Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Luanda (Fides Service)-“In Lunda Norte (north west Angola) we live like slaves. We are not allowed to move about freely, we cannot afford to dress properly or eat meat or buy a bicycle. We are beaten for diamonds. These diamonds belong to us, the people of Lunda Norte, but we have no right to extract them”. “The political parties are stealing the riches of Angola causing great suffering to the people, especially here in Lunda Norte. We have no hospitals, roads, schools, jobs. Our wealth should be the diamonds but where do they go? To others”. These protests are part of a 17 page report by a South African student, Justin Pearce who visited the people of Lunda Norte in November 2003, titled “War and Peace: popular perceptions of the Diamond Industry in the Lundas” (see www.iss.co.za). The author asks: do “blood diamonds” or ‘conflict diamonds’ finance civil wars in Africa?
To eliminate trade in conflict diamonds and diamonds being used to fund wars, governments and companies signed voluntarily the Kimberley Process. Should it not be applied also to situations in which human rights are violated or in the case of serious abuses in local economic and social systems?
The author says that the end of civil war in Angola in 2002 did not put an end to illegal diamond mining by those with weapons army police, ample freedom of action given the foreign mining companies, corruption at all levels of public administration to grab benefits of diamond marketing. The author suggests that the Kimberley Process should be extended to guarantee human rights of the people involved in diamond mining. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 15/5/2004 righe 29 parole 351)
