Under the Kimberley Process, a conflict diamond is defined as "rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance military action in opposition to legitimate and internationally recognised governments." This definition is deliberately narrow, it covers only rebel movements against governments, not diamonds used by governments themselves to fund human rights abuses.
Source: Kimberley Process Core Document (2002), kimberleyprocess.com
Sierra Leone and Angola: the defining cases
The Sierra Leone civil war (1991–2002) and the Angolan civil war (1975–2002) are the cases that defined the blood diamond crisis for the international community. In both conflicts, rebel movements, the RUF in Sierra Leone and UNITA in Angola, used diamond revenues as their primary funding source, enabling prolonged conflicts against government forces despite international sanctions and arms embargoes (Human Rights Watch, 1998, op. cit.; Global Witness, 1998, A Rough Trade, London; UN Security Council sanctions documentation).
The UN Security Council documented the diamond-conflict relationship explicitly in multiple resolutions, Resolution 1306 (2000) for Sierra Leone and Resolutions 1173 (1998) and 1295 (2000) for Angola, imposing targeted sanctions on conflict diamond trade from rebel-controlled territories. These resolutions confirmed the international community's recognition that diamond revenues were materially sustaining the conflicts (UN Security Council resolutions, un.org).
The NGO response: Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada
The public awareness campaign that eventually drove the Kimberley Process was led by two NGOs. Global Witness published A Rough Trade in 1998, the first major documented analysis of the link between Sierra Leone's diamond revenues and the RUF's funding. Partnership Africa Canada published The Heart of the Matter in 2000, which traced the diamond trade flows from Sierra Leone through Liberia and to the Antwerp market. These reports provided the evidentiary foundation for the political campaign that produced the Kimberley Process (Global Witness, 1998, A Rough Trade, globalwitness.org; Smillie, I., Gberie, L., & Hazelton, R., 2000, The Heart of the Matter: Sierra Leone, Diamonds and Human Security, Partnership Africa Canada, Ottawa).
The 2006 film: impact and accuracy
The 2006 film Blood Diamond (Warner Bros., dir. Edward Zwick, starring Leonardo DiCaprio) reached a mass audience that the NGO reports had not. The film dramatised the Sierra Leone conflict and the role of diamonds in funding the RUF, broadly accurately depicting the civilian experience and the diamond smuggling networks. Its release drove a significant increase in consumer awareness of conflict diamonds and put pressure on the diamond industry to demonstrate compliance with the Kimberley Process. The film won five Academy Award nominations (IMDB documentation; industry analyses of the film's market impact).
Ongoing concerns
The Kimberley Process has addressed the most egregious cases of rebel-funded conflict diamonds. However, significant concerns remain about its coverage and effectiveness. The KP definition covers only rebel-funded conflict, not government-funded human rights abuses, diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange fields (mined by government security forces with documented abuses) were controversially deemed KP-compliant in 2011 over the objection of NGO members. Global Witness withdrew from the KP in 2011, citing this decision as evidence that the process "has failed" (Global Witness press statement, 2011, globalwitness.org; KP Marange controversy documentation).
Primary sources
Human Rights Watch (1998). Sowing Terror: Atrocities Against Civilians in Sierra Leone. Human Rights Watch, New York. hrw.org. [RUF atrocities documentation; diamond funding analysis; civilian mutilation as terror tactic. Estimated 50,000–75,000 deaths in the Sierra Leone civil war.]
Global Witness (1998). A Rough Trade. Global Witness, London. globalwitness.org. [First major documented analysis linking Sierra Leone diamond revenues to RUF funding; trade flow analysis through Liberia to Antwerp.]
Smillie, I., Gberie, L., & Hazelton, R. (2000). The Heart of the Matter: Sierra Leone, Diamonds and Human Security. Partnership Africa Canada, Ottawa. [Diamond trade flow documentation; evidentiary foundation for the Kimberley Process negotiations.]
UN Security Council Resolutions 1173 (1998), 1295 (2000), 1306 (2000). United Nations, New York. un.org. [Angola and Sierra Leone conflict diamond sanctions; official UN documentation of diamond-conflict revenue link.]
Kimberley Process Core Document (2002). kimberleyprocess.com. [Conflict diamond definition; KP founding agreement; certification scheme requirements.]
Global Witness press statement on KP withdrawal (2011). globalwitness.org. [Marange controversy; reasons for withdrawal; critique of KP effectiveness.]