The Kimberley Process, the mechanism set up to rid the world of “blood diamonds” is on the brink of collapse because of moves to allow exports from Zimbabwe’s fabulously wealthy Marange diamond fields, campaigners have told The Times.
President Mugabe’s henchmen have earned millions from illegally mined gems that are smuggled into Mozambique, but a decision to allow legal exports could give the ruling Zanu (PF) party a lifeline and allow it to buy victory in elections, expected later this year or early in 2012.
Mathieu Yamba, who is the chairman of the Kimberley Process and comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, has come under huge pressure from other southern African states that recently declared Zimbabwe had met Kimberley rules and could legally export diamonds from Marange, which could provide income of up to $2 billion a year.
However, international human rights groups, supported by some Western countries including the US, Canada and Israel, say that no consensus on the status of Zimbabwe was reached at a meeting in Kinshasa on June 23.
Arvind Ganesan, the business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Governments and companies should ignore Mr Yamba’s decision unless they want to make blood diamonds available to consumers and ruin the credibility of the Kimberley Process.”
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The process — named after the 19th-century diamond town in South Africa — was created to stem the flow in the 1990s of diamonds that are mined in war zones, often under harsh conditions, then sold by armed groups and rebels to finance wars and coups in West Africa.
Legal exports from Marange have been suspended since June 2009 because of police and military abuses in the minefields. These included killings, beatings, forced labour and smuggling of gems in contravention of Kimberley’s rules.
In November 2009 Zimbabwe agreed to carry out a phased withdrawal of armed forces from the diamond fields, and allow monitoring of diamond shipments.
Farai Maguwu, from the Centre for Research and Development in Mutare, near the diamond fields, told The Times that nothing had changed: “The military is still there, and their presence leads to the continuation of violence and smuggling.”
He said that there was violence every time an official delegation arrived at the Marange fields, as the army first drove off all the panners, usually desperately poor unemployed peasants.
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“They use brute force. The fields are cleared and as soon as they [the visitors] leave, it’s back to business as usual. There have been four deaths reported [since March]. Two were shot and killed. Two were beaten to death. It’s absolute murder. The police do nothing. They are part of the system.”
Elly Harrowell, of Global Witness, added: “There hasn’t been the political will to deal with the Zimbabwe issue.” She accused the diamond industry of sitting on the sidelines.
“Their livelihood is at stake. They should refuse to trade until there are positive developments. They have been frankly pathetic.”
Legal minefield
Once a diamond has been polished it is impossible to identify its origins. Tracking rough stones under the Kimberley rules has been problematic.
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If you want a legal diamond, ask to see a certificate of origin. This will let retailers know what their customers want and can help to combat the trade.