Business / Economy
Zimbabwe bending over backwards to comply with Kimberley Process, says diamond body boss
21 Jan 2011 at 13:04hrs | Views
World Federation of Diamond Bourses honorary life president Ernest Blom reports that Zimbabwe is "bending over backwards" to ensure that it is compliant with all the guidelines of the Kimberly Process (KP).
This comes after a turbulent 2010, when global rights watchdog Global Witness released its report titled 'Return of the blood diamond: the deadly race to control Zimbabwe's new-found diamond wealth', in June, bringing human rights abuses in Zimbabwe's diamond-mining industry to the fore.
The recent spate of documents released on WikiLeaks also featured a 2008 US government classified document which stated that Zimbabwe's 'illicit' diamond trade was at the time being financed in part by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
When pressed about whether Zimbabwe is in fact compliant with the KP, Blom admits that there are two schools of thought.
"There are two schools of opinion. One that says Zimbabwe is compliant within the guidelines of the KP and the other says that, although [the country is] compliant, there are other factors that should be taken into account. Personally, I believe that Zimbabwe is compliant in terms of the KP requirements. Over 90% of the KP participants share this sentiment," says Blom.
After vociferous calls by human rights groups at the 2010 World Diamond Council meeting, held in Jerusalem, Israel, for the suspension of Zimbabwe from the KP, Zimbabwe voluntarily suspended itself from the KP to get its house in order. Soon after this, a suspension was imposed on sales of diamonds mined from the controversial Mutare region by the World Diamond Council.
However, impressed with the work done by Zimbabwe to improve mining in the Mutare region, the KP sanctioned two monitored sales of rough diamonds in 2010 which included Mutare diamonds.
These auctions were well attended, with 893 000 ct sold, which brought in $71,44- million.
Blom reports that a lot of work goes into arranging these auctions.
"The two sales that took place in 2010 were in accordance with the agreement reached with the KP at meetings held in Jerusalem and St Petersburg. "This agreement also required KP moni- tor Abbey Chikane to satisfy himself of Zimbabwe's adherence to the requirements as well as to make sure that the rough diamonds sold during the sales came from specific production periods," says Blom.
He points out that, although the 2010 sales were well attended, there is no indication that there will be similar sales in 2011.
This comes after a turbulent 2010, when global rights watchdog Global Witness released its report titled 'Return of the blood diamond: the deadly race to control Zimbabwe's new-found diamond wealth', in June, bringing human rights abuses in Zimbabwe's diamond-mining industry to the fore.
The recent spate of documents released on WikiLeaks also featured a 2008 US government classified document which stated that Zimbabwe's 'illicit' diamond trade was at the time being financed in part by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
When pressed about whether Zimbabwe is in fact compliant with the KP, Blom admits that there are two schools of thought.
"There are two schools of opinion. One that says Zimbabwe is compliant within the guidelines of the KP and the other says that, although [the country is] compliant, there are other factors that should be taken into account. Personally, I believe that Zimbabwe is compliant in terms of the KP requirements. Over 90% of the KP participants share this sentiment," says Blom.
After vociferous calls by human rights groups at the 2010 World Diamond Council meeting, held in Jerusalem, Israel, for the suspension of Zimbabwe from the KP, Zimbabwe voluntarily suspended itself from the KP to get its house in order. Soon after this, a suspension was imposed on sales of diamonds mined from the controversial Mutare region by the World Diamond Council.
However, impressed with the work done by Zimbabwe to improve mining in the Mutare region, the KP sanctioned two monitored sales of rough diamonds in 2010 which included Mutare diamonds.
These auctions were well attended, with 893 000 ct sold, which brought in $71,44- million.
Blom reports that a lot of work goes into arranging these auctions.
"The two sales that took place in 2010 were in accordance with the agreement reached with the KP at meetings held in Jerusalem and St Petersburg. "This agreement also required KP moni- tor Abbey Chikane to satisfy himself of Zimbabwe's adherence to the requirements as well as to make sure that the rough diamonds sold during the sales came from specific production periods," says Blom.
He points out that, although the 2010 sales were well attended, there is no indication that there will be similar sales in 2011.
Source - Byo24News
