Conflict Diamonds & the Kimberley Process

The phrase "conflict diamond" carries weight. It should. Behind it lies a history of civil wars fuelled by diamond revenue, communities devastated by armed violence, and an industry forced to confront the consequences of an unregulated supply chain.

Understanding that history — and the international response it provoked — is essential for anyone buying a diamond today. Not because the problem is what it was in the 1990s, but because the systems built to address it shape how every legitimate diamond reaches the market.

What Are Conflict Diamonds?

The United Nations defines conflict diamonds — sometimes called "blood diamonds" — as rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance armed conflict against recognised governments. The definition is specific and deliberate: it targets diamonds that directly fund insurgencies, distinguishing them from other ethical concerns in the mining sector.

In practice, conflict diamonds were rough stones extracted from mines controlled by rebel groups, smuggled across borders, and sold into the legitimate diamond trade with no documentation of their origin. The revenue purchased weapons, paid fighters, and sustained some of the most brutal civil wars of the late twentieth century.

The term entered public consciousness through the conflicts in Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. But the problem was not confined to those countries. Wherever diamonds could be extracted cheaply, moved easily, and sold without questions, they became a currency of war.

The Wars That Changed an Industry

Sierra Leone (1991–2002)

The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) seized diamond-producing regions in eastern and southern Sierra Leone and used the proceeds to fund an eleven-year civil war. The conflict killed an estimated 50,000 people and displaced more than two million. The RUF's campaign of terror — including the systematic amputation of civilians' hands and limbs — became one of the defining atrocities of the decade.

Diamond revenues were the RUF's primary source of funding. Rough stones were smuggled through Liberia and exchanged for arms, often with the direct involvement of Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was later convicted of war crimes by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Angola (1975–2002)

UNITA, the rebel movement in Angola's civil war, controlled diamond-rich areas in the northeast of the country for much of the conflict. At its peak, UNITA generated an estimated US$3.7 billion from diamond sales between 1992 and 1998 — revenue that sustained one of Africa's longest and deadliest wars. The conflict claimed approximately 500,000 lives.

Democratic Republic of Congo

The DRC's ongoing instability has involved multiple armed groups controlling artisanal diamond mining operations, with revenues funding continued conflict in the country's eastern provinces. The complexity of the DRC's situation — involving neighbouring countries, overlapping rebel factions, and a vast artisanal mining sector — has made it one of the most difficult regions to bring under effective oversight.

These were not abstract policy problems. They were wars fought with diamond money, against civilian populations, at an enormous human cost.

The Birth of the Kimberley Process

By the late 1990s, the connection between rough diamond sales and armed conflict was undeniable. International pressure mounted from multiple directions: United Nations Security Council resolutions imposed diamond embargoes on Sierra Leone and Angola. NGOs — particularly Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada — published investigative reports that traced the flow of conflict diamonds into the legitimate market. Public awareness grew.

In May 2000, diamond-producing countries in southern Africa met in Kimberley, South Africa, to discuss how to stop conflict diamonds from entering the global trade. That meeting launched a negotiating process involving governments, the diamond industry, and civil society organisations.

Three years later, on 1 January 2003, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) came into effect.

How the Kimberley Process Works

The KPCS is an international agreement — not a treaty in the traditional sense, but a consensus-based framework with practical enforcement mechanisms. Its core requirements are straightforward:

• Certification of rough diamond shipments. Every parcel of rough diamonds crossing an international border must be accompanied by a Kimberley Process certificate, issued by the exporting country's designated authority, confirming the diamonds are conflict-free.
• Sealed, tamper-resistant containers. Rough diamond shipments must be transported in sealed containers that can be verified on arrival.
• Trading restrictions. Participating countries may only trade rough diamonds with other participants. Trade with non-participating countries is prohibited.
• Internal controls. Each participant must establish domestic legislation and institutions to control rough diamond production and trade within its borders, including record-keeping and reporting requirements.
• Transparency and reporting. Participants submit annual reports on their diamond production, imports, and exports. Peer review visits allow other participants to assess compliance.

