U.S. Senate Proposes "Clean Diamonds Act"

The Perspective

June 26, 2001

Just a few weeks ago, President George W. Bush issued an Executive Order prohibiting the importation of all rough diamonds from the Republic of Liberia into the United States. In the Executive Order issued on May 22, 2001, President Bush noted, "The Government of Liberia's complicity in the RUF's illicit trade in diamonds and its other forms of support for the RUF are direct challenges to United States foreign policy objectives in the region as well as to the rule-based international order that is crucial to the peace and prosperity of the United States."

Coming on the heels of the Executive Order, the U.S. Senate is currently discussing and considering passing a bill that would ban the sale of illegal diamonds, used to fuel bloody conflicts in Africa, in the United States. The new Senate bill is poised to succeed due to its broad support from both Democrats and Republicans, and the backing it has from the international diamond industry.

Called the "Clean Diamonds Act", the proposed law has as an essential ingredient, the requirement that African nations involved in the illegal exporting of diamonds, establish an effective system of export control. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, a key sponsor of the bill said "the brutal wars in African nations may be thousands of miles away, but the source of the funds that buy the weapons may be as close as your ring finger. Our legislation says 'if you can't prove to U.S. Custom agents that your diamonds are legitimate, take your business and your diamonds elsewhere."

Further articulating the essence of the bill, Senator Dick Durbin said it was essential to "start tracking rough diamonds soon after they are mined and ensure that 'conflict diamonds'-- gems mined and sold by terrorists to fund their operation -- never enter the stream of legitimate commerce."

According to the new bill, "without effective action to eliminate trade in conflict diamonds, the trade in legitimate diamonds faces the threat of a consumer backlash that could damage the economies of countries not involved in the trade in conflict diamonds and penalize members of the legitimate trade and the people they employ. To prevent that, South Africa and more than 20 other countries are involved in working, through the `Kimberley Process', toward devising a solution to this problem. As the consumer of a majority of the world's supply of diamonds, the United States has an obligation to help sever the link between diamonds and conflict and press for implementation of an effective solution."

Importation of illegal diamonds mined in African countries such as Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone would be banned under the new bill. Diamonds, one of the natural riches in these countries, have become a curse to their hapless civilians. In Sierra Leone, for example, the limbs of thousands of people, including women and children, have been brutally amputated by the RUF rebels fighting for the control of the diamonds of that country.

The proposed bill is being hailed as unique because of the unified and cooperative support it has received from varied quarters such as the human rights community, the diamond industry and African leaders. Sierra Leone's Ambassador John Leigh stated that the new bill is "a fantastic compromise that I never thought would ever happen." He continued, "I salute the leaders of the diamond industry for moving toward peace in Africa."