Upload
bint-bint
View
246
Download
3
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Diamond Matters Kadir van Lohuizen Documentary Photography
Citation preview
Introduction
Diamond is carbon that has crystallised under intense pressure over a millions of years. These crystalsmay be thrown up during a volcanic eruption. Some land back inside the volcano. This forms so-calledkimberlite: blue earth that contains diamonds. Other crystals spread out as a result of erosion andflowing water across a wide area, and can therefore be found immediately beneath the surface in riverbeds.
In the 1990s I frequently worked as a photo journalist, reporting wars in Zaire (today’s Democratic
Republic of Congo), Sierra Leone and Angola. These wars were often dismissed as tribal conflicts and a
residue of the Cold War. However, it became increasingly clear that they were in fact struggles for raw
materials.
The Angolan and Sierra Leonean rebels controlled much of the diamond areas. They used the diamonds
to raise funds to buy weapons. Governments also became involved in the hunt for gems. The term blood
or conflict diamonds was born.
Around that time I compiled a number of reports about the issue, although I was not able to show every
aspect of the diamond trade without arousing the suspicions of the rebels and dealers.
As various pressure groups sounded the alarm this began to effect the public perception of the trade.
The industry found itself compelled to cooperate in implementing a certification system guaranteeing
that only conflict-free diamonds would be traded. Public opinion and the potential damage to the diamond
trade’s image forced most of the diamond importing and exporting countries to sign the Kimberley
agreement in late 2002. This pact successfully reduced diamond smuggling and made the industry more
publicly accountable. Today, since most of these African countries are now at peace, the origin of
diamonds is less of an issue.
In fact, working conditions are still shockingly bad. Despite enormous profits, little of this income reaches
the population. Mining companies acquire huge concessions, allowing them to control the market, which
robs local people of their livelihood. They are forced off their land with no or hardly any compensation.
Moreover, digging for diamonds is all these people know; they have little or no skill as farmers. As a
result, the local population does not benefit in any way from the wealth under their feet. Worse still, they
are turned into outlaws. The social collapse is total.
The alternative has to be ‘fair trade’ diamond industry. The industry is under pressure. For decades,
De Beers, run by the Oppenheimer family, held a monopoly in the diamond market. They dictated the
prices. But the world’s diamond stocks are more ample than was thought and the Israelis are emerging
as powerful competitors. In the end, no one would benefit if the market were to collapse and prices
tumbled, which could happen considering the huge potential supply. Supermarket chains and Internet
traders already sell below market prices. Moreover, synthetic diamonds are now being made which are
hardly distinguishable from the real thing.
A year ago I decided together with the Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa and West Africa
Witness to return to the same African countries and to follow the diamond trail all the way from the
mines to the consumer. The result is a photo reportage that investigates where the money goes, the
conditions in which people work, the traders, and who actually profits from this industry.
Kadir van Lohuizen
Amsterdam 2005
From the mines to the jet-set
DiamondMatters
KKaaddiirr vvaann LLoohhuuiizzeenn
Bakwa Bowa, DR Congo
Miners on their way from Lucapa to Dundo, Angola
Koidu, Sierra Leone
Bakwa Bowa, DR Congo
Koidu, Sierra Leone
Bakwa Bowa, DR Congo
11
Koidu, Sierra Leone
Bula, Angola
Muangolongo, Angola
Bakwa Bowa, DR Congo
Koidu, Sierra Leone
Sewa River, Sierra Leone
Miners being baptised, MbujiMayi, DR Congo Washing gravel, MbujiMayi, DR Congo
Koidu, Sierra Leone
Muangolongo, Angola
22
The Mines
Thousands of people dig up the earth in this lunar landscape. Each
mine employs between ten and fifty workers. They are not paid, but
they get fed. First, metres of sand are excavated by hand, until
they reach the gravel layer. This is where the diamonds are found.
Mutual suspicion is rife: everyone watches each other. Everything
is hoisted up the steep banks in bags and then sieved. The licensee
keeps a sharp eye out lest anything of value disappear into a
mouth, nose or other orifice. When they find something, the value is
calculated immediately at the mine and everyone gets a share.
In fact the value is still quite low and the number of shares is high.
Agriculture is practically nonexistent here, since every piece of
land might contain a valuable treasure.
Large mining companies are increasingly buying up land. This
makes the work easier to organise, but for the miners it means
they have to leave the area, with hardly any compensation. They
have no ground to farm, and even if they had, none of them know
how. The landscape is turned upside down; rivers are diverted to
enable the beds to be scooped out.
Diving for diamonds in Cuango River, Angola MbujiMayi, DR Congo Lucapa, Angola
Sewa River, Sierra Leone Sewa River, Sierra Leone Kimberlite mine, MbujiMayi, DR Congo
Bakwa Bowa, DR Congo Kimberlite mine, MbujiMayi, DR Congo
Going home, Koidu, Sierra Leone
33
The Trade
Diamonds found in the mine are generally brought to the open
market in the centre of the city. At first sight, it looks like any
other African market. But the piles on the table are diamonds,
and dealers are busy weighing on scales and exchanging wads
of cash. It is the small-scale dealers who buy at the mines and
sell the diamonds here.
