Conflict diamonds, sometimes called blood diamonds, are diamonds that are sold to fund the unlawful and illegal operations of rebel, military and terrorist groups. Countries that have been most affected by conflict diamonds are Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are places where citizens have been terrorized or even killed by groups in control of the local diamond trade.
Wars in most of those areas have ended or at least decreased in intensity, but the problem of conflict diamonds hasn’t gone away. Diamonds mined in some rebel-held areas, such as Liberia, are being smuggled into neighboring countries and exported as conflict-free diamonds.
In order to stop blood diamond sales, South African countries with a legitimate diamond trade began a campaign in 2000 to track the origins of all rough diamonds. Their efforts resulted in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), an international organization to make the world free of conflict diamonds. The goals of the KPCS are to document and track all rough diamonds when they enter a participating country. Shippers are required to place those diamonds in sealed boxes and provide enough detailed information about their origins to prove they did not originate in a conflict zone.
It’s difficult for most of us to imagine what life is like in countries where diamonds are the source of so much chaos and suffering. Furthermore, the connection between terror and diamonds is not something that’s reported heavily in the press. The 2006 movie Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, should help make the issue more mainstream, if only temporarily. So, take some time to learn more about the problems that conflict diamonds create, and then follow your heart the next time you shop for a diamond.
What can be inferred from the second paragraph of this passage?