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Marange, Chiadzwa and other diamond fields and the Kimberley Process - Index of articles
Zim
minister elated with diamond decision
Gillian Gotora,
Mail & Guardian (SA)
November 03, 2011
http://mg.co.za/article/2011-11-03-zim-minister-elated-with-diamond-decision/
Zimbabwe's mining minister
vowed that the country "will no longer be begging for anything
from anybody" after international diamond regulators agreed
to let it trade about $2-billion in diamonds from a field where
human rights groups say miners have been tortured.
Earlier this
week, Kimberley Process experts meeting in the Democratic Republic
of Congo agreed to allow Zimbabwe to sell diamonds
from the Marange fields. Zimbabwe, which has denied allegations
of human rights abuses in the area, had been under sanctions since
2009 because of "significant noncompliance".
The Kimberley Process
was set up in 2002 after brutal wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia
that were fuelled by "blood diamonds". Participant nations
are now forced to certify the origins of the diamonds being traded,
assuring consumers that they are not financing war or human rights
abuses.
The 60 000-hectare Marange
field in eastern Zimbabwe was discovered in 2006 at the height of
Zimbabwe's political, economic and humanitarian crisis. It is believed
to be the biggest find in the world since the 19th century, and
it triggered a chaotic diamond rush.
Shock
the world
Last year, the Kimberley
Process declared two shipments of stones from the Zimbabwe mines
conflict-free, backing off from a ban and allowing 900 000 carats
of diamonds to be auctioned. The latest move allows all diamonds
from the area to be sold. The stockpile of Marange diamonds - about
4.5-million stones - is valued at about $2-billion.
"We are
going to shock the world. We are going to unleash our worthiness,"
Mining Minister Obert Mpofu told reporters on Wednesday. "Zimbabwe
will no longer be begging for anything from anybody."
Human Rights
Watch has accused Zimbabwean troops of killing more than 200 people,
raping women and forcing children to search for the gems in Marange
fields.
Mike Davis, a human rights
activist from Global Witness said on Wednesday that the decision
was a "disappointing conclusion" to the issue.
"Violence is still
going on and smuggling, providing revenue for the ruling elite,"
Davis said.
He said Zimbabwe also
had not met some conditions, such as removing military troops from
the area and allowing small-scale diamond miners to operate there
as well.
Opposition politicians
also say there is rampant theft in the Marange diamond fields by
forces loyal to longtime ruler Robert Mugabe. Lawmaker Eddie Cross
said he has received death threats from Mugabe's security agents
after he testified before Parliament
about millions of dollars in diamond profits that he said already
could not be accounted for.
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