Industry Leaders Speak Out Against Failed International Process;
Point to New Solutions
San Francisco, CA..... Visionary leaders in the diamond industry are reacting to recent events in Zimbabwe that illustrate failures of the Kimberley Process (KP), which the industry relies on to prevent diamond sales from funding conflict.
In recent weeks, it has become clear that blood diamonds funding murder, forced labor, rape, and political oppression in Zimbabwe are reaching global consumer markets labeled as “conflict-
Resigning from his position at the World Diamond Council, highly influential industry expert Martin Rapaport protested the industry’s inaction: “Tens of thousands of carats of blood diamonds are now in dealers’ inventories and jewelers’ showcases — and are being actively sold to consumers. [. . .] Instead of eliminating blood diamonds, the KP has become a process for the systematic legalization and legitimization of blood diamonds.” Rapaport was a principal architect of the KP, along with Ian Smillie, who has also criticized it as a failure.
“Consumers are being misled by the “conflict-
"There are other certification and mining guarantees that a retailer can use in place of the flawed Kimberley Process. Unfortunately it requires a proactive and ethical retailer to now make sure blood diamonds aren't in showcases, and very few are willing to put in the effort to do so. We've shown it's possible to sell jewelry consumers feel good about, and hope other retailers join us in reform of a notoriously harmful industry," said Gerstein.
Beth Gerstein is available for interviews about diamond industry reform and socially conscious jewelry through the above media contact.
2010 Blood Diamonds Fact Sheet
While the diamond industry has convinced the public that the Kimberley Process (KP) certification scheme is keeping conflict diamonds off the market, recent events illustrate how the KP has failed to concern itself with the violent conditions under which many of the world’s diamonds are produced. The KP continues to certify diamonds from Zimbabwe, even though diamond mining there is causing unspeakable human suffering. Diamonds that have funded murders, forced labor, rape, and political oppression are currently on the market with “conflict free” certification.
1. Zimbabwe’s diamonds support war and human rights abuses.
Hundreds of civilian miners have been murdered by the Zimbabwean military, which in 2008 seized valuable diamond fields in the country’s Marange district and continues to oversee production. Human Rights Watch has documented mass murders, forced labor of both adults and children, torture, beatings, and other human rights violations by the Zimbabwean military. The KP’s own investigators have also documented cases of rape.
Furthermore, recent actions by the Zimbabwean military indicate that it is secretly trading rough diamonds for weapons, thereby helping to fortify and prolong Robert Mugabe’s oppressive and anti-democratic regime. Mugabe’s government has illegally seized mining operations, ignored national court rulings, and stolen diamonds out of the country’s central bank to line his party’s pockets.
Zimbabwe’s diamond production is currently valued at $33 million dollars annually, with over $150 million dollars smuggled out since 2003. The country is estimated to have over 16.5 million tons of diamond reserves available for mining.
2. Zimbabwe’s diamonds are being certified as “conflict free” by the Kimberley Process.
After its last politically charged and disorganized meeting in November 2009, the KP failed to suspend Zimbabwe for its diamond mining abuses. The KP continues its inaction even though Zimbabwe has not fulfilled its obligations and is threatening to voluntarily quit the certification scheme if standards are enforced. “We are trying to play it.... following the KP, but we can do it otherwise.... We can sell our own diamonds elsewhere," Mugabe told reporters on Feb 17, 2010.
Retaining its KP certification means that diamonds mined in Zimbabwe can be labeled as “conflict-
3. Major jewelers are not acting to ensure their diamonds are ethically acquired.
The KP has taken the feeble measure of temporarily banning the sale of new diamonds whose origins in Marange can be proved. However, Human Rights Watch has warned that “there is no way to guarantee that Marange stones are not being mixed with those produced at Zimbabwe's other two mines.” In addition, the temporary ban does not affect Marange diamonds that already have KP certification. And, despite the temporary ban, gems from the Marange district are being smuggled out of Zimbabwe and sold on the global diamond market.
Although industry leaders including the World Diamond Council (WDC) have called on jewelers to maintain “vigilance”
Several weeks ago, Rapaport resigned from the WDC in protest over the organization’
4. Most consumers do not realize they may be purchasing blood diamonds even in 2010.
A 2004 Amnesty International survey found that 83% of US jewelers says their customers ‘rarely or never’ inquire about the source of diamonds. A similar study in 2007 found that 56% of jewelers do not even have an auditing procedure in place to prevent the retail of conflict diamonds. Those that do rely on the faulty KP certification.
Fine jewelry sales in the United States rose 14.3% from December 2008 to December 2009. Approximately 50% of the $57.8 billion American jewelry market comes from diamonds.
