Dreams Of Africa(r)

Human Rights Groups Blast KP for Failure to Suspend Zimbabwe

Admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:56:42 +0000

The Kimberley Process (KP) rough diamond certification scheme failed to reach a consensus to suspend Zimbabwe at this week’s plenary meeting in Namibia, in spite of evidence of serious non-compliance with the KP’s requirements and widespread government-sponsored human rights abuses, said civil society groups today.

“Governments’ failure to suspend Zimbabwe points to fundamental weaknesses in the scheme’s procedures and to a serious lack of political will to take decisive action when countries are not implementing minimum standards,” said Annie Dunnebacke from Global Witness. “This undermines the scheme’s effectiveness and compromises those participants who implement the system in good faith. It also sends the message that there will be no serious consequences for those who break the rules.”

A joint-action plan was agreed upon with the government of Zimbabwe to bring the country back into compliance. The plan provides for a KP-appointed monitor to verify all shipments of diamonds from the Marange diamond fields prior to exportation. However, the plan does not address the wider context of non-compliance in Zimbabwe’s KP system. There is no mention of the central role the Zimbabwean army continues to play in mining and smuggling, nor does it refer to past and ongoing human rights abuses.

Susanne Emond from Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) said, “If Zimbabwe cooperates with the KP and implements the provisions it has agreed to on paper, it will be an improvement from the status quo. But the action plan falls short of addressing the most serious issues raised by the KP review mission team last July. The government of Zimbabwe must bring to an end the horrific abuses in the Marange diamond fields and hold to account those responsible for the extra-judicial violence.”

This week’s proceedings were dominated by the KP’s attempt to tackle the crisis in Zimbabwe to the detriment of progress on other key issues, including the need for reform of the KP itself. The KP must clarify its approach to human rights in the diamond sector, develop a more rigourous and independent capacity for monitoring implementation and develop more effective decision-making procedures. All of these tasks will require renewed political will.

“We hope that the Israeli chairmanship in 2010 will provide the leadership and direction that has been so conspicuously absent throughout this year,” said Alfred Brownell from Green Advocates, Liberia.

Representatives at the meeting also expressed concern about the growing trade in conflict diamonds from Côte d’Ivoire and the challenges in implementing KP controls in West Africa. Governments, industry members and civil society renewed their commitments to increase collaboration and improve Kimberley Process implementation at the regional level. This will include the development of tools to identify Ivorian diamonds, as well as measures for closer KP monitoring of rough diamond exports from Guinea. Constructive and positive discussions also took place about the links between diamonds and development, but will need to be followed up by concrete action in order to make a real difference to diamond-mining communities.

rmer Liberian President Denies War Crime Charges

Admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:53:49 +0000

Liberia’s former president Charles Taylor on Thursday blamed an “intelligence plot” involving the British government for the fact that he is standing trial for war crimes charges in The Hague.

“Everything that is being played out for your honors in this case is all based on an intelligence plot with key players, senior officials in governments and intelligence agencies,” he told judges of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. “This is a careful orchestration for my destruction.”

Taylor claimed it was organizations such as the private military company Sandline, not him, that brought arms into Liberia’s neighbor Sierra Leone, where he is accused of having fueled war by arming the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in exchange for so-called “blood diamonds.”

“It is Sandline with the…knowledge and/or acquiescence of the British government, of senior ministers, that would bring in these arms and build this lie that the only way the arms are getting into Sierra Leone is because they are coming from the Charles Taylor government,” he said. “This whole thing that the British say they didn’t know: It was not possible for them not to have known. Their ambassador [was] meeting Sandline’s people all day. They are aware and to hide that fact, they put the blame on Taylor.”

The accused Taylor, 61, has been on trial since January 2008 on 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from the brutal 1991 to 2001 civil war in Sierra Leone. The RUF is blamed for the mutilation of thousands of civilians who had their hands and arms severed in one of the most brutal wars in modern history, which claimed some 120,000 lives.

Taylor took the stand in his own defense on July 14, dismissing as “lies” charges of murder, rape, child soldier conscription, enslavement and pillaging against him. His cross-examination is expected to start next week.

