Questions Raised Concerning Zimbabwe’s Commitment to KPCS

Posted in News by Admin on January 11th, 2010

When Zimbabwe’s secretary for mines, Musukutwa, canceled a diamond auction getting underway in Harare, The Global Witness welcomed that decision. But the non-governmental organization warned the diamond industry that Zimbabwe must take concrete steps to demonstrate their commitment to cleaning up the diamond sector there or risk suspension from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). 

“If the sale had gone ahead, Zimbabwe would very likely have been in breach of an action plan agreed at the Kimberley Process plenary in November last year,” according to a statement issued by Global Witness. It was determined that Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields, where the diamonds to be auctioned were mined, were out of compliance with the Kimberley Process’s minimum standards.

Annie Dunnebacke, diamond campaigner at Global Witness, said: “If rough diamonds from Marange had been exported from Zimbabwe without prior inspection by a Kimberley Process monitor, then Zimbabwe would have been in clear violation of the action plan they agreed to at the plenary session in November.” 

Dunnebacke added that Global Witness was “disappointed” that the Zimbabwe did not communicate the auction plans to the Kimberley Process. “We are deeply concerned at Zimbabwe’s complete lack of engagement with the Kimberley Process since last year’s plenary session. Their silence jeopardizes the success of the action plan and the viability of a clean future for the Zimbabwean diamond industry.”

It is imperative that Zimbabwe works more closely with the Kimberley Process and demonstrates its willingness to implement meaningful reforms in the diamond sector. If it fails to do so, the Kimberley Process must be ready to take swift and decisive action to suspend Zimbabwe and protect the credibility of the scheme, according to the group.