Conflict diamonds or "blood diamonds" have been a tremendous focus of concern for the diamond community as the ongoing civil wars in Africa continue to rage. Conflict diamonds, which are diamonds illicitly seized and sold by rebels to buy weapons, have fueled the warring factions in Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

     Congressman Tony Hall in a recent speech before the World Diamond Congress stated, " In Sierra Leone, rebels transformed themselves from a rag-tag bunch of 400, into a force 25,000 strong and formidably well-equipped, almost solely on the strength of the country's diamonds. In Angola, rebels filled more than half of their war chest with proceeds from their diamond sales. The situation is less clear in the DRC – but the 1.7 million people who have died in the 23-month-old war there make whatever role diamonds are playing all the more serious."

      Stopping the flow of conflict diamonds will depend upon the joint efforts of the international diamond community and the leading industrialized nations from which these diamonds are mined, cut and sold. This week, the U.N. Security Council has imposed an emargo on diamonds mined by Sierra Leone's rebel Revolutionary Front.

      We are extremely troubled that diamond dealers continue to knowingly purchase from sources that fuel these wars. In 1999, the production of conflict diamonds amounted to only 3.7% of the total world production. Peaceful mining concerns still provide the bulk of diamonds that pass through the supply chain. The legitimate diamond distribution system must be strongly supported in an attempt to halt the violence fueled by conflict diamonds.

      We applaud every effort to stop the flow of conflict diamonds and trade only in those diamonds we are reasonably assured are conflict-free. We promise that the diamond you select has been carefully screened as to its provenance and is worthy of the love and promise for which it has been given and received.