Zimbabwe Spared by KP

Admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:48:44 +0000

The Kimberley Process (KP) concluded its annual plenary in Namibia on Thursday with the decision to retain Zimbabwe as a member, despite previous reports of noncompliance with KP regulations. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) has instead adopted a working plan to monitor diamonds mined at the Marange fields in the Chiadzwa region.Human rights organizations called for Zimbabwe’s suspension in the run-up to the meeting after a KP peer review team found the country to be non-compliant with internal control requirements, specifically regarding diamonds mined at Marange. The organizations also alleged that 200 people had been killed in the past year, a charge the country’s government denies. Zimbabwe’s two other mines — River Ranch and Murowe — were found to be compliant.

Israel will adopt the position of KP chairman beginning in January 2010, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) serving as vice chair.

Investigative TV Program Documents Zimbabwe Smuggling Operations

Admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:42:20 +0000

South Africa’s SABC3 is airing on Tuesday an expose on Zimbabwe’s Chiadzwa diamond fields, where security forces have killed hundreds of diggers and from where massive amounts of rough diamonds are smuggled out of the country and into the legitimate diamond stream.

The report claims that the murder of civilians at the hands of soldiers is ongoing.

The program producers say that, using hidden cameras, they have documented the involvement of the army in the looting, trading and smuggling across the Mozambique border of rough diamonds mined at the diamond fields.

It further claims that the army has formed a “syndicate” that acts in defiance of the Kimberley Process by operating through the official Mineral Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe. Senior government officials and politicians have run a “thriving” illegal trade for personal profit.

The illicit system, run by security forces and fronted by middlemen, has smuggled an estimated $800 million worth of rough diamonds out of the country in the past year, relying on forced labor.

Going through the border town of Vila de Manica, the goods find their way to Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, India, Pakistan and Europe, among other destinations, the documentary states.

Israel: We Do Not Trade Rough with Non-KP Members

Admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:20:24 +0000

Responding to an allegation by a UN inspection team, Israel denied it is trading rough diamonds with the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire), a country that is not a member of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai said the country cooperated with a UN investigation team that visited Israel twice over the past few years. “We have proved beyond any shadow of doubt that rough diamonds are not entering Israel without a KP certificate - not from the Ivory Coast nor from any other country that is not a member of the Scheme.”

The Diamond Controller’s office at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor is responsible for enforcing KP regulations in Israel.

Mordechai added that Israel is a founding member of KP and operates a strict control and oversight system.

The Israeli delegation that will attend the annual KP conference in Namibia next week will file an official protest over the allegation. The delegation will be led by Boaz Hirsch, who heads the international activities division at the Foreign Ministry. Israel is the next country to chair the KP and Hirsch will be nominated KP Chairman for the coming year

Zim escapes diamond ban despite rampant rights abuses

Admin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:58:46 +0000

The government’s campaign to lobby for support of the country’s continued participation in the global diamond trade has paid off, with the country escaping a ban by international diamond regulatory body, the Kimberley Process.

A decision on Zimbabwe’s future was taken on Thursday after two days of intense debate by Kimberley Process members in Namibia, over how to deal with a country that has openly flouted international diamond trade standards. A review mission sent by the regulatory body more than four months ago, to investigate Zimbabwe’s compliance with such standards, reported on mass violations, including smuggling and rampant human rights abuse. But despite the delegation itself recommending a ban from international diamond trade, as well as evidence of atrocities committed by soldiers at the diamond fields, tough action on Zimbabwe will not be taken.

The agreement that was eventually reached has been described as a ‘watered down’ compromise, which essentially will do nothing to immediately stop the ongoing human rights abuses still taking place in the Chiadzwa diamond fields. Instead the Kimberley Process has resolved to adopt a Joint Work Plan, proposed by the Zimbabwe government itself, which will give the country more time to meet basic trade standards. The plan also calls for an independent monitor to be in place to inspect diamonds leaving the Chiadzwa fields, and will also see the Kimberley Process provide ‘technical assistance’ to the country to help it become fully compliant.

