Conflict Diamonds in Sierra Leone

In America and Western Europe, diamonds are an extremely desirable indication of wealth. In Africa, however, diamonds are a catalyst of crime, war, and corruption. Such violence is depicted vividly in the movie Ezra, in which a boy recalls fighting since his youth in the rebel army of Sierra Leone. Upon his arrival at the war camp, Ezra, along with countless other child soldiers, are brainwashed by the immoral generals through involuntary drug use and constant practices of warfare. The children are told to forget about their respective families and hometowns, for they are now apart of the ‘brotherhood’. While the generals preach to the soldiers that their cause is just and the government is crooked, these same Klan leaders are profiting from the diamond trade right under the soldier’s noses. In more than one scene of the film, the generals are shown doing business with white men who either don’t know or don’t care about the horrible war crimes these ‘businessmen’ are committing on a daily basis. Throughout the civil war of Sierra Leone, approximately 120,000 deaths were totaled, along with numerous accounts of limb-hacking. The majority of these murders were committed by the soldiers who were torn from their homes and thrown into the war. The film does justice to these unconscious killers by recognizing that Ezra himself was not being tried for any of the terrible things he did. The question as to who should be blamed for these casualties goes beyond the physical combat. There are plenty of fingers to be pointed in the business of “conflict diamonds”. The rebel leaders are the enforcers of violence throughout Sierra Leone. They are the frontline root of the issue. The federal government of Sierra Leone does not deal appropriately with these criminals, and they are unable to hold anyone accountable for their actions. Finally, America and Western Europe are the biggest markets for the diamonds, which rationalizes the entire procedure in the minds of the greedy rebels. Unfortunately, there is as much a chance that the violence will stop as is the chance that Westerners will stop revering diamonds.