World Diamond Council backs Kimberley Process

Posted July 20, 2010 |

World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) president Avi Paz threw his support behind the Kimberley Process at this year’s World Diamond Council.

Paz backed the 'blood diamond' monitoring group in his address to the biennial meeting hours before the Process finally reached an agreement with Zimbabwe over diamond exports. The Zimbabwe deal was hammered out in Moscow during the congress, held on July 11 to 13. The Kimberley Process has agreed to let the country resume exports from controversial mines in the Marange region in the understanding that it will adhere to a strict monitoring program.

At the World Diamond Council, Paz insisted that the WFDB “has the ability to enforce the KP resolutions”. He continued: “Our commitment is unequivocal and we should continue doing everything to protect the purity of the diamonds and the integrity of everyone involved in our industry throughout the pipeline.”

The credibility of the monitoring group had been called into question after months of talks with Zimbabwe over the export of diamonds from the country’s Marange region. Marange exports have been blocked since last November, after a Kimberley Process monitoring mission found instances of non-compliance and human rights violations.

Kimberley Process monitor Abbey Chikane recommended that exports resume after a follow-up report in May, but the motion was blocked by the US, Canada, Australia and a coalition of human rights groups.

In June, Zimbabwe threatened to pull out of the Kimberley Process and to start exporting rough diamonds from the Marange region without the backing of the monitoring group, causing international uproar.

Rona Peligal, acting Africa director at US-based Human Rights Watch – a critic of the Kimberley Process’s handling of the situation – said: "The Kimberley Process risks total irrelevance if it ignores these ongoing abuses. If the Kimberley Process can't take real action on an issue like Zimbabwe, then what is it good for?"

At the time, Paz urged the industry not to buy diamonds from the Marange fields until an agreement was reached with the Kimberley Process. Following the warning, any member of the WFDB found to be buying such diamonds would have been subject to disciplinary action.

After reaching an agreement on the country’s diamond exports, Zimbabwe’s mining minister Obert Mpofu said: "I want to assure everyone that Zimbabwe means business.

“We will adhere, we will comply. We will not let you down."

Learn more about the Kimberley Process.
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