The plan at no point takes into account that human rights abuses are still ongoing in Chiadzwa, where the military has tightened its brutal control of diamond panners and civilians alike. Months ago the Kimberley Process review mission had urged the government to demilitarise the diamond fields, but this recommendation has been completely ignored. The new plan adopted by the Kimberley Process does not even call for the military’s control to be stopped. Instead, the plan will work towards the ‘gradual’ phasing out of the same people responsible for mass atrocities in Chiadzwa.

The government’s lobbying campaign in Namibia has included intimidation of NGOs and rights activists for reporting on the rights abuses, as well as open denials that the atrocities are taking place. But evidence of the abuse is staggering, leading to widespread calls by human rights groups and NGOs for Zimbabwe to be banned. The decision taken Thursday by the Kimberley Process is now set to anger those groups, who have previously also called for the regulatory body itself to be drastically overhauled and reformed.

Such calls have been echoed by a key architect of the Kimberley Process when it was formed in 2002. Ian Smillie, a leading expert on conflict diamonds who has since publicly denounced the Kimberley Process as ineffective, told SW Radio Africa the decision on Zimbabwe is ‘very disappointing’.

“The Kimberley Process should have realised that its whole future was at stake by how they handled the Zimbabwe diamond crisis,” Smillie said. “They have failed the country with this decision.”

Smillie explained that the regulatory body works on an ineffective ‘consensus’ basis. That means if one government objects to a proposed course of action, it cannot move forward, “no matter how many others are in favour.” In Zimbabwe’s case, South Africa, Namibia, the DRC and Russia all refused to sanction the suspension that had been recommended. Smillie said that “once that was clear, they then turned their attention to what else might be done.” He explained the “costly system of inspections and assistance to Zimbabwe,” in the form of the new plan, ‘obscures’ the real problem and demonstrates that the Kimberley Process is a toothless and ineffectual body.

“Until they end this one-man-one-veto arrangement and develop an independent, arms length monitoring system, the KP will be as worthless as its decisions in Namibia,” Smillie said.

WDC President: KP Needs to End Sterile Debate, Tackle Humanitarian Issue

Admin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:45:09 +0000

Eli Izhakoff, president and CEO of the World Diamond Council, expressed “regret” that he cannot sincerely say that government, civil society and the business community can come together and tackle a major humanitarian issue within the Kimberley Process.

Izhakoff had a number of somber words in a speech on his behalf at the Kimberley Process meeting in Namibia.

“At last years’ Kimberley Process plenary in New Delhi, I said that this unique structure ‘represents one of the very rare instances in history that government, civil society and the business community have come together to tackle a major humanitarian issue.’

“You will, I hope, understand that it is with profound regret that I find myself, just seven months later, unable to echo those words with the sincerity that such a claim deserves,” he said.

Izhakoff called for greater cooperation among members, stating, “The fact is that to be truly effective, the Kimberley Process requires full political and logistical support from its member states and international institutions and the wider international community.

“With only a few exceptions, there is little evidence to suggest that the Kimberley Process is receiving this level of support. It is therefore, unsurprising that events and activities associated with the illegal appropriation of valuable natural resources go unchecked.”

While noting that it is beyond the capacity of the KP to directly deal with human rights issues on its own, government officials can work together to ensure that the resources and political will are mobilized to address them.

He called on governments to renew their commitment by providing KP with support and resources.

“[W]e join civil society in specifically calling for governments to:

·        Take swift action when faced with cases of non-compliance and agree on interim suspension mechanism with clear criteria;

·        Require of its participants stronger government oversight of the diamond industry, including spot checks of companies;

·        Require the cutting and polishing sector to adhere to KP minimum standards;

·        Require participants to improve internal controls and increase collaboration and enforcement efforts to combat rough diamond smuggling”

“Misery and oppression imposed upon innocents anywhere in the world is of deep concern to everyone, whether it affects the work of the Kimberley Process or not.”

Finally, Izhakoff criticized the “endless and sterile debate about expanding the scope of the Kimberley Process,” calling to focus on expanding the participation within and around KP.