Scale of Participation

As of 2024, the Kimberley Process has 56 participants representing 82 countries (the European Union counts as a single participant). Together, these participants account for approximately 99.8% of the global rough diamond trade.

The numbers alone represent a remarkable achievement: virtually the entire legitimate diamond market operates within a single regulatory framework designed to exclude conflict stones.

Key Dates

What the Kimberley Process Achieved

The impact has been substantial. Conflict diamonds, which accounted for an estimated 15% of the global diamond trade in the late 1990s, now represent less than 1% — by most credible estimates, significantly less.

The KPCS did not achieve this alone. UN embargoes, the end of several civil wars, and international criminal prosecutions all contributed. But the Kimberley Process created a permanent structural change: a global system that makes it dramatically harder for conflict diamonds to enter the legitimate supply chain.

Before the KPCS, there was no standardised mechanism for tracking rough diamonds across borders. After it, every legitimate international shipment of rough diamonds requires documentation that links it to a participating country's oversight system. That infrastructure did not exist before Kimberley, and it has persisted and expanded for over two decades.

Legitimate Criticisms

Acknowledging what the Kimberley Process achieved does not mean ignoring where it falls short. Several criticisms are well-founded and important.

A Narrow Definition

The KPCS defines conflict diamonds specifically as rough diamonds used to finance rebel movements against recognised governments. This definition does not cover:

• Human rights abuses committed by state actors or government-aligned forces
• Exploitative labour practices in legal mining operations
• Environmental destruction at government-sanctioned mines
• Revenue from diamond mining used by governments to fund internal repression

This means a diamond can carry a valid Kimberley Process certificate while originating from a mine with serious labour or human rights concerns — provided those concerns do not involve rebel financing.

The Zimbabwe Marange Controversy

In 2008, the Zimbabwean military seized control of the Marange diamond fields, and reports emerged of forced labour, beatings, and killings of artisanal miners. Because the abuses were committed by state security forces rather than rebel groups, the diamonds technically fell outside the Kimberley Process definition of "conflict diamonds."

The international response within the KP was slow and contentious. Diamonds from Marange were eventually allowed into the certified trade under a monitoring arrangement, a decision that prompted Global Witness — one of the founding NGOs behind the Kimberley Process — to withdraw from the scheme in 2011, stating that it could no longer vouch for the system's credibility.

Enforcement Limitations

The KPCS operates by consensus. Any single participant can block action, which has at times made it difficult to respond decisively to compliance failures. Peer review visits are not as rigorous or frequent as independent audits. And while the system is effective at the level of international rough diamond shipments, it is less equipped to address problems within a country's domestic mining sector — particularly in regions with large artisanal and small-scale mining populations.

Polished Diamonds Are Not Covered

The Kimberley Process applies only to rough diamonds. Once a stone is cut and polished, it is no longer subject to KPCS certification. The World Diamond Council's System of Warranties extends conflict-free assurances through the polished diamond supply chain via invoicing declarations, but this is a voluntary, industry-managed system rather than an intergovernmental one.

Beyond Kimberley: How the Industry Has Responded

The diamond industry has not treated the Kimberley Process as a ceiling. Recognising its limitations, a range of initiatives have gone further.

The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC)

The RJC Code of Practices addresses the gaps in the KPCS by covering human rights, labour standards, environmental management, anti-money laundering, and product integrity across the entire jewellery supply chain. RJC certification requires independent third-party audits and applies to miners, traders, manufacturers, and retailers — not just rough diamond shipments. (What Responsible Sourcing Means)

Company-Level Initiatives

Major producers have established their own sourcing standards that often exceed regulatory requirements. De Beers' Best Practice Principles, for example, require sightholders to meet audited standards on ethics, labour, and community impact as a condition of purchasing rough diamonds. Losing sightholder status is a serious commercial consequence — the incentive structure has real teeth.

