Local NGOs under fire for 'soiling' Zim's diamond trade

DIAMOND traders and producers who attended a diamond conference in Harare recently have castigated non-governmental organisations for disseminating falsehoods about human rights violations at the Marange diamond fields,

Addressing the conference, chairman of the Dubai Diamond Exchange and former director-general of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, Peter Meeus, said NGOs should not be controlled by foreign governments which have economic interests in the respective countries they operate in.

"Today the NGOs became small businesses themselves. The NGOs seem to be sponsored almost entirely by (foreign) governments. Then I ask myself, ‘could it be that today the NGOs are fighting for their own relevance?'

"Could it be that is one of the reasons why we are basically confronted with something which could fit perfectly well in a horror movie, no factual substance like the story two to three years ago about this torture camp in Marange," said Meeus.

"Stories which then were disseminated to the media around the world are good for publicity and fundraising but are blatantly untrue," he added.

The conference was organised by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development under the theme "Completing Zimbabwe's diamond potential for the future" focusing on improving the state of Zimbabwe's diamond industry.

It highlighted the steps taken by the country in the diamond sector since its admission as a member of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in 2011.

Meeus said it was unfortunate that falsehoods were being perpetrated to tarnish Zimbabwe's diamond sector.

"I made these very strong statements 16 months ago in Luanda. After that I was heavily criticised in the US trade press but I did not let go. So I challenged the journalist to ask the Human Rights Watch co-ordinator for Zimbabwe for his opinion about the existence of this torture camp.

So he did call (the journalist) and the answer was very clear and I have it in black and white. He said; ‘I do not know specifically about this torture camp.' Now if the Human Rights Watch co-ordinator for Zimbabwe did not know then who would know?" said Meeus.

He said the allegations arose exactly three weeks after Zimbabwe was allowed to resume exports of its diamonds.

"So this whole story of a torture camp blown by the BBC and taken over by some 500 other broadcasters and thousands of newspapers around the globe, it came from somewhere.

"Human rights issues should be monitored only by institutions which do not depend on funding from foreign governments which have economic interests."