Rapaport puts nail in Kimberley coffin
The Rapaport Group, the world’s primary source of diamond prices and market information, has denounced the actions of the Kimberley Process (KP) towards Zimbabwe, and announced that it will expel members found to be trading diamonds from the Marange diamond deposit.
The group said it has implemented “an immediate trading ban on all diamonds from Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields due to severe human rights abuses”.
Rapaport added that it believed blood diamonds from Marange have been legally exported to the diamond cutting centres with KP certificates, and may now be reaching retailers as polished diamonds.
Diamonds from Marange can be uniquely identified, Rapaport said, and its ban does not extend to other diamonds from Zimbabwe. “Firms and individuals that continue to trade in diamonds from Marange will be denied access to all Rapaport services,” the group said.
In addition, African Consolidated Resources plc, rightful owner of the Marange field, said it would treat as “stolen goods” any diamonds from the deposit that were traded.
“The KP is being used as a fig leaf to cover up human rights abuses in the diamond sector,” Martin Rapaport, chairman of Rapaport Group said. He called on KP to release to the public the reports that detailed abuses at Marange.
His comments are the latest in a series of high-profile condemnations of the way the KP has tackled the issues around Marange.
Groups ranging from international non-government organisations to the World Diamond Council have recommended that Zimbabwe be expelled from the KP. However, at its meeting in Namibia earlier this month, KP ruled against such action, favouring a joint action plan to bring the country back into compliance.
KP has recognised that it must clarify its approach to human rights, and that it needs to develop a more rigorous and independent capacity for monitoring and implementation. Nevertheless, the latest criticisms, and the departure of founding member Ian Smillie earlier this year, have raised serious questions about the future of KP in its current form.
The KP chair moves from Namibia to Israel next year, and it remains to be seen if the approach to Zimbabwe will change with the move.
Posted by Raymond Mhaka
on November 26, 2009. Filed under Local News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Socialize
