Denford Magora's Zimbabwe Blog (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
The reddish-coloured diamonds of Marange in Zimbabwe have now been banned from trading by the Kimberley Certification Process Scheme, but diamonds from the rest of Zimbabwe will continue trading unabated. The Zimbabwe Government says it is earning only US$20 million a month from Marange diamonds, although Gideon Gono of the Zimbabwe Reserve Bank has said that sales of diamonds from the...
All Africa (Free subscription) | yesterday
The decision to give Zimbabwe no more than a slap on the wrist for the human rights abuses which its army has committed on the Marange alluvial diamond fields in the south-east of the country seriously threatens the future of the diamond industry's initiative to avert consumer boycotts of its gemstones.
All Africa (Free subscription) | 07/11/2009
The credibility of the world's "blood diamond" monitoring group has been damaged after its failure this week to suspend Zimbabwe despite overwhelming evidence of serious human rights abuses and smuggling in the Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch said today.
Studiopjj (Free subscription) | 07/11/2009
Sarah Childress's opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal ( November 6, 2009 ) about trading of Zimbabwean rough diamonds in Mozambique was interesting. Members of the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme issued a toothless statement in Namibia declining ( November 5, 2009 ) to suspend Zimbabwe from the organization over its failure to take strong action on human rights and other abuses in the Marange...
Trade Africa (Free subscription) | 07/11/2009
... human rights groups. Although its own investigators found killings and forced evictions from the Marange diamond fields in the east of the country close to the border with Mozambique, the Kimberley Process panel stopped short of kicking Zimbabwe out, she says. Instead it has adopted a plan - proposed by Zimbabwe itself - which includes calls for an independent inspector to monitor diamonds...
Human Rights Watch (Free subscription) | 07/11/2009
(Johannesburg) - The credibility of the world's "blood diamond" monitoring group has been damaged after its failure this week to suspend Zimbabwe despite overwhelming evidence of serious human rights abuses and smuggling in the Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch said today. read more
Mail & Guardian (Free subscription) | 07/11/2009
Yet the Kimberley Process, the diamond body, said those gems don't qualify as "blood diamonds," and instead of sanctioning Zimbabwe is giving the country another chance to get its Marange fields under control.In a confidential report obtained by The Associated Press, investigators for the Kimberley Process had recommended that Zimbabwe be suspended, meaning many consumers would have shunnedthe...
France 24 (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
... of Zimbabwe over human rights abuses alleged by the army against civilians in the eastern Marange diamond fields.
Bosses blog (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
New York Times, CELIA W. DUGGER A confidential 44-page report by the Kimberley investigators, completed in September and provided to The New York Times by a participant who is critical of Zimbabwe, accuses Zimbabwe’s army of operating illegal syndicates that smuggle diamonds from the Marange diamond field in eastern Zimbabwe into Mozambique.
Denford Magora's Zimbabwe Blog (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
Small-scale Diamond miners are seen here at the Marange Diamond Fields in Zimbabwe at the height of diamond fever. Zimbabwe's diamonds face an international ban from the Kimberley Certification Process in Swakopmund, Namibia. The Minister of Mines made a presentation yesterday in the coastal town and did not address the main concern: the presence of the army at the diamond fields. There is...
Net News Publisher (Free subscription) | 07/11/2009
... extra-judicial violent attacks on illegal diamond miners and smuggling of the precious stones from Marange. The mission called for a temporary ban of six months or more to allow Zimbabwe time to comply with KP standards. It also said that, should the southern African nation volunteer to stop selling diamonds, the KP should monitor the “self-suspension” to ensure Harare implements all necessary...
New York Times (Free subscription) | 07/11/2009
... decided to send a monitor to decide whether future exports of rough diamonds from the troubled Marange fields in eastern Zimbabwe could be certified as not supporting conflicts. Human rights campaigners and nongovernmental organizations immediately denounced the decision, saying that the Kimberley Process had shown it was incapable of stopping gross abuses and the flouting of international...
New York Times (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
... decided to send a monitor to decide whether future exports of rough diamonds from the troubled Marange fields in eastern Zimbabwe could be certified as not supporting conflicts. Human rights campaigners and nongovernmental organizations immediately denounced the decision, saying that the Kimberley Process had shown it was incapable of stopping gross abuses and the flouting of international...
Daniel Molokele (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
... could result in buyers shunning Zimbabwe's diamonds. While the rough gems flowing from Zimbabwe's Marange field do not fit the strict Kimberley definition of conflict diamonds, the investigators said the lawlessness in the area would make it easy for traffickers to bring in such gems from other countries and then export them as Zimbabwean. "Lawlessness, particularly when combined with...
Boston Herald (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
In a confidential report obtained by The Associated Press, investigators for the Kimberley Process had recommended that Zimbabwe be suspended, meaning many consumers would have shunned the country’s diamonds. Instead, officials ended their annual deliberations this week with a decision Zimbabwe be given another chance to improve control over its Marange diamond fields.
