COMMENT - More rule by NGO. They are not there to ensure 'good governance', they are there to prevent the Zimbabwean government from breaking economic sanctions by selling the people's diamonds on the open market and getting a good price for it.
Ambush on Zim escalates tensions
Thursday, 29 November 2012 00:00
Brezhnev Malaba in WASHINGTON DC
A CRUDELY-EXECUTED ambush on Zimbabwe at the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme plenary by European Union-funded non-governmental organisations has escalated tensions here. Ms Marie Muller, who works for an EU-sponsored organisation, sparked outrage when she told the plenary that the Government of Zimbabwe was intimidating and even threatening the lives of activists in the diamond industry.
Shocked by the audacity of the attacks on the Marange mining operations and fearing that the plenary could degenerate to a farce, the outgoing US chair of the KP, Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic, swiftly apologised to Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu and the rest of the Zimbabwe delegation.
Ms Muller, who works as a researcher for the Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC), alleged that “open threats” were made against a civil society activist by Government officials following the Zimbabwe Diamond Conference which was held in Victoria Falls from November 12 to 13. She rubbished claims that Marange was “a KP success story” after attaining full certification to export diamonds.
“Some people have called Marange a KP success. But if Marange were a true success, the re-definition of conflict diamonds would not be an issue at all,” said Ms Muller.
Ambassador Milovanovic quickly sought to douse the flames by castigating Ms Muller for making allegations about issues “that are beyond the KP”.
The BICC is an EU-sponsored organisation established in 1994 and headquartered in Bonn, Germany.
The focus of its work is “the conversion of military facilities and equipment to civilian purposes”, and this entails “the re-allocation of military expenditures, restructuring of the defence industry, closure of military bases, and demobilisation”.
Western-funded NGOs have in recent years accused Zimbabwe of militarising the Marange diamond operations.
BICC’s latest propaganda onslaught is meant to peddle the allegation at the international level.
The same EU, which imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe, is funding a propaganda war against the nation in a bid to scuttle diamond exports, an economic lifeline seen as a potential sanctions buster.
BICC has in the past been fingered for fanning diamond-related propaganda wars in Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire.
Minister Mpofu described the behaviour of Western-funded NGOs as unacceptable. Western-funded NGOs are intensifying their attacks on Zimbabwe in the hope that the KPCS plenary would revoke the certification of Marange exports.
Labels: GILLIAN MILOVANOVIC, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, MARIE MULLER, OBERT MPOFU
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Re-definition of ‘conflict gems’ unlikely: KP chair
Sunday, 25 November 2012 00:00
From Brezhnev Malaba in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic, the outgoing chair of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), has finally conceded that the re-definition of “conflict diamonds” now appears unlikely.
After attending last week’s inaugural Zimbabwe Diamond Conference, where the international diamond industry finally jumped off the fence and supported calls for the lifting of sanctions on Zimbabwe’s Marange gems, Ambassador Milovanovic, who comes from the United States, is moderating her message.
In an interview with JCK, an industry publication, she said the official Kimberley Process definition of “conflict diamond” is unlikely to change at this week’s plenary in Washington DC.
Currently, the KPCS defines conflict diamonds as “rough diamonds used by rebel movements to fight legitimate governments”.
The US is lobbying for a re-definition to “rough diamonds used to finance armed conflict or other situations relating to violence affecting diamond-mining areas”.
Non-Western members of the KPCS diamond watchdog grouping argue that the proposed re-definition is a ploy by powerful nations to bully smaller countries. Ambassador Milovanovic and Western-sponsored non-governmental organisations have all endorsed the new definition of conflict diamonds that will include diamonds produced under violent conditions.
But after discovering that Zimbabwe now enjoys the support and solidarity of the international diamond trade and industry, the KPCS chair now admits that getting that approved this year is a long shot. Approval requires an absolute consensus among all participating countries.
“We are not aiming for that,” Ambassador Milovanovic says.
“We hope to see some progress on the definition, as this can be carried forward under (next year’s) South African chairmanship.”
