Essay Instructions: Using interviews, polls, examples, charts and graphs, first-person experience, books, journal articles and no more than one online source, research and write a three-page formal essay on a controversial topic. Use five sources. Underline your thesis. Study editorials and columns to learn how reporters attribute and cite information informally. Be persuasive. Have a strong argument. If their are any grammatical or sentence structure errors, the paper will not be accepted.
Possible topics to be discussed in the paper:The lost children of Sierra Leone, The Al Qa'ida Connection, Why Diamond Sanctions do not work, Sanctions fail, according to Alex Yearsley, of Global Witness because, "Countries don't enforce them properly, are either involved, complicit, lacking resources, corrupt or simply not interested. The diamond industry can't police it's own members effectively and is not powerful enough.",br>
De Beers, with their 'Diamonds are forever' slogan are the biggest player in the diamond industry, controlling 60 per cent of the world's uncut diamonds, a trade worth $7 billion pounds a year. When their lucrative industry was threatened by controversy, De Beers examined its buying strategy. From being a 'buyer of last resort' they repositioned themselves as 'supplier of choice' and in June 1998 insisted they would only buy Angolan stones with Angolan government's certificates. Evidently this did not work and a year later they stopped buying diamonds from Angola altogether and closed their buying offices in West and Central Africa to avoid the risk of mixing illicit and legal diamonds. De Beers guarantees their diamonds do not originate in rebel-controlled areas, but pressure groups remain sceptical of their real intentions. "They simply stuck their head in the sand, then they realised the market edge they could get with branding, and the more diamonds that stay in the ground the better. They were scared of a consumer boycott and backlash," says Yearsley.
minesite.com, the leading internet paper for the mining industry, said: "It was good timing for De Beers to combine the announcement of its change in policy from 'buyer of last resort' to 'supplier of choice,' threatening to withdraw CSO (Central Selling Organisation) site-holder status from anyone found to be involved in the trade. But that is all it was - timing. Anything that can persuade the authorities in the States [the US district court of New York ruled on 7 August that De Beers had violated a number of anti-trust laws from April 1995-April 2001] that it is now the holy joe of the diamond industry, not just some monopolistic exploiter, has to be utilised." What is being done?
Possible thesis: The US connection and needs to be done-USA
65 percent of the world's diamonds are bought in the US. In 2001, The US House of Representatives passed a compromise version of the Clean Diamonds Act (HR 2722). This gives the president authority to impose sanctions against countries, which don't have system of controls on rough diamonds if they are deemed to be a matter of national security. The bill awaits approval from the congressional committee, but there is little doubt that this will happen. Matthew Runci, the Executive Director, of the World Diamond Council says, "The diamond and jewellery industries have been in the forefront of those who have fought for this legislation. Our goal is to keep conflict diamonds out of the United States, which is the world's largest diamond market. By taking this essential step, we will be on the way toward drying up the profits of those who traffic in conflict diamonds and of ensuring jewellery purchasers throughout the United States that the stones they are purchasing truly are symbols of love and beauty."
The Jewellers Association of America along with NGOs campaigned relentlessly for conflict-free diamonds with grass roots campaigns and lobbying. Contact global witness for more details
quotes taken from www.ethicalmatters.co.uk/articles.asp?itemID=193&title=Consumer
