One of the traits of diamonds from Sierra Leone so special is that they are not supposed to be available, since the United Nations put an embargo on their export in 2001. Since the mid-1990’s, many of the diamonds were used to fund the Revolutionary United Front in their battles against the legitimate government of Sierra Leone.

In 1935 the first diamonds from Sierra Leone were mined and within two years it is estimated that over one million carats were being mined. Between 1930 and 1998 over 55 million carats of diamonds from Sierra Leone were mined by the only company with an agreement with the government, DeBeers, which was granted country-wide mining rights in 1935. However, by 1955 it is estimated that 75,000 illegal miners were pulling diamonds from Sierra Leone.

Also in 1955, new government rulers cut back DeBeers mining access to just 450 square miles and other companies began moving in to extract diamonds from Sierra Leone. In the 1990’s, the government was considered so corrupt that revolutionary forces began fighting against it. Stealing diamonds and mining operations to help pay for their continuing battles, with world human rights organizations using the term blood diamonds for the gems used to fund the killing.

U.N. Forces Cannot Halt The Filling Fields

Fighters in the Revolutionary United Front, well-funded by the country’s diamond market, continued their rage against the government and even a peace agreement between the government’s new leadership and the head of the RUF could not stop the killing. In order to stem the violence, the United Nations declared that no country could legally buy diamonds from Sierra Leone.

However, a few countries found it profitable to work with the RUF and diamonds from Sierra Leone were smuggled into countries, such as Liberia, where they were sold on the open market. At the turn of the century, Liberia was exporting almost four times the amount of diamonds it was capable of producing, leading them to be added to the list of blood diamond suppliers, banned from open trade in the diamond market.

Today, there is a certification process in place that is supposed to guarantee that diamonds from Sierra Leone or other blood diamonds are not mixed into the world market. Certificates guaranteeing the diamonds did not come from countries using them to fund killings and overthrow plans for countries recognized by the United Nations. However, it is not fool-proof and there remains a small percentage of diamonds from Sierra Leone entering the market annually.