiling. His face is a mishmash of blood-soaked bandages. Underneath them, he has no lips and no ears. They were sliced off by a swinging machete when he refused to rape his own mother. Now, raising his arms with a soft grunt, he sees stumps where his hands should be. A traumatized sob starts from his chest and spreads to the rest of his tiny frame. Shaking badly, a plan forms in his mind. When he gathers the strength, he will make his way to the village well and drown himself. Living like this is not living at all.

It is estimated that 20% of diamonds—one in every five—come from African countries torn apart by armed conflict and unrelenting violence. The diamonds harvested and exported from these war zones are known as 'blood diamonds', which help finance the acquisition of weaponry used by militants to pursue their campaigns of aggression.

Sierra Leone is one such country. Lying on the outermost tip of Western Africa, it is a beautiful and rugged land, its name derived from the early Portuguese, who called it the Lion Mountains. This is a reference to the distinct rumble that can be heard when wind and thunder echo through its mountainous valleys.

In the 1700s, Sierra Leone became a haven for freed slaves, who settled in what became known as Freetown, the capital city. For a country so admirably built on foundations of liberty, its plight turned tragic from 1991 to 2000, when it lapsed into oppression and horror.

Insurgents known as the Revolutionary United Front seized control of the country’s diamond fields. Slave labour became rampant, where primitive and dangerous methods were used to harvest diamonds. Many died from starvation and overwork, buried in mass graves that dotted the landscape.

The money made from the sales of these diamonds was used to open foreign bank accounts, financing a network of gunrunners who kept the rebels equipped with military hardware that outclassed the government soldiers and peacekeepers. Scores of children were kidnapped, tattooed and drugged to fight.

To make matters worse, Al Qaeda operatives were present and acting as advisors to the RUF. This was a relationship that worked both ways. It is now believed that the terrorist strikes of September 11th 2001—or even the recent bombings in London—were financed by blood diamonds. This is not hard to understand. Diamonds are the most compact form of wealth, and it is possible to fit several million dollars worth of them in a cigarette pack.

In desperation, President Ahmad Kabbah urged the people to join hands to end the conflict. The RUF mocked this by pursuing mass mutilations, cutting off hands and other body parts. The situation deteriorated so drastically that citizens pleaded with their former colonial masters, the British, to come back and restore peace in Sierra Leone.

Today, the RUF may be gone, but what remains is a scarred and broken land. Recent statistics have named it the poorest country in the world, a testament to the failure of the global community.

Tears of joy slide down Miranda's cheeks. Half-a-world away, a young boy sheds tears of despair. She will never know him, nor will he ever know her, but they share a powerful connection. Miranda now wears the diamond that Udi originally mined for his captors.

In 2000, the World Diamond Council was formed to reduce the trafficking of blood diamonds. Once a diamond is cut and polished, it is near impossible to determine its origin. Therefore, the next best thing is certification on how diamonds are obtained and traded.

Malaysians can play their part to deter wars of aggression and terrorism by refusing to purchase blood diamonds. Buy only from reputable jewellers affiliated with the World Diamond Council. Avoid wholesalers, discount outlets and peddlers.

Remember, each time you buy a legitimate diamond, you help steer funding and support away from militants who have no interest in economic development or lasting peace in Africa.