However, the Kimberley Process works by consensus. As its members include Namibia, Russia and South Africa, which support Mugabe, the group decided in November 2009 not to suspend Zimbabwe or ban the sale of its stones. His feeble apology was a formality in the Kimberley Process mandate that defines conflict diamonds as those mined by abusive rebel groups, not abusive governments. Of course, it doesn`t matter who commits the abuse. Global Witness was one of the first organizations to address the link between diamonds and conflict in Africa in its 1998 report “A Rough Trade”. [36] [37] With the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1173 in 1998, the United Nations identified the issue of conflict diamonds as funding. The 2000 Fowler Report described in detail how UNITA financed its war activities and, in May 2000, led directly to the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1295 and the meeting of southern African diamond-producing countries in Kimberley, South Africa, to plan a method to end the trade in conflict diamonds. and diamond buyers could be sure that their diamonds were not contributing to the violence. [38] [39] In this resolution, the Security Council wrote: It has been 15 years since global efforts to ban conflict diamonds began. But the industry is still marred by conflict and misery The Kimberley Process (CP) is a multilateral trade regime established in 2003 with the aim of preventing the flow of conflict diamonds. The core of this regime is the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), under which states introduce protective measures for the transport of rough diamonds and certify them as “conflict-free”. H.R.
1415[4] has 13 sections, the first of which refers to the Act as the Clean Diamond Trade Act. [4] The law defines the motivation behind its adoption as arising from human rights issues related to the trade in rough diamonds. [4] It also examines previous measures taken to address the threats posed by conflicts arising from the trade in rough diamonds. [4] The law mentions the United Nations Security Council, which prohibits states from exporting arms to countries affected by diamond conflicts and states prohibit the import of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone and Liberia (3). [4] The United States then limited the importation of diamonds to those containing a certificate of origin. [4] Diamond industry experts like to say that a pack of diamonds changes hands an average of eight to 10 times between the exporting country and its final destination. The reality is that diamonds from mines outside Tshikapa are likely to change hands eight to 10 times before they even leave the province for the capital Kinshasa, the only place where Congolese diamonds can be certified for export. Kindamba diamonds are sold at least twice before reaching an authorized buyer, where a representative of the Ministry of Mines can assess the value and provide the official form required to obtain the Kimberley certificate.
On the line noting the location of the mine, he will simply say Tshikapa. welcomes the proposal to convene a meeting of experts to develop a monitoring system to facilitate the implementation of the measures contained in resolution 1173 (1998), including arrangements that would allow for greater transparency and accountability in the control of diamonds from the place of origin to the stock exchanges, and stresses the importance of making every effort to put in place these controls: to avoid collateral damage to the legitimate diamond trade and welcomes the intention of the Republic of South Africa to host a conference to that effect this year. [40] The Kimberley Process has been hailed as an important step towards ending the diamond-fuelled conflict. Ian Smillie, one of the early architects of the process and an authority on conflict diamonds, estimates that only 5% to 10% of the world`s diamonds are traded illegally, compared to 25% before 2003, a big boon for producing countries that have a better chance of earning income from their natural resources. After Liberia regains peace, it tries to build a legitimate diamond mining industry. The United Nations lifted the sanctions and Liberia is now a member of the Kimberley Process. [21] The Kimberley Process (PC) is an international multi-stakeholder initiative launched to increase transparency and oversight in the diamond industry, in order to prevent the trade in conflict diamonds or rough diamonds sold by rebel groups or their allies to finance conflicts against legitimate governments. The CP, which was launched in 2003, monitors the trade in rough diamonds between participating countries through the national implementation of a certification scheme that makes trade more transparent and secure; and prohibits transactions with non-participants. Fifty-four participants from 82 countries are participating in the FP, with the participation of industry and civil society as observers. Rough diamonds must be shipped in sealed containers and exported with a Kimberley Process certificate, which certifies that the rough diamonds have not benefited the rebel movements. The CCP system was introduced by the bill as the main deterrent against conflict diamonds. Participating countries and industries, as well as civil society observers, meet twice a year to improve and refine the systems that have enabled diamonds to become one of the most monitored and tested natural resources in the world.
[16] [17] Participation is open to anyone “willing and able to meet [his] requirements”: diamonds must be transported in tamper-proof containers with a state-validated certificate to authenticate their origin. [5] [18] It was able to reduce the ease with which conflict diamonds entered the legitimate diamond market in the early years of its implementation. [2] However, adherence to the system is voluntary, so non-compliance is a constant problem. The Republic of Congo, Côte d`Ivoire and Venezuela were all accused of violations and expelled from the system in the mid-2000s; [19] Since then, Congo has been readmitted as a full participant, but Côte d`Ivoire and Venezuela have been demoted to membership. You can trade rough diamonds with KPCS participants, but not with non-members. [20] We should all send a strong message to the diamond industry, smugglers and those who run these abusive mining operations: it is not acceptable to trade in stones extracted by children whose labor has been forced, by women who have been raped or by men who have been tortured. Diamond mining in Zimbabwe has caused great damage. We must ask ourselves whether this is a moral price to pay for a stone. The Kimberley Process was launched by South Africa in May 2000, with Canada being one of the main proponents of launching the programme. Since then, Canada has passed several laws that help end the trade in conflict diamonds. The laws deal with the export and import of rough diamonds and how they are transferred. In December 2002, the Canadian government passed the Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act.
This act acts as a system that helps control the import, export and transportation of rough diamonds across Canada. The Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act also states that the Kimberley Process is the minimum requirement for the certification of rough diamonds and that a certificate is also required for all diamond deliveries. This certificate is called a Canadian certificate and gives official authorization to seize any shipment of diamonds that does not meet the requirements of the Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act. [58] This is a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, companies need to understand their supply chains well enough to reassure customers that child labour, environmental degradation or human rights violations will not stain their jewellery. But if the easiest way to do this is simply to boycott certain countries, abstention will not make these problems go away. In a desperately poor country like Congo, where more than half of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day, things could actually get worse. “Artisanal miners in Africa are becoming victims of our desire to do the right thing for diamond miners,” Says Bai. This type of supply chain management requires considerable effort and trust, as even experts cannot recognize the origin of a diamond just by looking at it.