Zimbabwe plans to begin selling diamond stockpiles from its Marange fields immediately, whether this week’s meeting of regulators of the trade gives the go ahead or not, the country’s mining minister, Reuters reported.

Civil society groups have urged the Kimberley Process (KP) certification scheme to suspend ties with Zimbabwe because of human rights abuses in its Marange fields, the report said.

“I would like to take this opportunity to advise that Zimbabwe will be immediately exporting its diamond stockpiles because we are KP compliant and we need the money to drive the economy forward,” Minister of Mines and Mining Development Obert Moses Mpofu told a meeting on Wednesday of some 70 members of the Kimberley Process.

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Check out our friend Emmanuel Jal You’ll find his story, passion and initiative inspiring! http://www.warchildmovie.com/

War Child is a unique documentary – the story of Emmanuel Jal captures the times we live in. It is a story about immense sorrow, struggle and survival. The underlying message is one of love, hope and joy. The movie is beautifully composed, especially the parts shot in Africa. It makes you look differently at your own life. PG-13 for thematic material and images involving war and related atrocities.

Thanks to our dear friend John Littlefield from Extreme Makeover Home Edition we have an exciting opportunity for 2 people to win a trip to be on the show. Spend two days on set with Johnny and the rest of the design team and get in on the action. This is an incredibly rare opportunity to meet everyone, including the surprise celebrity guest. Read More »

Last Sunday the Extreme Makeover Home Edition team traveled to Hattiesburg, Mississippi with celebrity guest Christian Slater to help out the very deserving Heathcock family. Sherman Heathcock decided after 9/11 to join the National guard and defend our country. Sherman is also an active deputy sheriff, a member of the SWAT team and the coach for his sons Football team.

While Sherman was serving in Iraq Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the Heathcock family home leaving Sherman’s wife and kids in a very bad situation. Ty, Johnny, Page, Michael and celebrity guest Christian Slater are more than ready to help out this very deserving family. Read More »

Here is a great inside look at the Kimberley Process through an open letter to Abbey Chikane, the new KP monitor for Zimbabwe from Martin Rapaport (RapNet)

Dear Abbey:

Firstly, congratulations on your appointment as the Kimberley Process (KP) monitor for Marange, Zimbabwe. It would be appropriate to say welcome back to the diamond industry and even more appropriate to say welcome home. Given your experience as a founding member and former chairman of the KP, I can’t think of any individual who is more suited to the job at hand.

I doubt you need be told, but what a job you have on your hands. Then again, you are no stranger to challenges nor, I believe, are you fazed by them.

Need we be reminded that you faced up to the challenge of putting the KP on the map and cementing its role in society, uplifting the ethical standing of our industry in the process? Do you remember how fragile we were back in the days when the atrocities of the Sierra Leone civil war were revealed to the world and how, if it wasn’t for the very systems you helped to implement, our standing with diamond consumers would be far weaker today? Read More »

STOP BUYING AND SELLING BLOOD DIAMONDS by Rapaport Diamond Report ZIM-ARR-RDR-020110

Severe human rights violations, including murder, rape and forced labor, have taken place in the diamond fields of Marange, Zimbabwe. Recent reports from Human Rights Watch (HRW) indicate that these horrific conditions continue to take place.

Blood diamonds from Marange, Zimbabwe, have been issued Kimberley Process (KP) certificates and imported into the cutting centers, where they were cut and polished and then sold to dealers, jewelr y manufacturers and retailers. Tens of thousands of carats of blood diamonds are now in dealers’ inventor ies and jewelers’ showcases — and are being actively sold to consumers.

The jewelry trade’s purchase and distribution of blood diamonds is funding a continuing cycle of horrific human rights violations. Our industry is providing money and distribution to those who murder, rape and enslave. Every time we buy or sell a blood diamond, we are sending a message of encouragement to the perpetrators of these inhuman crimes.We are legitimizing their dirty business.We become their partners in crime.

We must face the fact that the KP has been issuing certificates for Marange blood diamonds. The KP has made these“certified blood diamonds” perfectly legal. Customs officials did not — and do not — have the right to stop Marange diamonds with KP certificates.

Instead of eliminating blood diamonds, the KP has become a process for the systematic legalization and legitimization of blood diamonds.When you get right down to it, the KP has become a blood diamond laundering system.

The KP is not just a sham; it’s a scam.