The diamond offices on the main street are grubby affairs,
often with a sideline (in fake Nike trainers) to augment their
turnover. Many of these traders are also clergymen, which is a
lucrative business. You set up your own church and then your
loyal parishioners sell their diamonds to you. Everyone looks
forward to the day they will strike it rich. If fortune smiles, you
may one day walk out of the office with a hundred thousand
dollars. Often this money is immediately invested in a new off-
road vehicle and luxury clothes for him and her. The money soon
evaporates and the search begins anew.
The weight and value of what is bought and sold is officially
recorded each day. Everything is noted down. This is necessary
in order to obtain a Kimberley certificate. Of course a valuable
stone may occasionally fall on the ground and disappear from
the circuit.
At a mine worker’s burial, MbujiMayi, DR Congo Cafunfo, Angola
Diamond market, MbujiMayi, DR Congo Diamond market, MbujiMayi, DR Congo
Diamond market, MbujiMayi, DR CongoCafunfo, Angola
Mine-workers’ village that has been burned down, Bakwa Bowa, DR Congo
44
Export and Trade
The capital cities are the final trading stations before
the gems leave the country. All roads lead here. The
number of diamonds is huge, and the sums exchanged
stupendous.
To be allowed to export, a trader has to be meticu-
lously correct. Weight, export value, everything has to
be in order, and checked by an official at the certifi-
cation office.
The stones are rated according to the four c’s:
colour, carat, clarity and cut. This determines the
eventual value of the stone. The dealer’s stated
export value is checked for accuracy. If everything is
okay, the diamonds receive a Kimberley certificate
indicating that they are conflict-free.
MbujiMayi, DR Congo
MbujiMayi, DR Congo
Koidu, Sierra Leone
Diamond dealer, MbujiMayi, DR Congo
Koidu, Sierra Leone
Sorting diamonds, MbujiMayi, DR Congo
Diamond dealer, Cafunfo, Angola
Cafunfo, Angola
Party at a diamond dealer’s home, MbujiMayi, DR CongoEvangelique de Témoins du Christ church, MbujiMayi, DR Congo
55
Antwerp
The flights from Africa arrive at Brussels’
Zaventem airport early in the morning.
Diamond couriers invariably carry their
stones with their hand luggage. For customs
officials it is almost impossible to know
whether all the diamonds are declared.
The stones and the paper work are vetted
in the customs office, and transferred to
another courier who takes them to the
Antwerp World Diamond Center. There they
are piled on trolleys in the building’s
brimming cellar. The diamonds are checked
against their provenance certificate and
weight, and whether the value corresponds
with the record.
Not long ago, there were fifteen thousand di-
amond workers in Antwerp, today there are
no more than three hundred. The work has
moved to low-wage countries such as India
and China. Only the most expensive
diamonds are polished in Antwerp, when
labour is a negligible cost. Diamond polishing
and cutting is largely a Jewish industry.
MbujiMayi, DR Congo
Removing diamonds from the safe, Kinshasa, DR Congo
Certifying diamonds, Kinshasa, DR Congo
Exporting from Kinshasa airport, DR Congo
Diamond exchange, Antwerp
Antwerp
Diamond courier, Zaventem airport, Brussels
Diamond district, Antwerp
‘Boiling’ the diamonds, Antwerp
66
India – Surat
Surat is an industrial city in the state of
Gujarat, around 250 kilometres north of
Bombay. The last couple of years a new,
explosive industry has emerged:
diamonds. Almost a million people work
here as cutters, polishers, or dealers.
The numerous workshops are located in
huge residential blocks where men squat
on the ground in small soot-filled rooms.
They sit in groups of four around a
turning disc on which they press a steel
holder. Every ten seconds they look
through a magnifying glass at the rough
diamond held in the tip of the holder.
Each factory employs between ten and a
hundred workers from the countryside,
including many children even today. They
live in rooms which they can only afford
by sharing with other workers, while
some live in the factory itself. They
return home once a year.
A twelve-hour working day may seem
excessive, but the fifty-USD a month
wage is not bad by Indian standards and
makes up for much.
Lunch at the factory, Surat, India
Surat, India
Surat, India Polishing disc, Surat, India Diamond market, Surat, India
Lunchtime, Surat, India
Surat, India Surat, India Surat, India Surat, India
Surat, India
0.05 carat, Surat, India
77
New York – Amsterdam – Paris
The United States is still the largest market
for diamonds. Eighty-three percent of
American brides insist on a diamond ring,
for which American bridegrooms paid out
almost 4.5 thousand million dollars in 2004.
Although the heart of this trade is on 47th
Street, the most exclusive jewellers are
located elsewhere. Here the wealthiest
clients visit the showrooms by appointment
to make their purchases.
Amsterdam was the centre of the diamond
world until the 1920s. Because of the
unfavourable tax climate the industry moved
south, to Antwerp. However, Amsterdam
remained a centre for the retail trade.
Here, large so-called factories pretend to
their visitors that cutting and polishing still
takes place. Actually, they are tourist
attractions that draw hordes of customers
each day, tempting them to buy finished
gems. Among the best clients are the
increasingly wealthy Asian tourists.
