South Africa Tribe Regains Diamond-Rich Land

by AGavin on October 12th, 2007

Source: AP Google 

By CLARE NULLIS – 1 day ago CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — An impoverished tribe on Tuesday won back diamond-rich land confiscated by a government mining company more than 80 years ago, ending South Africa’s longest running court case. 

The Nama lodged their claim to the coastal plain in 1997, three years after the end of white rule, saying they were forced out after mineral rights were awarded to Alexkor Ltd., a state-run diamond mining company set up in 1927 in the town of Alexander Bay as a work program for poor whites. The goat-herding community was relocated to harsh desert dozens of miles away, where they were beset by unemployment and social problems like alcoholism. 

On Tuesday, the government agreed to restore the 330-square-mile northern coastal strip to the tribe and pay $28 million compensation as well as millions more in development funding. The community had sought up to $329 million. “I am overwhelmed with joy. I can’t hold back my tears,” community leader Willem Diergaardt told the South African Press Association. “To wait 80 years for your land is not easy.” 

The deal comes at a time when the government is trying to speed the return of land to communities evicted from their ancestral homes during white rule. In this case, it was the state that stood accused of frustrating a claim. “The community is entitled to a better life, and this court order puts that within their reach,” said Judge Antonie Gildenhuys of the Land Claims Court. 

The Nama lost an initial Land Claims case after Alexkor successfully argued that the land was originally confiscated by British colonialists, not the apartheid government, and so was not subject to restitution rules implemented by the African National Congress government to right the wrongs of apartheid. Both the state and Alexkor also maintained that the benefits of diamond mining should be for the good of the country and not just a small community. But in 2003 the Constitutional Court, the highest in the country, ruled that the 4,500-strong Nama community was entitled to the land, called the Richtersveld. 

Legal wrangling continued over the amount of compensation that should be paid by Alexkor for diamonds — with a reported value of some $2.7 billion — removed over the decades. Under Tuesday’s package, to which all sides agreed, all Alexkor’s obligations — including rehabilitation for decades of environmental damage — are now underwritten by the state. 

Alexkor and the community will enter into a joint mining venture, in which Alexkor will hold a 51 percent interest, SAPA said. The mine-owned town of Alexander Bay will be transferred to the community. 

Kimberley Process Not Rushing to Expel Venezuela

by AGavin on October 11th, 2007

 Source: Diamonds.net

 The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP) is discussing how to proceed with the status of Venezuela as pressures have intensified to expel the country from the scheme.

Sources close to the KP told Rapaport News that KP chairman, Karel Kovanda, has asked the organization’s participation committee to make recommendations how to deal with Venezuela’s non-compliance.

The sources said however, that expulsion would serve as a last resort, “which did not provide a concrete solution” to issues in Venezuela, and that the KP preferred to engage the country to help it comply with KP systems.

His comments came in response to a call from watch group, Global Witness, for the KP to remove Venezuela for flagrant non-compliance, adding that “failure to do so could compromise the entire scheme.”

“Nearly one year after clear evidence of massive diamond smuggling in Venezuela came to light, the country continues to flout the KP,” said Charmian Gooch, director of Global Witness. “If the KP does not address large-scale smuggling of rough diamonds in Venezuela and other countries, it cannot effectively protect against the threat of blood diamonds.”

Venezuela appeared to rejoin the KP party when the country’s deputy mines minister Ivan Hernandez attended the KP mid-term meeting in Brussels in June where he confirmed the country’s commitment to the process.

Since then, the source said that Venezuela has complied with the process by providing its 2006 production and export statistics, but has failed to submit its annual report, the second technical prerequisite required for its membership.

“The KP is not an army and the most effective way to ensure that diamonds are not smuggled out of Venezuela is to engage with the government, and work with them to ensure the right controls are in place,” the source said. “Removing them could be contrary to our interests and would likely encourage smuggling.”

Kovanda has reportedly also put a possible review visit to Venezuela on the table, but an invitation would need to be forwarded from the country, for it to materialize.

He added that the Venezuela issue was being blown out of proportion and that “while it is a weakness the KP needs to deal with,” it does not directly affect the KP’s prevention of conflict diamonds entering the market, since Venezuela was not a conflict zone.

In addition, he said, Venezuela is a somewhat insignificant player in the diamond market.

According to KP statistics, Venezuela mined some 17,000 carats of diamonds valued at $1.18 million in 2006. The statistics showed no official rough diamond import or exports figures.

The source noted that more prevalent to KP at the moment were activities in Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast,) which is an area said to be the only source of conflict diamonds in the market today - as well as Ghana’s implementation and alleged smuggling in Zimbabwe.

Following a review visit to Zimbabwe in June, the KP has submitted its final report to Zimbabwe and awaits its approval. Similar to Venezuela, Zimbabwe is not technically considered a “conflict zone” where smuggling activity has caused illicit stones to enter the market.

Still, Global Witness said the KP’s dealing with such cases could make or break its credibility.

“Loopholes in major trading and manufacturing centers are allowing conflict and illicit diamonds to enter the legitimate diamond market,” said Gooch. “To be credible, the Kimberley Process must require governments to adequately enforce their KP controls, including through regular spot checks to verify industry compliance.”

“The international diamond industry also needs to live up to its promise of self-regulation to combat the trade in conflict diamonds,” he added.

JA Tells Members Not to Accept Goods from Myanmar - Group asks Congress to add gemstones to Burma Democracy Act of 2003

by AGavin on October 9th, 2007

Source: Diamonds.net 

Jewelers of America (JA) has appealed to Congress to amend the Burmese Freedom & Democracy Act of 2003 by specifically including all gemstones mined in Myanmar (a.k.a. Burma.) Currently the Act bans the “importation of any article that is a product of Burma.”

 
The Union of Burma was changed to the Union of Myanmar in June 1989 and recognized as Myanmar by the United Nations, but not by the government of the United States. Since August 18, 2007, civil unrest and protests against the current leaders in Myanmar have resulted in at least a dozen deaths due to a military crack down on protesters. Myanmar has an estimated 50 million residents and shares borders with India, China, Thailand, and one small stretch of Laos.

 
“In light of the continuing lack of democratic freedoms in Burma, as evidenced by recent events in the country, JA has asked Congress to amend the Burmese Freedom & Democracy Act of 2003…so that it includes gemstones mined in that country. JA also has asked that this amendment remain effective until such time as Burma agrees to the democratic reforms articulated in a proposed January 2007 resolution put before the United Nations Security Council,” the group told its 11,000 members through a mailing.

 
The Security Council resolution, which did not pass, called for national reconciliation and democratization in Myanmar, the release of all political prisoners, an end to human-rights abuses in the country, and the inclusion of opposition and ethnic minorities in dialogue leading to a genuine democratic transition.
While nine member states on the Security Council voted for passing the resolution on January 12, Russia and China vetoed the measure although the two nations acknowledged Myanmar had serious problems.

 
“Jewelers of America has also taken immediate steps to inform its members about the situation in Burma and to advise them to source their gemstones in a manner that respects human rights,” said JA president and CEO Matthew A. Runci.

 
“JA members believe it is their responsibility to support and respect the protection of international human rights within their sphere of influence and to make sure the sourcing of gemstones is not complicit in human rights abuses, in line with the commitments they assume as members of Jewelers of America. These commitments include adherence to the principles of U.N. Global Compact, which JA has agreed to support,” Runci said.

 
By default, JA members agree to the association’s Statement of Principles, which articulates their support of the U.N. Global Compact: www.jewelers.org/aboutJA/responsibility.html

 
Some of the steps JA has asked its members to take include contacting their suppliers to ascertain whether any of the gems they supply are from Myanmar / Burma, and seek (on all future orders) written assurances from their suppliers that they will not knowingly supply any gems mined in Myanmar / Burma, until the process of democratic reform has started in that country.

Myanmar’s rubies — bloody color, bloody business

by AGavin on October 4th, 2007

Source: Reuters 

By Carmel Crimmins BANGKOK (Reuters) - The gem merchants of Bangkok display their glistening wares proudly; diamonds from Africa, sapphires from Sri Lanka and rubies, of course, from Myanmar. 

The red stones from the country formerly known as Burma are prized for their purity and hue. But they have a sinister flaw. The country’s military rulers rely on sales of precious stones such as sapphires, pearls and jade to fund their regime. Rubies are probably the biggest earner; more than 90 percent of the world’s rubies come from Myanmar. 

International outrage over the generals’ brutal crackdown on pro-democracy rallies encouraged the European Union this week to consider a trade ban on Myanmar’s gemstones, a leading export earner in the impoverished country. There is also pressure in Washington to close a loophole on existing U.S. sanctions which allows in most of its precious stones. 

But in neighboring Thailand, where the majority of Myanmar’s gems are bought and sold, the stone merchants have yet to be put off business with the junta. “People are unhappy about what’s going on but they are not angry enough to stop buying rubies,” said Pornchai Chuenchomlada, president of the Thai Gem and Jewelry Traders Association. 

“If they killed a lot of people like they did in 1988 we might consider banning their products,” said Pornchai, adding that he personally bought little from Myanmar on moral grounds. Official media say 10 people were killed when soldiers fired on protesters, including Buddhist monks, in downtown Yangon last week, but the real toll is thought to be much higher. 

The junta killed an estimated 3,000 people during the last major uprising in 1988.  More

One held for smuggling diamond at airport

by AGavin on October 1st, 2007

Source: News Today Net  

NT Bureau
Chennai, Sept 29:        

  A passenger who arrived at the Chennai airport from Sri Lanka in Jet Airways flight on Thursday night was found to have swallowed plastic bag containing diamonds and precious stones worth Rs 9 lakh.       

  Musthafa Jamal, 43, a resident of S P Pattanam of Ramanathapuram district, was detained by Customs officials when they found strange objects in his stomach during a scan after he arrived in a late night flight to Chennai from Colombo. 

        When the contents were extracted from his stomach, the Customs officials were startled to find a pouch having diamonds and precious stones worth Rs 9 lakh and Jamal was detained for interrogation by the police.    

     During the enquiry of Jamal, it was found that he owned a house at Triplicane in the city and might have evaded the Customs many times at Chennai airport while smuggling diamonds in the flights from Colombo. Police are suspecting that there may be other passengers like Jamal who would have smuggled out valuables in the Lanka - Chennai flights. 

        Further, police and Customs are probing if there is an organised gang involved in purchasing diamonds and precious stones at low rates in Thailand and then smuggling them to Chennai via Sri Lanka through flights.