I don't know how many of my readers are likely to be out buying diamonds in the next while, but if you are here's an appeal to ask about the source of the diamonds and make sure that they're not from Zimbabwe. Tiseke Kasambala writes:
During several visits this year to the Marange fields for Human Rights Watch, I spoke with more than 100 people who had witnessed killings and beatings or suffered torture, forced labor, rape and the looting of their property by military officials who control informal mining syndicates. The army pilfers and smuggles out the area's rough gems, keeping the substantial profits for itself and the political party of Zimbabwe's authoritarian president, Robert Mugabe.
If mined legally, these diamonds could materially benefit a population that has been brutalized by oppressive rule and a man-made humanitarian disaster. Instead, people near the diamond fields live in abject poverty and constant fear.
She goes on to say that consumers can 'send a strong message to the diamond industry'.