Zimbabwe could fall off Kimberley’s approved list

Calls are growing for Zimbabwe to be withdrawn from the Kimberley Process, an international certification scheme to prevent the sale of conflict diamonds.

Diamonds from Zimbabwe, which account for one per cent of the world’s supply, are currently deemed to meet the minimum requirements of the Kimberley scheme – and can therefore be bought and sold by companies in the jewellery sector.

However, concerns about worsening humanitarian conditions in the country and an increase in smuggling have led a number of groups to campaign for a suspension.

Among supporters of the idea are Global Witness, an NGO that helped set up the Kimberley Process in 2003. It claims that as many as 50 artisanal diamond diggers have been killed in recent weeks due to government operations in or near mines run by the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation – and that revenues from diamond sales are being used to fund state oppression.

‘We can no longer assume that Zimbabwe has the ability or the ethical standards needed to control its diamonds in ways that conform to the principles espoused by the Kimberley Process,’ it said.

Support for a review of the situation has also come from the World Diamond Council, a cross-sector body that helps companies avoid the buying and selling of conflict diamonds. The council said it was ‘worried that... diamonds are reportedly being exported illegally for the personal gain of a few’.  

Eli Izhakoff, the council’s chair, said the industry was ‘deeply concerned’ about the state of the trade in Zimbabwe.

The Kimberley Process team has not commented publicly on the latest situation in Zimbabwe, but is understood to be looking at what it can do.

The Process was set up as a joint government, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments.