UN faulted for Ignoring Diamond Failure in Zimbabwe

Posted in News by Admin on December 14th, 2009

The United States, the E.U. and other Western powers blasted the UN General Assembly on Friday for ignoring Zimbabwe’s reported failure to comply with international efforts to curb trade in “blood diamonds.”

The 192-nation body adopted a resolution warning that “trade in conflict diamonds continues to be a matter of serious international concern” and increased vigilance was vital.

The assembly was responding to a report on conflict stones by Namibia, which chairs the diamond industry’s Kimberley Process.  Although the resolution was adopted, a number of Western delegations criticized the assembly for failing to mention concerns about Zimbabwe, which is suspected of not complying with Kimberley Process safeguards.

Namibia’s report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said there were “credible indications of significant non-compliance with the minimum requirements of the (Kimberley Process) by Zimbabwe.”

U.S. delegate Laura Ross said: “We regret that language reflecting this concern has not been included in the text of this resolution.”

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Sweden’s UN Ambassador Anders Liden voiced similar views, as did delegates from Japan, Australia and Canada.

Zimbabwe’s U.N. Ambassador Boniface Chidyausiku rejected the suggestion that Harare was not complying with the rules.

“We are committed to the Kimberley Process,” he told the assembly, adding that the United States and others were trying to politicize the issue by attacking his country.

Zimbabwe was one of the resolution’s co-sponsors.

Before the implementation of the Kimberley Process, conflict stones made up about 15 percent of the world market. They are believed to account for less than 1 percent of stones traded today, although many diamonds remain untraceable.

The Namibian report warned that blood diamonds could be making a comeback. It said Internet sales and postal shipments “have become issues of concern, as it has proved difficult to track and reconcile rough diamond shipments.”