“Furthermore, we would like to see more active engagement and co-operation between the Kimberley Process and other initiatives, such as the EITI – another government-run organization burdened with unreasonable expectations that it alone can deal, in its case, with corruption.”

Final KP Review Mission Report Calls Zimbabwe to Suspend Self from KP

Admin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:41:47 +0000

Violence, government and military involvement in smuggling, complicated oversight system and a recommendation for suspension are just the headlines of a disturbing final report by a Kimberley Process Review Mission to Zimbabwe. The report details poor outdated mining procedures, certification procedures, means of transportation and sorting as well as cases of rape, harassment and deception.

According to the Review Mission’s final report submitted at the Kimberley Process Plenary Meeting in Namibia this week, it has “concerns” with Zimbabwe’s compliance with KP’s minimum requirements.

The report states that steps to export rough diamonds from Zimbabwe are complex and involve at least five separate government agencies and concludes that the system for internal controls does not effectively capture all diamond production at Marange.

It further details mass smuggling and “has judged that certain entities within the Government of Zimbabwe are directly involved with the removal of rough diamonds from the Marange area.”

After detailing diamond production figures and the value of goods from Zimbabwe’s three diamond mines - Murowa, Marange and River Ranch - it states that “KP statistics indicate discrepancies with two trading partners: the European Community in 2007 and 2008, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2008.”

It found a gap of 205,845 carats (30% of the total production) in 2007, and 470,084 carats (59% of the total production) in 2008.

During its visit to the Marange area, members of the Team observed soldiers using civilians to conduct illegal diamond-mining activities and three Zimbabwe National Army personnel “overseeing the washing of diamond gravel by illegal diamond miners.”

The Team received consistent reports that diamonds from Marange “generally exit Zimbabwe through the nearby border with Mozambique, where significant illicit buying and trading operations are underway.”

They also collected first hand witness accounts of killings and extreme violence against illegal miners as well heard testimonies of rapes. The team saw dog bite scars on victims and heard reports of “rampant use of violent dogs by the Zimbabwean security forces.”

The Team found that not all rough diamond shipments are accompanied by KP certificates. “The involvement of government entities in these flows, rather than solely the usual black market actors, should result in direct implication of the overall system of internal controls that Zimbabwe is responsible for. That is, the Team judges that the smuggling operation out of Marange should be deemed to be ‘on the account of’ Zimbabwe itself.

The Review Team’s first recommendation is a demand that the Government of Zimbabwe will acknowledge its non-compliance and voluntary suspend itself from rough diamond trading until KP determines that minimum standards have been met.

The Team believes it critical that coordinated action be taken by other KP Participants in the region – particularly South Africa, Namibia and Botswana – to act against smuggling.

It finally recommend the Participation Committee to consider the full range of options set forth in the Interim Measures Guidelines, including suspension of Zimbabwe for a period of at least six months, or until such time as a KP team determines that minimum requirements have been met.

Zim mines minister says they have finally met Kimberley Process requirements

Admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:06:45 +0000

Zimbabwe has made progress in complying with the requirements of a diamond watchdog body, Zimbabwe Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said as the Kimberley Process discusses Zimbabwe’s possible suspension from the body.

“We strongly believe that, as a country, we have done all in complying with the requirements of the process,” Mpofu was quoted as saying in Namibia.

Yet civil society groups are demanding the country’s suspension from the diamond trade, after investigations showed “horrific” abuses by the army against civilians.

The investigators visited Zimbabwe in June and July, gathering accounts of soldiers raping women and killing illegal miners in an eastern diamond field. They say it’s “credible” that security forces are smuggling diamonds.

Africa’s Diamond Trade Under Scrutiny

Admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:00:47 +0000

The viability of an effort endorsed by the United Nations to halt the trading of the so-called blood diamonds that have fueled conflicts across Africa is on the line this week, and the test case is Zimbabwe.

The question is whether participants in this global effort, now meeting in Namibia, will penalize Zimbabwe for rampant smuggling that has been documented by their own investigators and which violates international standards, say representatives of the diamond industry and watchdog groups.

