Here’s a fundamental question for the diamond industry. To what lengths will it go to source its product? Even though demand far outweighs supply and the gap between the two is set to grow, will the diamond industry, in its quest for new raw material, plunder one of the world’s largest and most varied ecosystems and trample on the rights and lives of indigenous people in the process? Greed and corruption seem to be doing just that in Brazil right now.
No matter how hard the industry tries, diamonds seem to be inextricably linked with death and the darkest, most repulsive side of human beings. All the hard work that the global industry did in getting together to work on stemming the flow of conflict diamonds could well be undone if stories like this hit the headlines over Christmas.
A representative of the United Nations and three others have been taken hostage by the Cinta Larga indigenous people. At the root of the hostage-taking is, of course diamond mining. Three years ago, 29 illegal miners were massacred on the reservation and the case against the killers is still in court, mired in confusion and controversy over who has jurisdiction over the indigenous people and their reservations. (more…)
