Campaigners urge for action on Zimbabwe’s conflict diamonds
30/10/2009
Kimberley Process (KP) members must act on the substantial evidence of Zimbabwe’s failure to comply with the minimum requirements of the rough diamond certification scheme, civil society groups said.
The Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition, whose members include Global Witness, Partnership Africa Canada and Green Advocates (Liberia), warned that failure to make a decision about Zimbabwe’s status is compromising the scheme’s credibility and undermining chances for the successful eradication of the trade in conflict diamonds.
Since the discovery in 2006 of significant alluvial diamond deposits in Marange, eastern Zimbabwe, controls over the diamond sector have been nonexistent and communities in and around the diamond fields have borne the brunt of a series of brutal measures to restore state control over the area. The authorities have failed to stop the military from carrying out abuses and profiting from the illicit trade in diamonds, effectively condoning – and perhaps even encouraging – the looting and attendant violence against civilians.
