The Kimber Processing (KP) is neglecting and failing to protect people against new forms of conflicts affecting the diamond sector, Kimberley Process Civil Society Coordinator and Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) Deputy Director Shamiso Mtisi said.
Anerudo Mapuranga
Mtisi during the opening session of the KP Intersessional meeting said the rise of synthetic diamonds a revelation for the KP to relook on its roles making sure that the marginalized societies in the diamond industry are protected from the ills in the sector.
The Kimberley Process Civil Society Coordinator said the KP was supposed to take a leaf from Pandora which has decided to move from mined diamond to synthetic due to the controversies surrounding the diamond industry.
“The rise of synthetic diamonds should be a wake-up call for rough diamond producing countries as it may affect their economies. Each generation is defined by its technologies.
“The age of synthetic diamonds, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data requires the rough diamond sector at the level of producers, traders and cutting and polishing industries to adapt.
“Adaptation entails embracing advances in scientific and social norms dictated by the needs of new generations. Governments equally need to start listening to these changing concerns to fix the problems in the diamond value chain.
“As an example, one of the worlds biggest jewellers, Pandora, said this year it will no longer sell mined diamonds and will switch exclusively to laboratory-made diamonds due to concerns about sustainability, human rights abuses, environmental harm and poor labour standards associated with mined diamonds. This highlights that the problems the KP CSC is pointing to may be difficult for some of you to hear, but these problems don’t disappear if you simply look the other way.” Mtisi said.
Mtisi said the Kimberley Process Civil Society has been working outside the KP in an effort to bring sanity to the diamond industry due to the fact that despite the presence of the KP, criminal elements continue to benefit from diamonds at the expense of local communities.
“We have also deliberately been working more outside the KP, reaching out to members of the diamond industry, retailers, jewellers, consumers and other NGOs that are willing to listen to and understand the message we have been trying to convey in the KP for years.
“These actors appear prepared to expose the duplicity of the KP, with ill-intentioned actors and criminals hiding behind its failings to continue profiting at the expense of local communities, through undervaluation of diamonds, revenue mismanagement and violence.
“We will continue working much more closely with millennial and Generation Z consumers who want to buy ethically sourced diamonds. The future of the industry relies on keeping these consumers on board, and thus taking actions to curb illegality, human rights violations, environmental harm and poor working conditions.” He said.
According to Mtisi it was of importance for KP to start working the talk through giving voice to the voiceless and protecting communities from diamond conflicts.
“It is our mission and responsibility to bring the voice of these marginalized communities to this forum, as we feel many of the discussions we are having here are so disconnected from this reality. We want to open this forum by sharing some of the reports we have collected or come across, in the hope that all of you will keep this reality in mind, throughout this week’s discussions. This is a call to all KP Participants and Observers to meaningfully address these concerns so that we don’t have to go back to our constituencies and explain that the KP has no relevance for them. This is a selection of some of the reports that concern us most:
“ In CAR, in addition to the devastating civil war, there are new reports of mercenaries violently expelling locals from diamond mines, in complicity with the national army, through a fear campaign of rape, torture and indiscriminate attacks on civilians.
- In Tanzania, a private security company protecting the Williamson Diamond Mine of Petra Diamonds, one of the largest diamond companies in the world, is accused of shooting dozens of locals in the past years, leading to their death or life-changing injuries. The company has come to a settlement with a number of the victim’s families recently, but it remains to be seen whether that will be satisfactory, and more importantly whether the violence will stop.
- In Lesotho, communities around Gem Diamonds’ Letseng mine, the highest value per carat mine in the world, live in constant fear that the mine’s tailing dams will burst, and that their drinking water is polluted, with the mine unable to provide them any assurances.
- In Zimbabwe, locals are asking to stop digging up diamonds as these stones do more harm than good, with reports of public and private security services being involved in using violence and abusing artisanal miners and locals. The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company and any new actors have legacy issues and a duty to seriously address and clean the image of diamonds in Zimbabwe.
- Again, in Zimbabwe, Murowa Diamonds, a member of the Natural Diamond Council, committed to promoting responsible sourcing standards, is repeatedly being accused by local communities of drilling and exploring for diamonds less than 100m from a school thereby disrupting learning activities and the children’s right to education.
- In Sierra Leone, communities have for years been unsuccessfully trying to get compensation from Octea’s Koidu mine, where they claim to be forcibly removed from their homes, their farmland buried under rubble, and their water sources polluted.
- In Angola’s Lunda Norte province, communities report that their protests against the destruction of villages and livelihoods because of diamond mining continue to be violently suppressed.
- In Brazil, there is growing concern that criminal groups mining for gold and diamonds in the Amazon are destroying the environment and assaulting indigenous groups.
- Efforts to formalize artisanal mining in South Africa – with the development of the Draft ASM Policy – and Zimbabwe also thinking of developing an ASM Policy, should include measures for communities to benefit from the diamond mining sector as well. Failure to formalize artisanal mining sponsors chaos and allows criminal networks to thrive.
- In addition to all the above, artisanal miners continue to struggle with the impact of COVID19. While the world market sales and prices are rapidly recovering, artisanal miners continue to receive drastically reduced prices. These are up to 50% less than before the pandemic, seriously cutting their household budgets.
“I know that many of you are thinking that dealing with these concerns is not the KP’s responsibility. But at the same time, all of you like to say that the KP is conflict prevention or even a responsible sourcing mechanism. There is a problematic contradiction in that.
“Many of you also think that it is enough that the KP allows civil society to speak out on such issues, or that documenting and reporting human rights concerns is the sole responsibility of civil society. This is another problematic misconception. This should be a shared effort that concerns us all, be it in civil society, government or industry.
“You cannot keep on relying on our limited resources to bring the problems in your supply chains to light. These problems are not just our problems. Bad practices and bad actors contaminating the diamond trade are a threat to all of us. At present those who commit these human rights violations are not held to account, not by governments, nor by industry who are trading their diamonds. An important question for this forum is how the KP will ensure that these abusers are held accountable for their actions.
The Central African Republic
“With regard to the Central African Republic, it is in our view, time to look back and zoom out. The KP embargo on CAR has been in place for 8 years now, in different forms. But what has it achieved? The country is still at war, and communities whose livelihoods depend on diamonds are suffering even more and are driven into the hands of criminal networks and armed groups. Illicit trade and trade in conflict diamonds is flourishing. Over 90% of diamonds continue to be smuggled out of the country. The KP will never be able to stop this by looking only at the CAR. These stones find their way to the market via other countries, where they get KP certification, with numerous reports mentioning neighbouring countries, not only Cameroon, but also trading hubs like the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. These countries need to be involved in seeking a solution to this lingering problem. Enforcing border and custom control measures and cooperation are key tenets that should be strengthened through cooperation between KP Participants.
Principles for Responsible Diamond Sourcing
“We view the development of principles for responsible sourcing as something worth engaging on. Yet, our questions with regard to implementation, monitoring and the duties and obligations of Participants in this regard, remain unanswered to date. We hope that these elements will be part of the discussion during this Intersessional, so that the KP finally moves from talking the talk, to walking the walk.” Mtisi said.