Blockchain and Traceability

Several companies — including De Beers (through its Tracr platform) and Everledger — have developed blockchain-based systems to track individual diamonds from mine to market. These technologies create immutable records of a diamond's journey, offering a level of traceability that was impossible when the Kimberley Process was designed. (Traceability vs Origin Determination)

While these platforms are not yet universal, they represent a genuine advance: the ability to verify not just that a diamond is conflict-free, but precisely where it came from, who handled it, and when.

What This Means for Arete Diamond Buyers

Every diamond in our collection enters our supply chain through Kimberley Process-certified channels. This is a baseline, not a distinction — it is what every legitimate jeweller should be able to say.

What we add beyond that baseline matters more. We source from suppliers who meet RJC standards or equivalent independently audited frameworks. We maintain documented chains of custody. And we are honest about the limitations: for some stones, particularly smaller accent diamonds, mine-level traceability is not yet reliably achievable. We say so, rather than making claims we cannot substantiate.

We take this subject seriously because it deserves seriousness. The history behind conflict diamonds is not a marketing talking point. It is a reason to insist on verifiable standards, to support the frameworks that make those standards possible, and to be transparent with our buyers about how our supply chain operates.

If you have questions about the sourcing of any diamond in our collection, we welcome them. (Transparency & Disclosure in the Diamond Industry)

Summary

• Conflict diamonds are rough diamonds used to finance armed conflict against governments — a specific UN definition rooted in the civil wars of the 1990s in Sierra Leone, Angola, and the DRC.
• The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, launched in 2003, requires certified documentation for all international rough diamond shipments and now covers approximately 99.8% of the global rough diamond trade.
• Conflict diamonds have fallen from ~15% to less than 1% of global trade — a significant achievement, though not attributable to the KPCS alone.
• The KPCS has real limitations: a narrow definition that excludes state-sponsored abuses, consensus-based governance that can slow action, and no coverage of polished diamonds.
• The industry has gone beyond Kimberley through the RJC, company-level sourcing standards, and blockchain traceability initiatives.
• At Arete Diamond, every stone enters our supply chain through KPCS-certified channels, from suppliers meeting independently audited ethical standards. We welcome questions about our sourcing practices.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are conflict diamonds?

Conflict diamonds, also called blood diamonds, are rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance armed conflict against recognised governments. The term originates from the civil wars of the 1990s in Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where diamond revenue directly funded insurgencies and devastating violence against civilian populations.

What is the Kimberley Process?

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is an international agreement launched in 2003 that requires every shipment of rough diamonds crossing a border to carry a government-issued certificate confirming the stones are conflict-free. As of 2024, it has 56 participants representing 82 countries and covers approximately 99.8% of the global rough diamond trade.

Are blood diamonds still a problem today?

Conflict diamonds have dropped from an estimated 15% of global trade in the 1990s to less than 1% today, thanks to the Kimberley Process and related international efforts. However, the KPCS has limitations — its narrow definition excludes human rights abuses by state actors and does not cover polished diamonds — so complementary standards like the Responsible Jewellery Council continue to address remaining gaps.

How do I know if my diamond is conflict-free?

Look for sellers who source through Kimberley Process-certified channels and go beyond that baseline by adhering to Responsible Jewellery Council standards or offering chain-of-custody documentation. Diamonds from traceable origins such as Canadian or Botswana mines, or those tracked via blockchain platforms, provide the highest level of assurance.

Does the Kimberley Process cover lab-grown diamonds?

No. The Kimberley Process applies only to rough natural diamonds crossing international borders. Lab-grown diamonds are produced in controlled laboratory environments and are not part of the mining supply chain, so they fall entirely outside the scope of the KPCS.

Related Reading

• What Responsible Sourcing Means — the frameworks governing ethical diamond supply chains
• Community Impact of Natural Diamond Mining — the economic and social contributions of diamond mining
• Transparency & Disclosure — what the industry is required and chooses to tell you
• Traceability vs Origin Determination — two approaches to proving where a diamond comes from