“The fact that there is a proposal on the table that can be looked at and refined is important movement in the attitude of the Kimberley Process,” she adds.
“What we are looking for is — if not an overt, then a clear recognition that change is needed. I think if we get a recognition that change is inevitable, that is already an achievement.”
She does hope the KP Plenary will approve one long-time goal of reform-ers: an administrative support mecha-nism (ASM). “There are three proposals,” she says.
“Our hope is that someone will be selected so that South Africa will have support from an ASM, and any future discussions will focus on how ade-quately the ASM works rather than on hypothetical concerns.”
She also expects the plenary to look at a recent document that tackles devel-opment in the artisanal mining sector, as well as “technical questions” regard-ing customs definitions and how the KP functions. At the Zimbabwe Diamond Conference, Ambassador Milovanovic and the US government were criticised for the current American sanctions against diamonds from Marange.
But Ambassador Milovanovic says her post has nothing to do with whether her country does or does not have sanctions. “Sanctions are a separate issue from the Kimberley Process,” she says.
“I do hope that the issue of Zimbabwe sanctions does not become an issue (at plenary).”
As Ambassador Milovanovic wraps up her time as chair, she hopes she has increased communication within the group. “We think we have done a lot as far as the website,” she says. “I hope my legacy will be increased dialogue, increased openness.”
Labels: DIAMONDS, GILLIAN MILOVANOVIC, KIMBERLEY PROCESS
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Re-definition of ‘conflict gems’ unlikely: KP chair
Sunday, 25 November 2012 00:00
From Brezhnev Malaba in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic, the outgoing chair of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), has
finally conceded that the re-definition of “conflict diamonds” now appears unlikely.
After attending last week’s inaugural Zimbabwe Diamond Conference, where
the international diamond industry finally jumped off the fence and supported calls for the
lifting of sanctions on Zimbabwe’s Marange gems, Ambassador Milovanovic, who comes from the United States, is
moderating her message.
In an interview with JCK, an industry publication, she said the official Kimberley Process definition of “conflict diamond” is unlikely to change at this week’s plenary in Washington DC. Currently, the KPCS defines conflict diamonds as “rough diamonds used by rebel movements to fight legitimate governments”.
The US is lobbying for a re-definition to “rough diamonds used to finance armed conflict or other situations relating to violence affecting diamond-mining areas”.
Non-Western members of the KPCS diamond watchdog grouping argue that the proposed re-definition is a ploy by powerful nations to bully smaller countries. Ambassador Milovanovic and Western-sponsored non-governmental organisations have all endorsed the new definition of conflict diamonds that will include diamonds produced under violent conditions.
But after discovering that Zimbabwe now enjoys the support and solidarity of the international diamond trade and industry, the KPCS chair now admits that getting that approved this year is a long shot. Approval requires an absolute consensus among all participating countries.
“We are not aiming for that,” Ambassador Milovanovic says.
“We hope to see some progress on the definition, as this can be carried forward under (next year’s) South African chairmanship.”
“The fact that there is a proposal on the table that can be looked at and refined is important movement in the attitude of the Kimberley Process,” she adds.
“What we are looking for is — if not an overt, then a clear recognition that change is needed. I think if we get a recognition that change is inevitable, that is already an achievement.”
She does hope the KP Plenary will approve one long-time goal of reform-ers: an administrative support mecha-nism (ASM). “There are three proposals,” she says.
“Our hope is that someone will be selected so that South Africa will have support from an ASM, and any future discussions will focus on how ade-quately the ASM works rather than on hypothetical concerns.”
She also expects the plenary to look at a recent document that tackles devel-opment in the artisanal mining sector, as well as “technical questions” regard-ing customs definitions and how the KP functions. At the Zimbabwe Diamond Conference, Ambassador Milovanovic and the US government were criticised for the current American sanctions against diamonds from Marange.
But Ambassador Milovanovic says her post has nothing to do with whether her country does or does not have sanctions. “Sanctions are a separate issue from the Kimberley Process,” she says.
“I do hope that the issue of Zimbabwe sanctions does not become an issue (at plenary).”
