The diamond industry’s watchdog launched a meeting on Monday amid calls to crack down on smuggling of ”conflict diamonds” from Côte d’Ivoire.
The problem of illicit gems financing civil wars is expected to get widespread publicity next month upon the release of the new Hollywood movie Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Kimberley Process, organised six years ago to stamp out trade in conflict or blood diamonds by certifying gems, must take strong action to regain credibility, a group of 35 non-government organisations (NGOs) said in a letter.
They called on representatives of 46 governments and the European Union gathered in Botswana for the annual meeting of the Kimberley Process to close loopholes.
”With likely collusion of dealers in Belgium and Israel, a significant volume of conflict diamonds are entering the legitimate trade and being certified as conflict-free,” said the letter addressed to the chairperson of the Kimberley Process.
It said diamonds are being smuggled to Ghana from Côte d’Ivoire, which has been divided between a rebel-held north and government-run south since a 2002/2003 civil war.
The NGOs, including Amnesty International and Global Witness, urged Ghana to suspend all diamond exports until controls are put in place.
Botswana’s Minerals Minister Charles Tibone urged participants to take strong action, although he said 99,8% of diamonds were already being certified as legitimate.
”We have to act hard and act resolutely to clean the remaining 0,2% as it has the potential to destabilise and taint the whole industry,” said Tibone.
Botswana, the world’s biggest producer of high-quality diamonds, is chairing the Kimberley Process this year.
Under the Kimberley Process certification programme, which came into effect in 2003, participating governments agree to issue a certificate to accompany all exports of rough diamonds.
Diamond giant De Beers last week joined the calls for tough action after increasing disquiet about how likely negative publicity from the Blood Diamond film might hit sales. De Beers, 45% owned by mining group Anglo American, accounts for about half The world’s supply of diamonds.
A report by Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), an observer in the Kimberley Process, said conflict diamonds represented as much as 15% of the world’s total in the mid-1990s but had been reduced to less than 1%.
But investigations by NGOs and the United Nations uncovered fraud in certifying diamonds in Brazil and Guyana, in addition to the laundering of conflict diamonds from Côte d’Ivoire.
”In each case, the Kimberley Process behaved like a disinterested bystander, its response tepid, late or non-existent,” the PAC report said. – Reuters