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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Rapaport Group Calls on Diamond Trade to Avoid Marange Diamonds

RapNet extends ban on Marange diamonds, will expel and name members violating policy.

RAPAPORT… PRESS RELEASE, November 22, 2011, New York: The Rapaport Group strongly opposes the recent decision of the Kimberley Process (KP) to allow for the immediate exports from the mining operations Mbada Diamonds and Marange Resources in the Marange region of Zimbabwe.

We hereby publicly warn members of the diamond trade that the KP does not certify against human rights abuses and KP certification does not ensure that diamonds are not involved in human rights abuses. Furthermore:

1. There are persistent reports of human rights violations related to Marange diamonds.

2. In spite of KP certification these diamonds are under U.S., EU and U.K. government sanctions and are illegal for trade by U.S., EU and U.K. citizens and entities owned by them.

3. The funds generated from the sale of these diamonds are not properly accounted for. It is likely that they will be used to fund human rights violations in Zimbabwe.

The Rapaport Group calls on all ethical members of the diamond trade to cease and desist from the trading of Marange diamonds. In the event that firms insist on buying and producing them we demand that these Marange diamonds be separated from non-Marange diamonds so that they are not sold to U.S., EU or U.K. entities. We firmly believe that the mixing of Marange diamonds with non-Marange diamonds and their subsequent sale to U.S., EU or U.K. entities without disclosure is unethical and illegal. We demand that firms selling Marange diamonds do so with full disclosure, similar to the disclosure requirements for treated diamonds.

RapNet – Rapaport Diamond Trading Network continues to ban the trading of any diamonds sourced from Marange, Zimbabwe even if such diamonds have KP certification. Members found to have knowingly offered Marange diamonds for sale on RapNet will be expelled and their names will be publicly communicated. RapNet will be publishing new trading rules and ethical guidelines in the near future.

The Rapaport Group warns the diamond trade that continued sourcing and legitimization of diamonds involved in human rights abuses threatens the integrity and reputation of all diamonds. Diamond trade organizations particularly those promoting responsible trade and those serving in the U.S., EU and U.K. trade should immediately issue clear guidelines banning all their members from trading Marange diamonds. We believe it is unethical for trade organizations to refrain from clearly banning the trade in illegal Marange diamonds under the guise of supporting the KP.

Learn more about Conflict Diamonds and the difference you can make at The Greener Diamond.

‘We no longer want anything from anybody’: Zimbabwean minister’s vow as regulators allow country to trade diamonds

 Zimbabwe ‘will no longer be begging for anything from anybody’, according to its mining minister, after international diamond regulators agreed to let it trade some $2billion (£1.25billion) in diamonds from a field where human rights groups say miners have been tortured.

Earlier this week, experts from the Kimberley Process – which is a certification scheme to ensure diamonds don’t come from conflict or human rights abuses – meeting in Congo agreed to allow Zimbabwe to sell diamonds from the Marange fields.

Zimbabwe, which has denied allegations of human rights abuses in the area, had been under sanctions since 2009 because of ‘significant noncompliance.’

Lucrative: Miners dig for diamonds in Marange, Zimbabwe

The Kimberley Process was set up in 2002 after brutal wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia that were fuelled by ‘blood diamonds.’

The 60,000-hectare (140,000-acre) Marange field in eastern Zimbabwe was discovered in 2006 at the height of Zimbabwe’s political, economic and humanitarian crisis. It is believed to be the biggest find in the world since the 19th century, and it triggered a chaotic diamond rush.

Last year, the Kimberley Process declared two shipments of stones from the Zimbabwe mines conflict-free, backing off from a ban and allowing 900,000 carats of diamonds to be auctioned.

The latest move allows all diamonds from the area to be sold. The stockpile of Marange diamonds – some 4.5 million stones, is valued at around $2 billion.

‘We are going to shock the world. We are going to unleash our worthiness,’ Mining Minister Obert

Rich pickings: Zimbabwe is allowed to sell over £1.2billion-worth of diamonds

Mpofu told reporters today. ‘Zimbabwe will no longer be begging for anything from anybody.’

Human Rights Watch has accused Zimbabwean troops of killing more than 200 people, raping women and forcing children to search for the gems in Marange fields.