To understand how this could happen, we must define “blood diamonds” and compare our definition to the KP definition of “conflict diamonds.”

Rapaport definition: “Blood diamonds are diamonds involved in murder, mutilation, rape or forced servitude.”
KP definition: “Conflict diamonds means rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate governments, as described in relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions insofar as they remain in effect, or in other similar UNSC resolutions which may be adopted in the future, and as understood and recognised in United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 55/56, or in other similar UNGA resolutions which may be adopted in future…”

The KP definition of conflict diamonds does not address human rights violations and does not include blood diamonds. It is a legal definition established by governments to limit the scope and author ity of the KP.The KP is a highly politicized process controlled by governments f or governments. Its primary function is to protect governments and their revenue— legitimate or not — from rebel forces and consumer boycotts.The KP is essentially agnostic when it comes to human rights. As HRW concluded in its November 6, 2009, report: “This diamond monitoring body has utterly lost credibility.”
In spite of the above, there is a common misconception.
STOP BUYING AND SELLING BLOOD DIAMONDS
The Kimberley Process and World Diamond Council are a sham. BY MARTIN RAPAPORT

ZIMBABWE’S BLOOD DIAMONDS ASK BEFORE YOU BUY*
*www.hrw.org
in the jewelry trade that diamonds with KP certificates are free of human r ights abuses. Trade organizations, under the misguided leadership of the World Diamond Council (WDC), have promoted and continue to promote the KP as an acceptable standard for ensur ing human rights compliance, even though they know that the KP has been issuing certificates for blood diamonds that have penetrated the diamond and jewelry supply chain. The WDC refuses to inform the trade that the KP cannot be relied upon to ensure human r ights compliance and that polished blood diamonds are in the supply chain. The WDC has lost its moral compass. Its primary loyalty is now to the KP and not to the diamond industry or even the basic principles of human decency.

WHAT TO DO?
• Raise Consciousness. We need to raise consciousness within the jewelry industry about the problem of blood diamonds so that people will stop trading them. Industry organizations that should play a role need to be awakened. I suggest sending emails to Terry Burman, chair man of Jeweler s of America (JA), director of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) and the WDC, at tbur man@jewels.com; Matt Runci, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of JA, chair man of the RJC, director of the WDC, at matt@jewelofam.org; Cecilia Gardner, president and CEO of the Jewelers Vigilance
Committee (JVC), director of the WDC and CIBJO, at clgjvc@aol.com.You might want to cc the email to other leaders and send a copy to us.

Ask these leaders to confirm that polished blood diamonds are in the distribution system and ask what you or they can do about it.Ask them to use their organizations to infor m the trade about the problem. If you know anyone on the board of these organizations, give them a call and ask them to have their organization let people know about blood diamonds.
Email us at fairtrade@rapaport.com if you would like to help us raise consciousness. We will be holding conferences to
discuss the issue at Basel World on Friday, March 19, 2010, at the Basel Congress Center from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the JCK Vegas Show, Monday, June 7, 2010, at the Sands Convention.  We need your help to get organized.

• Stay informed. Visit diamonds.net/zimbabwe for back- ground information and google Marange diamonds to stay up to date. Help us stay informed. If you know about people or companies that are selling Marange diamonds, email us. While we don’t have the resources to investigate all claims, if a name comes up enough or the case is compelling, we will quietly notify relevant investigative authorities.
• Return diamonds that you suspect may be blood diamonds. Pay careful attention to diamonds that have a green hue. Unless you are absolutely sure of where the diamond came from, it is probably a good idea to return all diamonds with a green or green/gray hue in the D to Z and light green color range, not fancy green colors. While there are green diamonds from other places, about 60 percent of Marange’s cuttable diamonds are green and tens of thousands of carats have come onto the market over the past year. Further more, we are getting reports that the color of some green Marange diamonds is unstable and may worsen. While many in the industry are opposed to the idea of returns, the hard fact is that you are going to have to make a personal decision about what to do. Thanks to the KP, blood diamonds are perfectly legal and you have no right to return them. On the other hand, do you really want to be selling what may be blood diamonds? It’s a financial and ethical issue with a high dose of uncertainty. There may be no clear answers. You might want to talk to a spiritual or ethical adviser.

