Time Line of Marange Conflict Diamonds

— Early 1990’s: De Beers started prospecting the Marange area in the early 1990s but left the

country in 2006 after concluding that the deposits were not in line with the firm’s other Africa based

activities.

— March 2002 – March 2006: Kimberlitic Searches, a De Beers subsidiary, operated under two

“exclusive prospecting orders” from the government giving it full exploration rights to search

minerals in Marange. The orders expired in March 28, 2006 and De Beers did not renew them.

— March 2006: African Consolidated Resources (ACR) acquires the claims from De Beers.

— June 2006: Government becomes aware of Marange diamond discovery and ruling party, Zanu‐

PF, declares the fields open to anyone wishing to look for diamonds.

— July 2006: Diamond rush begins and continues through September 2006, while smuggling ran

rampant.

— October 2006: Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) moves into Marange “to

mop up” and begins trying to purchase diamonds from illegal, unlicensed local miners.

— October 2006: ACR is evicted by government forces, and minister of mines, Amos Midzi, grants

exclusive mining and exploration rights to the state–owned Zimbabwe Mining Development

Corporation (ZMDC).

— November 21, 2006: Government launches police “operation Chirorokoza Chapera (End to

Illegal Panning) to stop illegal mining across the country. Approximately 9,000 Marange miners

arrested and gems worth around $7 million seized. “Operation marked by human rights abuses,

corruption, extortion and smuggling” Human Rights Watch said.

— Police set up at least 11 permanent checkpoints to restrict access to Marange district, which

soon became “de facto payment points where miners would bribe police to gain access to the

fields and pay an exit fee on their way out,” Human Rights Watch reported.

— Eventually police start to charge more for the bribes, and also forms “syndicates” with local

miners – or group of miners who operated under direct control of the police.

— November 2006 ‐ October 2008: While police control area, numerous killings, sexual abuse,

exploitation and human rights abuses reported to Human Rights Watch.

— October 2008: Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono estimates approximately 500 syndicates

operating in Marange at any given time.

— Government decides to deploy Zimbabwe Defense Force to Marange fields in response to

lawlessness and chaos there and the police’s inability to control it. May also have been an

intended to end illegal mining and smuggling by the police. Human Rights Watch finds that army

committed “numerous and serious human rights violations, including killings, beatings, torture,

forced labor, and child labor at Marange.

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 Zimbabwe Conflict diamonds enter the markets and fuel a decline in rough diamond pricing

Prices of rough diamonds by De Beers and Alrosa in January 2012 in the diamond city saw a decline between 6% and 10%, especially in the low range category because of competition from Zimbabwe stones. Also, the low range diamond boxes of these giant diamond mining companies are selling at discounted rates by up to 25% in Surat and Mumbai. Industry leaders say Zimbabwe diamonds are about 50% cheaper than those from other sources.

Zimbabwe diamonds started to flow into the world’s biggest diamond cutting and polishing hub in Surat from November 2011 after the international diamond regulatory body Kimberley Process (KP) allowed their exports from the controversial Marange fields. About 30% of the diamond pieces currently manufactured in Surat are Zimbabwe stones.

Aniruddha Lidbide, a diamond analyst, told TOI, “The giant mining companies seem to be under price and sale pressure since November 2011, when the Zimbabwe goods started to enter India. India is the biggest consumer of low-range goods and thus the prices are likely to decrease further in 2012.”

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Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic will serve as Chair of the Kimberley Process for 2012 on behalf of the U.S., the first woman to serve in this post.

Milovanovic is an appointee of Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez, the office of the State Department Spokesperson announced Thursday.
She served as ambassador to Mali in 2008-2011 after serving as ambassador to Macedonia. Milovanovic has held senior positions at U.S. embassies in South Africa, Botswana and Belgium. Milovanovic speaks fluent French and has extensive economic and business experience.
Milovanovic joined the Foreign Service in 1978. Her early assignments included a tour as an international relations officer in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of Fisheries Affairs. She served as vice consul in Sydney, Australia; staff assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; and as a political officer in Paris following a year of study at the French Ecole Nationale d’Administration.
 In 1987, Milovanovic joined the U.S. consulate general in Cape Town, South Africa, where she served as political-economic officer and deputy consul general. From 1990 to 1994, she was political-military affairs officer and deputy political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Brussels. From 1994 to 1997, she served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Gaborone, Botswana. She was Director of the Office of Nordic and Baltic Affairs at the Department of State from 1997 to 1999.
 Milovanovic is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration. She is the recipient of two Superior Honor Awards and two Meritorious Honor Awards from the Department of State.