Any country belonging to the Kimberley Process, the international undertaking against conflict diamonds, can block Zimbabwe’s suspension from the group, which critics say would undermine its ability to police the industry.

Human rights advocates worry that nations in the region, particularly South Africa, the regional powerhouse, may balk at taking action. A spokesman for South Africa’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Tuesday.

A decision is expected by Thursday, when the annual meeting of the Kimberley participants, held this year in Swakopmund, Namibia, ends.

A confidential 44-page report by the Kimberley investigators, completed in September and provided to The New York Times by a participant who is critical of Zimbabwe, accuses Zimbabwe’s army of operating illegal syndicates that smuggle diamonds from the Marange diamond field in eastern Zimbabwe into Mozambique.

Zimbabwe is not accused of producing conflict diamonds, defined as those produced and traded by armed rebel groups. But the smuggling operation opens an illicit channel in the diamond trade that “makes possible the introduction of conflict diamonds,” the report says.

Zimbabwe denies any wrongdoing, blaming “rogue elements” for any illegal mining.

Though Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, 85, now ostensibly shares power with his longtime enemy, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the country’s mining ministry and its military remain under the control of Mr. Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF.

A decision to suspend Zimbabwe would curtail the sale of its diamonds on the international market, squeezing one of Mr. Mugabe’s remaining sources of patronage for his military, analysts say. It was the military that organized a crackdown on Mr. Tsvangirai’s party before last year’s discredited presidential runoff between Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai.

The Kimberley investigators got remarkable access to the troubled Marange diamond fields this year. The report says they witnessed soldiers, who were ostensibly there to protect the diamond fields from illegal mining, supervising and directing illegal mining operations.

The Kimberley team, which included representatives from the governments of Liberia, Namibia, South Africa, the United States, Canada and European countries, also collected what it called credible accounts of the army and the police using extreme force, including two helicopters, attack dogs and AK-47s, against illegal miners. Some victims told the investigators that military officers had repeatedly raped them.

In one case, the team’s truck approached seven illegal miners carrying sacks of diamond gravel who tried to run away but agreed to talk after being promised anonymity. The miners told the team that they worked for military officers who let them take 10 percent of the diamond proceeds.

The team concluded that the government knew about the syndicates and permitted them to operate. It said the government did not appear to have fulfilled promises to demilitarize the diamond fields, and might have actually increased the military’s presence there. It described the information Zimbabwe provided as “false, and likely intentionally so.”

“Urgent corrective action is required if the integrity and effectiveness of the KPCS are to be preserved,” the team wrote, referring to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

In its confidential Oct. 29 reply, Zimbabwe criticized the investigators for what it called an attempt at “criminalizing the government.”

“Zimbabwe thought that the KP was a family where a truant child is disciplined while in that family rather than exterminated,” the government wrote.

Though Zimbabwe produces less than 1 percent of the $8.5 billion worth of diamonds that come from Africa annually, the diamond industry worries that a failure to stop the Zimbabwean Army from running illegal smuggling syndicates, as alleged by the Kimberley team, could again besmirch the reputation of diamonds abroad.

Zimbabwe is not the first test of the Kimberley Process, which began in 2003. In 2004, the group suspended the Congo Republic, and Venezuela withdrew the same year over compliance issues.

“It’s very important to the industry to have a credible Kimberley Process to make sure conflict diamonds do not enter the stream of commerce and that consumers are confident about our product,” said Cecilia L. Gardner, general counsel to the World Diamond Council.

The council, which represents the industry in the Kimberley Process, as well as groups like Global Witness that have campaigned to stop the trade in conflict diamonds, contend that decisions on matters like Zimbabwe’s status should be made by a majority vote of member nations, rather than by consensus.

Ian Smillie, an architect of the Kimberley Process who has since resigned and become a critic of weaknesses in its safeguards, said he was concerned that countries with political ties to Zimbabwe could block any sanctions.

“It only takes one government to object and South Africa has been protecting Robert Mugabe for years,” he said.