• Ask Before You Buy. As noted in the HRW campaign*, “Zimbabwe’s Blood Diamonds, Ask Before You Buy,” asking is probably the most important thing you can and should do. Recognize that you are responsible for what you buy and that someone’s life may be at stake. Make sure you know who your suppliers are and ask them serious questions to ensure that the diamonds you buy are not from Marange nor involved in other serious human rights abuses. Er r on the side of caution. Tell your supplier you really care about where your diamonds come from. If they know you care, they also will care. Make it a point to personally talk to ever y diamond supplier about human rights issues and how important they are to you. You will also want your supplier to sign a document promising to refund payment for any diamonds that turn out to be associated with human rights violations. But don’t rely solely on the paper; remember to have the talk.

CONCLUSION
It ’s time to transcend Kimberley and the WDC. One wonders how many lives will have to be destroyed before the demonstrations begin — before victims come marching down Fifth Avenue, as they did a decade ago. What will it take to get our trade to stop buying and selling blood diamonds? I know that there are many good and decent people in the
diamond and jewelry trade.And I know that many of you care but are frustrated and feel the situation is hopeless. I urge you to reconsider. I urge you not to give up. We can and will beat this problem.It will take time and unprecedented levels of cooperation.But I do believe that there are enough people in our industry who really care about human rights and that we can make a difference by working together.There is so much good that we can do. I am confident that when the right people come together, we can and will build a more fair and ethical diamond market.We can and will create solutions that will make the world proud of us and our diamonds.

Rapaport Diamond Report

The Greener Diamond Foundation Announces its Launch: A Diamond Alternative Sponsors Children and Communities in Africa

April 14th 2008

Today marks the official launch of The Greener Diamond Foundation, whose mission is to raise awareness about the continued trade of conflict diamonds and to fund restoration efforts for communities in Africa that are continuing to suffer from the connection between the diamond trade and warfare.

The Greener Diamond aims to inspire a generation free of restraints proliferated by conflict diamonds and to educated consumers on the true cost of earth-mined diamonds; financially, environmentally and socially. MiaDonna & Co LLC is the sole sponsor of The Greener Diamond. The two entities work together to bring the beauty of love back to diamonds.

“I am not a policy maker or a corporate tycoon. I’m a woman: mother, wife, and daughter.” says CEO of MiaDonna & CO. and The Greener Diamond, Anna-Mieke Anderson. “I believe it’s time diamonds started living up to their reputation of love and commitment, to stop taking and give back to the originating communities which they continue to devastate.”

The launch event takes place at Coolture Studios in New Your City today, August 14th 2008. Spokespeople include Nnenna Agba, former American’s Next Top Model contestant and John Littlefield, of ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover. Nneena is an avid activist who has worked to raise awareness on African issues such as HIV/AIDS.

Beneficiary, Youth Action INternational (YAI), is a global nonprofit working to rebuild war-torn African Communities. The organization establishes safe and healthy environments for women and their children by providing core necessities and new community infrastructures. Founder and Liberian native, Kimmie Weeks, is currently working with a group of former child soldiers in Monrovia, Liberia, YAI is determined to set up a vocational training center for recovering children and to clean up the community. Funding from The Greener Diamond will be given to assist YAI’s work in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

“Having grown up in the midst of the Liberian civil war fueled by the diamonds industry, I fund The Greener Diamond project a very exciting one. The partnership between our organizations is seamless and I look forward to seeing it’s success. There is much to be done.” says Kimmie Weeks, YAI founder.

SOS Children’s Villages USA, another beneficiary, is an independent, non-governmental social development organization working in 132 countries worldwide and is committed to community development. Thye will receiving funds from The Greener Diamond with the long term goal of partnering to build and maintain children’s villages in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“There is nothing more painful than the sight of a child whose eyes have grown dull because of homelessness, sever poverty or abuse. It is the mission of SO to =put that light back in a child’s face by providing him a family, a home and a future. We are proud to be a chosen beneficiary by The Greener Diamond. They are putting a new light on the problem of conflict diamonds and on simple acts of generosity that can change a young life forevermore,” Heath Paul, PhD, CEO of SOS Children’s Villages USA.

“We are very appreciative to be selected as a beneficiary of The Greener Diamond Foundation’” says Jennifer Tierney, Director of Development of Doctors Without Borders. “Proceeds from the foundation will allow us to continue our emergency programs in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, where we provide medical assistance to people suffering from the effects of over a decade of conflict and violence.”

The Greener Diamond plans to expand their beneficiary list as the program develops.