As Ambassador Milovanovic wraps up her time as chair, she hopes she has increased communication within the group. “We think we have done a lot as far as the website,” she says. “I hope my legacy will be increased dialogue, increased openness.”
Labels: GILLIAN MILOVANOVIC, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, ZIMBABWE DIAMOND CONFERENCE 2012
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COMMENT - More fireworks from the conference.
South Africa tells KP chief to quit
13/11/2012 00:00:00
by AP
THE international diamond conference underway at Victoria Falls was rocked by controversy Tuesday over the Kimberley Process, the world diamond trade regulatory body, whose chairwoman was publicly asked to resign because she is American.
Gillian Milovanovic, the American chairwoman of the Kimberley Process, came under a barrage of criticism from African delegates at the conference for allegedly not doing enough to persuade the U.S. government to lift trade restrictions on Zimbabwe’s state-owned diamond mining companies.
South Africa’s Kimberley Process monitor Abbey Chikane accused Milovanovic of having a conflict of interest because she is American.
Chikane alleged Milovanovic has failed to follow African delegates wishes to promote the trade of diamonds dug up from Zimbabwe’s notorious Marange field in Europe and the United States.
The state-run Zimbabwe Mining Development Company and Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe are on the U.S. sanctions list, because of evidence of the Mugabe government’s state violence and human rights violations.
“There is a danger of having a chairmanship that will fragment the organization because you are conflicted ... you are then supposed to recuse yourself,” Chikane said to Milovanovic in front of the conference.
“When South Africa takes over the chair next year we will solve these issues,” said Chikane, who is chairman of the South African Diamond Board.
Zimbabwe Mines Minister Obert Mpofu told Milovanovic that most traders and investors at the conference, mostly of Indian and Arab origin, were “scared” of her presence at the conference, which was sponsored by President Robert Mugabe’s government.
“They are coming to me whispering, scared that they will be heard by the Americans who will interfere with their accounts,” Mpofu said.
“But it will not stop us from what we are doing,” he said, referring to Zimbabwe’s diamond trade with India and Dubai, which has been criticized for alleged corruption through price fixing.
Other delegates from Africa, India, Israel and Dubai told Milovanovic that because of U.S sanctions against Zimbabwe, the Kimberley Process is unwittingly promoting the illicit trade of Zimbabwe diamonds and creating the same conflict diamonds it is trying to prevent from being traded.
Milovanovic told the delegates that she would not respond to their criticism.
“You are looking for something very dramatic from all this but you are not going to get it,” she said. “I’m not a dramatic person by nature.”
Milovanovic said her position on the Kimberley Process had no power to influence the U.S. imposition of sanctions against Zimbabwe.
The U.S Embassy said U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe’s state-owned mining companies are separate from the Kimberley Process.
Michael Gonzalez, the political and economic officer at the embassy in Harare, said the American sanctions against Zimbabwe’s mining companies have nothing to do with the Kimberley Process but are a bilateral issue. He said Washington has imposed sanctions because of its concerns over state violence.
Zimbabwe’s “attorney general and security chiefs must start honoring the president’s calls to end violence so the sanctions can be removed,” said Gonzalez.
Mugabe’s government staged the conference in the resort city of Victoria Falls to gain international credibility for Zimbabwe’s huge production of diamonds in the Marange fields in eastern Zimbabwe.
But the Mugabe government’s efforts to win respectability have been overshadowed by allegations that $2 billion of diamond proceeds have been stolen by Mugabe’s cronies. Zimbabwe government officials denied the charges of corruption in the report by the Partnership Africa Canada, a group campaigning against conflict diamonds.
Since 2006, Zimbabwe has mined Marange - one of the world’s largest diamond deposits - producing rough stones worth an estimated $2 billion per year.
Yet the report charges that the funds have not reached the Zimbabwean treasury to help the impoverished country. Instead the diamonds have enriched Mugabe’s close associates and an international ring of traders, according to the report.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, DIAMONDS, GILLIAN MILOVANOVIC, KIMBERLEY PROCESS
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