Every year, countless Americans visit their local jewelry stores to purchase the symbol of eternal love: the diamond engagement ring. But this symbol of love in the United States is a symbol of blood and death elsewhere in the world.

For instance, consider Maria, an 8-month-old baby girl in Sierra Leone. In an act of unfathomable cruelty, her arm was hacked off by the rebel terrorists of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). In the 1990s, the RUF sought to impose its will upon Sierra Leone and take control of the country’s diamond mines by chopping off thousands of civilian hands, feet, and ears; thousands more people were simply slaughtered and left to rot in village streets. In the meantime, the diamonds mined under the RUF’s control were exported to the Western World, including the United States.

Despite new diamond trade regulations, innocent people continue to suffer in diamond mines today. Around the world, men, women, and children are forced into slave labor to dig for diamonds, which are later smuggled across borders and sold throughout the world. All the while, the people who mined the diamonds earn little to no pay in return.

Hands for Africa seeks to end the international trade of all blood diamonds. As a nonprofit, Hands for Africa works toward restoring hope to those who have suffered in blood diamond wars, and we want to prevent such suffering from ever happening again.

With one million signatures, we can push Congress to put pressure on the international diamond trade. Many, including major diamond trading companies, seem determined to turn a blind eye to this issue. But as the premier retail market for diamonds, the United States has the clout to force a cleanup. The United States must force that blind eye to look. 

By signing Hands for Africa’s petition, you can be part of this movement! Push Congress to put a spotlight on the international diamond trade. Push Congress to stop the import of all blood diamonds. Change won't happen overnight, but it will happen if we are persistent!