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Article

9 Mar 2008

Author:
Matt Kennard, Greatreporter.com

Guilt-free diamonds: beyond blood to human rights [Canada/USA]

Since agreements now assure that most diamonds come from non-conflict zones, activists also want buyers to consider human rights abuses, low wages, slave labor and a host of other egregious practices that still take place in non-conflict mining countries. On posh Madison Avenue in New York City, the window display of Leviev glitters…demonstrators have picketed against the owner, Lev Leviev…His mining practices in Angola, in south-central Africa, have involved, they assert, the use of agencies that violate human rights...“Conflict diamonds are not the main problem now,” said Martin Rapaport...“What we need to do now is find ways to help the poorest people in world, artisanal diamond workers - that’s what the new fair trade movement is focused on.”…Canada…has become a treasure trove for ethical diamonds…Brilliant Earth…[only sources]…from two Canadian mines…[and it] donates 5 percent of its profits to benefit local African communities…Igloo Diamonds, a Canadian-operated company trading only in native diamonds…donate[s] 40 percent of the mark-up price on every diamond sold to Adopt-a-Minefield, an organization that...clear[s] landmines left over from conflict in parts of Africa.