Yet Amsterdam lacks the grandeur of the
Place Vendôme in Paris. This is where the
most exclusive diamond dealers are located.
Their clients include models and actresses.
Always good for promotional campaigns
and advertising.
New York
New York
Polishing, New York Polishing, New York Jet-set party, London Jet-set party, London
Jet-set party, LondonPlace Vendôme, Paris
New York Amsterdam Jeweller, Paris
The photographic exhibition 'Diamond Matters' was created in cooperation with the Netherlands
institute for Southern Africa (NiZA) / Fatal Transactions and West Africa Witness (WAW).
The exhibition was made possible by the financial support of Novib, Care, Stichting DOEN, NCDO,
Plan, FNV Mondiaal, Kleurgamma, Development and Peace and the EU.
Exhibition realised by Teun van der Heijden - Heijdens Karwei
The contents of this exhibition are the sole responsibility of the Fatal Transactions campaign and can under no
circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.
88
Agalula Tshimanga (52)Bakwa Bowa, DR of Congo
‘I sieve the gravel six days a week. I work for
myself. My family is here too. The problem is,
I hardly ever find a thing.’
Denis (27), Paulo (30), Joao (28), José (27)
Angola
‘We live in Lucapa, and walk 28 kilometres
every day to Chibulo and back. That’s where
the mine is where we work.’
Lingode (25)Angola
‘I come from the Democratic Republic of Congo,
but I work here in Bula in Angola. I work on a
diving platform. We dive into the river for dia-
monds. I operate the compressor that provides
oxygen.’
Ishmael Nyaka (34)Sierra Leone
‘I was born in Koidu. When war broke out, I fled
to Bo. At the end of 2003 I came back. I’m a
mine worker. It’s no good here, there are no
social services. I get no money, only food. When a
diamond’s found, we share the money.
AA
Kalenga Lukasa (13), Mbala Lukasa (19), DR Congo
‘We are brothers and live in Bakwa Bowa. We
arrive each morning at the mine at 7 AM and
go back home at 7 PM. We dig for ourselves,
we don’t go to school.’
Sheka Kamara (18)Sierra Leone
‘I’ve been a diamond worker in the Sewa River
for a year. I stay underwater at a depth of ten
metres for two hours at a time. It’s pretty cold.
The air comes through a diesel compressor.’
Mary Kangbo (35)Sierra Leone
‘I was born in Bo and came to Koidu in 1973.
During the war I fled back to Bo. I’m a licensee,
but things aren’t going well. I need an investor.
I have about fifty boys here digging for me.
They get food.’
Domingos Papa Seko (35)Angola
‘I come from Malange originally. I’ve been a
mine worker since 1992. During the war I
was sent to Bula as a soldier. I’ve been here
since then. I sieve the gravel that comes from
the mine.’
BB
Selyo (34)DR of Congo
‘I’m a trader in MbujiMayi. Business is good,
I’ve just bought a new BMW 4WD. In a moment
I have to go to Kinshasa for business, with my
bodyguard.’
Pastor Mbaya Kafui (42)DR of Congo
‘I’m a diamond trader here in MbujiMayi. I’ve
been pastor too for the past eleven years. I set
up my own church. There are three services a
week, and 10,000 people come to them, and
before the service or after it they sell me the
diamonds they’ve found.’
Mbuli Molulu (50)DR of Congo
‘I work with customs at Kinshasa airport.
I verify goods for export. This is a bag of
diamonds worth $ 3 million. It’s about to go
on the plane.’
Omer Tshiayanga (34)DR of Congo
‘I was born here in MbujiMayi. Eighteen years
ago I started as a small diamond trader, and
I used to go to the bush to buy. Now I’ve got
three offices in town and a lot of cafés. The
people who sell to me come to my cafés too.
I’ve got two wives and three cars.’
CC
Yijay Choudry (35) India
‘I’m the manager here in Mandvi, a village out-
side Surat. Each worker polishes a different facet
of the diamond. Before they pass it on to the next
worker, I check that it’s been done
right. I have three children.’
Yogesh (13)India
‘I come from a village far away from here. I live
here in Surat with an uncle. I cut diamonds. I
start at eight o’clock in the morning and work
till eight o’clock at night. I earn Rs 3,000 [$ 65]
a month. I go home to my parents once a year.’
Philippe SchaefferParis
‘I’m vice-president of one of the largest
jewellers in the world. We started off in
Beverly Hills. All our jewels are designed
here. Clients usually come by appointment.
They rarely buy at once. They go away and
think about it and then they come back.’
Eddy VleeschdragerAntwerp
‘I’m a diamond dealer here in Antwerp. My
father was a diamond worker in Antwerp;
there aren’t many of them left now. We import
diamonds only from De Beers. This is a ten-
carat diamond, it’s nearly perfect; it’s worth
about $ 104.000’
DD
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
A B C D
1
2
3
4 5
6
8
A
B C
D
7
1 2 A 3 4 B 5 6 C 7 8 D
1 2 A 3 4 B 5 6 C 7 8 D