Mike Davis, a human rights activist from Global Witness told The Associated Press today that the decision was a ‘disappointing conclusion’ to the issue.

‘Violence is still going on and smuggling, providing revenue for the ruling elite,’ Davis said.

He said Zimbabwe also had not met some conditions, such as removing military troops from the area and allowing small-scale diamond miners to operate there as well.

Opposition politicians also say there is rampant theft in the Marange diamond fields by forces loyal to long-time ruler Robert Mugabe.

Zimbabwean politician Eddie Cross said he has received death threats from Mugabe’s security agents after he testified before parliament about millions of dollars in diamond profits that he said already could not be accounted for.

By Ted Thornhill (Source)

* Target: Members of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), NGO observers to the KPCS, the World Jewellery Confederation, the Responsible Jewellery Council and all national and international Jewellers associations

 * Sponsored by: Global Palestine Solidarity

(N.B. if you sign the petition check that your signature is recorded. If it is not please let us know by clicking on the Global Palestine Solidarity link above)

Revenue from diamonds processed in Israel funds war crimes and crimes against humanity yet they are sold worldwide as conflict free diamonds.

Israel is the world’s leading diamond exporter, with exports valued at nearly $20 billion in 2008, accounting for over 30% of Israel’s exports. Revenue from the Israeli diamond industry generates approximately $1 billion annually in funding for the Israeli military/security industry, a military which stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to the UN based Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) only “rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate governments” can be classed as conflict or blood diamonds. Even though there is no legal or widely agreed definition of a conflict free diamond, jewellers, other vested interests in the diamond industry and some NGOs refer to all other diamonds as conflict free diamonds, regardless of what human rights violations they may be funding .

Approximately 50% of all gem-quality diamonds in dollar terms are processed in Israel. These de facto blood diamonds are sold worldwide as conflict free diamonds to unsuspecting consumers who are unaware that their purchase is funding gross human rights violations in Palestine.

The KPCS definition of a conflict or blood diamond must be urgently reviewed in order to include all diamonds that fund human rights violation.

Click Here and sign the petition to stop Israel and their suport of the Blood Diamond trade.

We the undersigned call upon members of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), NGO observers to the KPCS, the World Jewellery Confederation, the Responsible Jewellery Council and all national and international Jewellers associations to:

1. Seek an urgent review of the KPCS definition of a conflict or blood diamond so all diamonds that generate revenue used by any group or government to commit breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law are classed as conflict or blood diamonds.

2. End the unjustified and misleading use of the term “conflict free” to describe diamonds that do not meet the KPCS’s existing narrow definition of a conflict or blood diamond.

3. Support the call for the introduction of a universal hallmarking system for all diamonds so consumers can be fully informed where a diamond was mined, cut and polished.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. We hope you will give this matter urgent attention, mindful of the wellbeing of millions of people who suffer daily under Israel’s diamond-funded, military occupation and subjugation of Palestine.

“Shooting defenseless miners and unleashing dogs against them is inhuman, degrading and barbaric,” said Tiseke Kasambala, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“The diamonds from the Marange fields are tainted with abuse.” 

August 30, 2011 by Human Rights Watch

(Johannesburg) – Zimbabwe police and private security guards employed by mining companies in the Marange diamond fields are shooting, beating and unleashing attack dogs on poor, local unlicensed miners. The evidence gathered by Human Rights Watch contradicts claims that areas controlled by private mining companies, instead of by the Zimbabwe government alone, are relatively free of abuses.

Over the past six months, police and private security personnel have attempted to clear the fields of local miners whom they accuse of illegally mining diamonds. Human Rights Watch research found that in many cases, the police and private security guards used excessive force against the miners. The violence follows claims, in June, by the government and the head of an international industry monitoring body that conditions in the Marange fields are sufficient for it to be allowed to resume exports of diamonds from Marange.

Local civil society activists told Human Rights Watch that the government has granted six international mining companies concessions in the Marange fields. The companies’ private security guards carry out joint patrols of the mining areas with Zimbabwe police. Local miners said that most of the companies have built electric fences around their mining concessions, while security guards with dogs regularly patrol the concessions. However, local miners are still able to reach the fields and sometimes stray into areas under the companies’ control.

