Maravi

Certification body bans trade in diamond from Zim field

COMMENT - Decertification of a mine in Zimbabwe for human rights violations? But not in the DRC, where there actually is something close to a genocide going on, and where major Democratic (Maurice Tempelsman, a good friend of the Clintons) and Republican (Bush supporter Danny Gertler) campaign contributors have massive diamond concessions... No hypocrisy there. This is another example of the use of The Kimberly Process as a political tool to eliminate business rivals. In this article, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights claimed: about 5,000 people were arrested during the army operation, with three quarters of them showing signs of having been tortured severely. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Humang Right is funded by the US government's National Endowment for Democracy. Sourcewatch says about the National Endowment for Democracy: According to the New York Times: "The National Endowment for Democracy is a quasi-governmental foundation created by the Reagan Administration in 1983 to channel millions of Federal dollars into anti-Communist 'private diplomacy.'" So, they are funded by a United States organisation set up by Ronald Reagan, to 'fight communism'. I'm sure they have nothing to do with the CIA or State Department. :-/

Certification body bans trade in diamond from Zim field
Written by Kingsley Kaswende in Harare, Zimbabwe

THE global diamond certification body has banned the trade of diamonds being mined at one of the diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe over concerns of human rights violations.

The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) cautioned its affiliate diamond bourses against trading directly or indirectly in diamonds originating from the Chiadzwa fields in Marange district.

"In reaction to numerous reports of violations of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, Avi Paz, president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, has called on the members of the 28 affiliated bourses to take all measures necessary to ensure that they do not trade, directly or indirectly, in diamonds originating from the Marange deposit in Zimbabwe," a statement reads.

However, the ban does not extend to the precious stones mined at the Murowa deposit since the production from this source is in compliance with the Kimberly Process.

The WFDB only allows its members to trade in diamonds that are accompanied by a Kimberly Process certificate, meant to guarantee that the gems are not fuelling conflicts.

The Kimberley Process is a regulatory body that was set up in order to prevent the trade in conflict diamonds.

In order to differentiate between the banned and unbanned stones from Zimbabwe, comprehensive data, descriptions and photographs of the rough diamonds mined at the Marange deposits have been widely circulated by the Working Group of Diamond Experts of the Kimberley Process, making identification of these illicit diamonds easier.

"The WFDB and its membership worldwide are committed to do all it can to prevent conflict diamonds from Zimbabwe or from any other source for that matter to be traded by our members," Paz stated.

"As founding members of the World Diamond Council and as signatories to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), it is our duty to remind not only our own members but all those who operate in the diamond industry and trade of the devastating impact of conflicts fuelled by the trade in conflict diamonds on the peace, safety and security of people in affected countries, and the systematic and gross human rights violations that have been perpetrated in such conflicts."

He warned that any bourse member who trades in rough diamonds without Kimberly Process certification would be liable for expulsion from his bourse, which in practical terms means the exclusion from the entire diamond business community.

The WFDB action follows a recent damning report by a Canadian NGO, involved in stopping the trade of conflict diamonds.

The group, Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), last month released the report titled Zimbabwe, Diamonds and the Wrong Side of History, and accused the Kimberley Process of being unwilling and unable to deal with Zimbabwe's diamond crisis.

The PAC report came in the wake of widespread accounts of killings in the Chiadzwa area, which has been the centre of controversy since October 2008 when the army was called in to disperse thousands of illegal diamond panners.

The government had originally seized the Chiadzwa diamond claim in 2007, and set off a diamond rush when it encouraged locals to help themselves.

But the arrival of the army last year resulted in alleged violence and murder after the area was sealed off with military roadblocks and soldiers.

There were reports of ground and air military attacks on civilians attempting to enter the diamond area.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have said about 5,000 people were arrested during the army operation, with three quarters of them showing signs of having been tortured severely.

Labels: DIAMONDS, HYPOCRISY, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, MINING

posted by MrK @ 3:25 PM