World trading group bans Zimbabwe diamonds
A world diamond network has vowed to expel any member who knowingly trades gems from two Zimbabwe mines where labourers have been killed and children enslaved.
The announcement by US-based Rapaport Diamond Trading Network, an industry diamond price and information provider, is being hailed as an unprecedented move that will boost buyer awareness of blood diamonds.
It comes after international regulators declared the stones from the Zimbabwe mines conflict-free, backing off a ban they imposed in November and allowing 900,000 carats of diamonds to be auctioned last week.
"This is the first time that we've heard of a large group like the Rapaport group actually taking such a strong stand," said Tiseke Kasambala, a Zimbabwe specialist with Human Rights Watch.
"Consumers will certainly ask questions" about the stones they are buying, she added.
The international regulators, whose group is known as the Kimberley Process, said the two mines were operating at "minimum" international standards.
The Rapaport group, though, said that did not guarantee the stones "free of human rights violations" and vowed to publish the names of members knowingly trading in diamonds from the diamond fields near the eastern city of Mutare.
Kimberley Process officials did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the move by Rapaport, which has 10,000 members.
Stephane Chardon, chairman of the group, noted that the Kimberley rules applied only to blood diamonds mined and sold by rebel movements or their allies to finance armed conflicts aimed at toppling legitimate governments. It has no provision for punishing governments.
Rapaport said respected human rights groups had documented severe abuses at Mutare diamond fields since their discovery in 2006 - one of the biggest diamond finds in southern Africa in a century.
Those allegations include the killing of at least 214 allegedly illegal miners by the military and "rampant abuses of forced labour, child labour, beatings, smuggling and corruption."
The Zimbabwe Ministry of Mines accuses human rights groups of "peddling falsehoods". The auctioned diamonds are expected to provide millions in badly-needed revenue for the southern African country, which is struggling to recover from years of economic ruin.
Robert Mhlanga, head of diamond mining holding company working alongside the government, said offers were made at the first auction on August 11 for all 900,000 carats cleared for sale by the Kimberley Process.
Deals with some of the international buyers were completed and buyers left Harare in possession of batches of diamonds. Other deals were still being processed, he said.
A second auction is scheduled in September. Mr Mhlanga said values of the diamonds were still being tallied.
The mines ministry first said it had about 4.4 million carats in storage and that they were worth €1.46bn - about one-third of the national debt or almost the government's entire spending in the national budget.
The party of prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's former opposition leader now in a shaky coalition with long-time president Robert Mugabe, has warned against raising hopes of a rapid economic boom.
Finance minister Tendai Biti, a close Tsvangirai aide, said estimates that last week's first bids raked in €56m were too optimistic. He told the state broadcaster the real amount appeared closer to about €35.3m, out of which just €11.6m could end up in state coffers.
Mining experts have also warned that only 40% of the diamonds are gem quality, with the rest being industrial-quality stones. In any case, Zimbabwe would not be allowed to flood the world market and bring down global prices, they said.
Pearson Mungofa, a mining official in Mr Tsvangirai's party, said Zimbabwe lacked experience to identify the value of its diamonds and largely relied on "guesses and estimates", leading to confusion surrounding the economic potential of the diamond reserves.