Some members of the international diamond monitoring body, known as the Kimberley Process, have tried to argue that conditions in the areas controlled by joint ventures are not abusive, and that those diamonds should be certified and allowed onto international markets. But Human Rights Watch has found, on the contrary, evidence of serious abuse by private security guards patrolling the joint venture territory. 

Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed 10 miners in Mutare and towns close to the Marange diamond fields who had been beaten by guards and attacked by their dogs after being caught by mine security in the past six months. During patrols, police would also fire live ammunition at the miners as they fled, the miners said.

“I was attacked by all of them,” one of the miners told Human Rights Watch. “The dogs were biting me and I was screaming. It was terrible.”

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Whether it is the surge of Conflict Diamonds  that entered the market last August 2010 (read here) or the more recent release of conflict diamonds this August 2011; the Kimberley Process has proven itself to be an illegitimate source for ensuring diamonds that are fee of human rights violations. So how do we go about solving the unethical issues involved in the harvesting of these conflict diamonds and the Kimberly Process’s lack of accountability and inability to regulate the mining of these conflict stones? What do we do now?

August 2011: Diamonds.net by RAPAPORT

After Kimberley…. What now?

RAPAPORT… By now it should be clear that a Kimberley Process (KP) certificate does not ensure a diamond is free of human rights violations or other serious ethical problems. In fact, a KP certificate does not even ensure that a diamond is legal for trade in the United States or European Union.
The recent release of over $200 million dollars of KP-certified Marange diamonds opens a Pandora’s Box of complex ethical, legal and financial issues that the diamond industry is struggling to address.

Questions abound. How does one deal with the fact that KP certificates are being issued for diamonds that violate U.S. sanction regulations and cannot be legally sold to U.S. companies?  How do you know that the diamonds you are buying were not involved in severe human rights violations? What if diamonds are “only” involved in funding repressive regimes that murder and torture political opponents? What about “unknown” diamonds from Angola, the Congo and Cote d’Ivoire? Are they okay? If you don’t buy “bad” diamonds – won’t someone else buy them for low prices and then compete with you?  If others are buying  — why should you miss out?

One fundamental question is:  Who is responsible for ensuring that the diamond industry is not promoting human rights violations through the purchase of diamonds?

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Only a few short months ago the Kimberly Process certified and allowed over 900,000 carats of documented conflict diamonds to enter the world market from Marange, Zimbabwe. Now, The Kimberly Process has chosen to allow yet another shipment of documented conflict diamonds despite objections from the USA, Canada and the European Union.

Zimbabwe Diamond Exports Approved Over Objections

JOHANNESBURG — Over strong opposition from the United States, Canada and the European Union, a global body tasked with preventing the trade in diamonds that fuels conflict has given Zimbabwe the go-ahead to export stones from rich fields that were violently seized by Zimbabwe’s military in 2008 and, according to civic groups, are still plagued by human rights abuses.
Related

Diamond Find Could Aid Zimbabwe, and Mugabe (June 22, 2010)
Decisions of the body known as the Kimberley Process are supposed to be made by consensus, according to its “core document” — a standard that has been interpreted to require unanimity among participating countries.

But in Zimbabwe’s case, the chairman of the Kimberley Process, Mathieu Yamba Lapfa Lambang of Congo, issued a brief notice Thursday night saying that the body had endorsed exports by two principal companies operating in Zimbabwe’s Marange fields, despite open opposition from some member nations. His notice said that monitors would have access to data about exports after they were shipped, but provided for no monitoring before the stones were exported.

“We have made a breakthrough,” Zimbabwe’s mining minister, Obert Mpofu, was quoted as saying in the state-controlled Herald newspaper on Friday. Mr. Mpofu, a vociferous supporter of Zimbabwe’s 87-year-old strongman, President Robert Mugabe, has long depicted efforts to impose tough monitoring requirements on Zimbabwe’s diamond exports as part of a Western ploy to enact “illegal regime change” in the country.

Zimbabwe has gotten strong support from other African countries for its drive to export Marange diamonds, but in the final meeting of the Kimberley Process on Thursday in Kinshasa, Congo, representatives of Canada and the European Union objected to the position the chairman advocated. An official from the United States raised a placard to speak but was not called on, according to a person close to the process who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the body’s confidential deliberations.

The State Department on Friday issued a statement saying it was “deeply disappointed” with the decision on Zimbabwe and noted that there had been no consensus among the participants.

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