GERMS . . . Diamonds from Zimbabwe's Chiadzwa near Mutare

SWAKOPMUND – A Kimberley Process (KP) meeting on Thursday agreed to give Zimbabwe more time to reform its diamond mining practices, ensuring the beleaguered southern African country escapes a ban from the world diamond market.

The 70-member KP – a grouping of diamond trading countries and civic society groups set up to prevent trade in conflict or blood diamonds – has in recent weeks come under pressure to impose an international ban on Zimbabwe diamonds after a team of investigators from the diamond watchdog unearthed rights abuses and other irregularities at the country’s notorious Marange diamond field. 

But the KP meeting in the Namibian coastal town of Swakopmund decided against kicking Zimbabwe out and adopted a plan – proposed by Zimbabwe itself – which includes calls for an independent inspector to monitor diamonds leaving the controversial fields in the country’s eastern border district.

The KP takes decisions by consensus and some countries like Namibia – the chair the four-day meeting – have been against the view of suspending Zimbabwe.

The KP review mission that visited Zimbabwe at the end of June said in a report that Zimbabwean security forces and other government entities had taken part in extra-judicial violent attacks on illegal diamond miners and smuggling of the precious stones from Marange.

The mission called for a temporary ban of six months or more to allow Zimbabwe time to comply with KP standards and said should the southern African nation volunteer to stop selling diamonds, the KP should monitor the “self-suspension” to ensure Harare implements all necessary measures to comply with required standards before it can resume trade in diamonds.

But civic society groups wanted the KP to suspend Zimbabwe, saying Harare had reneged on previous promises to withdraw the army from Marange and that only full suspension could force the Zimbabwean authorities to act to end rights violations at the diamond field that is also known as Chiadzwa.

The Harare government seized the Marange claim from British-based mining firm African Consolidated Resources Plc (ACR) in October 2006 and allocated the claim to state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation.

But thousands of illegal diamond miners and dealers soon descended on Marange to mine and sell the precious stones that at the height of the diamond rush were being sold to traders coming from all over the world including Israel, Lebanon and Guyana.

President Robert Mugabe’s government reacted in 2008 by sending soldiers and police to Marange to flush out the illegal miners, dealers and traders.

But human rights groups and the KP review mission say police and soldiers used excessive and brutal force to take control of the diamond field and that the security forces have themselves taken over smuggling of diamonds from Marange. – ZimOnline