“The Kimberley Process (KP) has been a disappointment right from the beginning. I have always felt that the KP was just a PR stunt by the diamond industry and sadly it has been proven that the KP has only helped sell more diamonds (conflict or not) rather than stopping the trade and production of conflict diamonds like it is supposed to.

Will this be a good thing for the KP? Can Ms. Gillian Milovanovic turn it around?…well only time will tell. However, I can tell you that I am very impressed (actually…surprised) that a woman was appointed this position.  Statistics show that female leaders are more assertive, persuasive and have a stronger need to get things done. They are also more empathetic and flexible to adapt to current and changing environments than male leaders.

I feel this is a good move for the KP, but as I said, only time will tell. I can only hope her intentions are pure and look forward to seeing the changes she is able to achieve.

I wish Ms. Gillian Milovanovic all the best.”

- Anna-Mieke, Founder of TGD

Kimberley Process Looks at Core Objectives and Definitions
Milovanovic Gives First Briefing on Her Role as KP Chair

RAPAPORT… The following is the transcript of a conference call hosted by Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic, the newly appointed U.S. chair of the Kimberley Process (KP) for 2012. The call took place on Friday, February 3, 2012 at the U.S. State Department.

MR. VENTRELL: Hey, everyone. How are you doing? Thanks for joining us this afternoon. This afternoon’s conference call is on the record. We have with us today Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic, who is going to discuss her role as the newly-appointed chair of the Kimberley Process. She’s going to give some opening remarks and then we’ll turn it over for Q&A.
So without further ado, Ambassador, over to you.

AMBASSADOR MILOVANOVIC: Thank you very much, Patrick, and thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk with people about the Kimberley Process, a process which I have just become the chair of in the last two weeks.

I have been, as folks may know, ambassador to Mali. I’ve also served in Botswana and in South Africa. And in Europe, I have served in Belgium, amongst other countries. So that, along with knowing a good deal of French, I think, is part of the reason why I was chosen for this job. It is something that excites me very much. I’m very pleased to have this opportunity, during the United States first chairmanship of the Kimberley Process, to be the person sitting in the chair.

I would say that consensus and seeking consensus is going to be the biggest part of the job. The Kimberley Process, as many probably know, is a combination of government, industry, and civil society. It was launched in 2003 in order to stem the flow of conflict diamonds that were funding rebel groups. It is a process that operates by consensus, and therefore, seeking consensus, fostering the ability to come together and to make decisions in order to move the Kimberley Process forward, is going to be a critical element for the United States this year.

This is the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Kimberley Process, and I will have the privilege of chairing during that period. I will also have the privilege of having, as a vice chair, South Africa, which will be chairing in the 10th anniversary of the Kimberley Process. I hope that this will, again, be a collaborative process between the chair and the vice chair, and I think there will be many opportunities to explore that, notably when I travel to South Africa next week, where there is a Mining Indaba in Cape Town, where I hope to meet, for the first time, many members of the government participants, as well as additional others from industry. This week, I had the privilege of meeting with NGOs and with industry, and I’m beginning to get my feet wet in understanding how this process works.

We have an ambitious agenda. It’s one whose goals are very much in line with what the KP itself has already determined needs to be looked at. The KP decided that it would be looking at reviewing its own goals, its own successes and weaknesses, and that is being done by an ad hoc committee chaired by Botswana. I look forward to working with Botswana again, a country that I know from earlier days, on shepherding the conclusions of that committee through.

One of the goals that I have also is to make sure that more people understand something about the Kimberley Process. I will freely admit that at the moment, I am not the world’s greatest expert on the process – again, two weeks in the chair. Nonetheless, I think it’s important that more and more people ask questions, understand, and that we have an opportunity to communicate with everyone – the public, the media, civil society, industry, and governments.

I think that’s about all I want to say at the moment. Again, thank you for giving me this opportunity, and I look forward to your questions.

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