In many African countries, including Angola, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), illegally mined diamonds have been, and continue to be linked to terrible human rights abuses. Well financed insurgent groups have carried out horrible atrocities against civilians, and similar acts of violence by unscrupulous governments who are equally brutal.

In addition, concerns have mounted over links between conflict diamonds and money laundering by groups like Al-Qaeda.

To combat this international problem, was the formation of the Kimberley Process, a joint governmental diamond industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is an innovative, voluntary system that imposes extensive requirements on Participants to certify that shipments or rough diamonds are free from conflict diamonds. The Kimberley Process is composed of 43 Participants, including the European Community. The Kimberley Process Participants account for approximately 99.8% of the global production of rough diamonds.

In April 2003, President Bush passed a bill adopting the Kimberley Process that requires all U.S. diamond retailers to buy diamonds from manufacturers who have the proper documentation and assuring that their merchandise was obtained through legitimate channels. The U.S. Customs service is responsible for enforcing the Kimberley Process as diamonds enter American ports.

Danforth Diamond supports the Kimberley Process. Each diamond cutter we work with must obtain their diamonds exclusively from legitimate sources, and fully comply with the Kimberley Process requirements. We will continue to support and promote any process that works to uphold legitimacy in the diamond trade.