Anger grows over Kimberley Process failings in Zimbabwe

Posted on June 18, 2010 | Category: Politics; Business, Sport

SW Radio Africa

Thousands of people from across the world have voiced their anger and frustration with the failure of the international diamond trade monitor, the Kimberley Process, to take action to stop the diamond crisis in Zimbabwe.

Blogs and social network sites have been abuzz with anger in recent weeks, as news has spread that the Kimberley Process is likely to certify Zimbabwe’s Chiadzwa diamonds. This is despite evidence of mass murders, forced labour, political oppression, and human rights abuses associated with the mines. In reaction thousands of people have signed an online petition calling for a complete reform of the Kimberly Process. The petition, started by ethical jewelry group Brilliant Earth, calls on the Kimberley Process to broaden its mandate to sufficiently address human rights abuses in the diamond trade. “Most importantly, it should incorporate worker exploitation, violence, child labor, and environmental destruction,” the petition reads.

“Consumers are outraged that the Kimberley Process is not protecting the basic human rights or dignity of diamond miners. They find the ‘conflict-free’ certification to be misleading, and are appalled that nothing is being done to change the situation in Zimbabwe,” said Beth Gerstein, the founder of Brilliant Earth. The Kimberley Process has so far refused to take action on Zimbabwe, hiding behind the weak excuse that there is no conflict in the country, therefore the diamonds from Chiadzwa are not ‘conflict stones’. Last year, the Kimberley Process ignored demands for Zimbabwe to be suspended from international trade over the rights abuses at Chiadzwa. Instead, the country was given time to brings its trade and human rights standards in line with international expectations. But almost one year later there is no evidence to suggest that this has happened. On the contrary, diamond rights groups like the Centre for Research and Development (CRD) have exposed ongoing abuse at the diamond fields. The evidence provided by the CRD has led to the group being shut down and hounded into hiding, with their Director Farai Maguwu still behind bars. Despite this the Kimberley Process monitor, Abbey Chikane, has still recommended that certification be given to Chiadzwa’s stones, a recommendation set to top the agenda at next week’s Kimberley Process meeting in Israel. Chikane himself has been fingered as the instigator of Maguwu’s arrest, which took place shortly after the pair had a confidential meeting about the abuses in Chiadzwa. Maguwu has since accused Chikane of ‘shopping’ him to the police.

“Zimbabwe will be the final nail in the coffin for the Kimberley Process if they don’t take action next week,” said Brilliant Earth’s Gerstein. “We’ll be back where we were seven years ago, when the world associated diamonds with war and oppression.”

The Kimberley Process is being urged to immediately suspend Zimbabwe from trade until there is proof that the Chiadzwa diamonds are not bankrolling oppression and abuse. Global Witness, a rights group that has been protesting the abuses in Chiadzwa, said this week that ZANU PF’s political and military elite are seeking to capture the country’s diamond wealth “through a combination of state-sponsored violence and the legally questionable introduction of opaque joint-venture companies.” This was revealed in a new report released Monday, titled: Return of the Blood Diamond.

“Over the past three years, the national army has visited appalling abuses on civilians in the diamond fields. Nobody has been held to account for these crimes, and now it turns out that the joint venture companies nominally brought in to improve conditions are directly linked to the ZANU PF and military elite. Thanks to the impunity and violence in Zimbabwe, blood diamonds are back on the international market,” said Elly Harrowell, Global Witness campaigner.

The Global Witness report describes how Minister of Mines, Obert Mpofu, has been one of those at the forefront of the corruption at the diamond fields, by assigning his allies as board members in the state-authorised mining firms currently permitted to mine at Chiadzwa. The two firms, Mbada and Canadile, are joint venture firms with the government’s Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC). Both have been implicated in the ongoing smuggling of gems out of Chiadzwa, a rampant problem said to be losing the country many millions of dollars in potential revenue.

“Mpofu and his cronies seem intent on pursuing their violent, self-serving exploitation of the country’s diamond wealth. Nobody should be under the illusion that this is about anything other than lining the pockets of ZANU PF and their allies, who are being squeezed by economic sanctions,” said Harrowell.

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