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Most Americans Support Legislation Banning Conflict Diamonds
Humanitarian Organizations Call for Congressional Support of the Clean Diamonds Act
WASHINGTON
May 9, 2001
A majority of Americans favor legislation to stop the flow of Conflict Diamonds into the United States, according to a recent poll commissioned by World Vision, the world's largest privately-funded humanitarian organization. When told that government reports show that diamond smuggling in some African countries is helping to fuel ongoing civil wars, 62 percent of Americans said they supported legislation which would ensure that diamonds entering the United States be from conflict-free regions.
World Vision, along with other leading humanitarian organizations, including Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights, are calling on members of Congress to support the Clean Diamonds Act (HR 918). The bi-partisan legislation requires that all diamonds imported to the United States be subject to the international rough diamond standards and establishes a U.S. regulatory body to monitor the international system. Currently more than 100 members of Congress have pledged support of the bill.
Government reports indicate that between 4 and 15 percent of diamonds exported to the United States are from conflict zones in Africa.
"Public support continues to grow on behalf of efforts to stop the trade of conflict diamonds," said Serge Duss, director of public policy and government relations at World Vision. "The more people understand that the trade of these diamonds is directly supporting civil wars and horrific human rights abuses in countries such as the Congo and Sierra Leone, the more support has grown to ensure that the trade of conflict diamonds comes to a quick end."
Conflict diamonds help finance rebel wars claiming the lives and limbs of civilians in Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Rebel soldiers punish government loyalty and maintain their control of diamond-rich territories through campaigns of terror that include killing, amputations, rape and forcing children to join their forces. In Sierra Leone, some 3,000 kidnapped children are still unaccounted for, according to a Europe-based group of leading Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs).
World Vision commissioned the Conflict Diamonds poll through Wirthlin Research. The margin of error is +/- 3%.
CONTACTS: mediainfo@worldvision.org
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