Following are extracts from Eli Izhakoff’s address, presented by Andrew Bone on his behalf, at the recent Kimberley Process Plenary in Swakopmund, Namibia. “None of the issues we will discuss this week are new. In fact, many of them have been on the agenda for quite a while. Some might say too long. Right now, [...]
Kimberley Process Review Mission Final Report Hints at Zimbabwean Diamonds Travelling to Cutting Factories via Mozambique
The final report of the Kimberley Process Review Mission to Zimbabwe notes that the team conducting the Review Mission consistently received reports that diamonds from Marange typically exit Zimbabwe via the nearby border with Mozambique, where significant illicit buying and trading operations are underway. The team also received reports subsequent to the mission indicating that [...]
Failure to Suspend Zimbabwe from Kimberley Process Undermines Efforts to Clean up International Trade
The Kimberley Process (KP) rough diamond certification scheme failed to reach a consensus to suspend Zimbabwe at the recent Plenary meeting in Namibia, in spite of evidence of serious non-compliance with the KP’s requirements and widespread government-sponsored human rights abuses, say civil society groups. “Governments’ failure to suspend Zimbabwe points to fundamental weaknesses in the [...]
Zimbabwe Attroney General Says Govt will Appeal Judgment Over Title to Marange Diamond Claims
The Zimbabwe Attorney General says that the Zimbabwean Government will appeal against the judgement given by the Zimbabwe High Court on 24 September 2009 which confirmed the title of African Consolidated Resources plc’s subsidiaries to their claims over the Marange diamond field, says African Consolidated. Notwithstanding the statement of the Attorney General, the Company is in discussions [...]
Zimbabwe Court Judgment Confirms African Consolidated Resources Group Titles to to Marange Diamond Claims
African Consolidated Resources plc, the Zimbabwe focused mineral exploration company, says that at a hearing in the Zimbabwe High Court judgment was issued in favour of the Company’s subsidiaries which confirmed the Group’s title to the claims previously registered in its name on the Marange diamond field. Full details of the judgement are awaited pending [...]
WFDB Executive Committee Calls on Kimberley Process to Expedite Release of Report and Recommendations about Zimbabwe
The Executive Committee of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has called upon the Kimberley Process to release its much-anticipated report and recommendations about the Zimbabwe diamond mining sector as soon as possible. The WFDB Executive Committee met at the London Diamond Bourse on Monday, September 7, 2009. A Kimberley Process Review team [...]
World Diamond Council Calls for Decisive Action Concerning Zimbabwe’s Participation in the Kimberley Process
The World Diamond Council (WDC) is calling for decisive action from government participants in the Kimberley Process to ensure that issues surrounding Zimbabwe’s Marange alluvial diamond fields are properly resolved. A recent Kimberley Process review mission to Zimbabwe, which included representatives from governments, civil society and the diamond industry, made a series of recommendations that [...]
Human Rights Watch: “International Diamond Industry Group Should Suspend Zimbabwe Immediately”
Zimbabwe has failed to remove its armed forces from the diamond fields in Marange and to end related human rights abuses there, Human Rights Watch said today. As a result, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) should suspend Zimbabwe immediately. The KPCS, an international group governing the global diamond industry, sent a review mission to [...]
HRW: Forced Labor and Torture in Zimbabwean Diamond Fields
Zimbabwe’s armed forces are engaging in the forced labor of children and adults, and are torturing and beating local villagers on the diamond fields of Marange district in eastern Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch have said in a report. The military, which remains under the control of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), the former [...]