On 13 July 2010, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe opened Zimbabwe’s parliament with a speech in which he announced Zimbabwe’s re-emergence into the diamond market. In January 2010, the Kimberly Process (KP), an international certification scheme (empowered by the United Nations General Assembly), placed a ban on Zimbabwean diamonds from the Marange diamond fields, due to reports that there were gross human rights violations being committed by security forces in the area. It is the duty of the KP to certify the world’s diamonds by analysing sourcing methods and assuring that minimum standards are maintained to ensure that the diamonds are not funding any conflicts or encouraging human rights abuses. Diamonds that do not meet the KP’s standard are banned, and these diamonds are also known as “blood diamonds”.

In response to the KP’s ban on the Marange diamonds, President Mugabe imposed a strong-arm tactic and placed a blanket ban on all Zimbabwean diamonds until the Kimberly Process gave their approval on the Marange diamonds. Then in June 2010, KP's monitor, Abbey Chikane reported that Zimbabwe had finally met the minimum requirements in Marange for legitimate diamond trade. Thus, after a controversial and divisive vote, the issue of the Marange diamonds are still neither approved nor banned. The KP is in deadlock - because their voting system requires a full consensus. This has given Zimbabwe an opportunity to sell their diamonds, while the KP agonises over the decision. This led to President Mugabe’s speech in parliament today, where he said: "With Zimbabwe now projected to contribute around 25% of the global diamond output, there are huge prospects for the diamond sub-sector to emerge as a major driver of the country's economic turnaround."

This is an economic turnaround that Zimbabwe greatly needs. According to the poverty-stricken state’s finance minister, they rely heavily on their mining. The Marange diamond fields have been plaguing the KP for some time and until a decisive vote is made, the matter will not be settled. Recently, the Zimbabwe question has been all that occupies their meetings; at Tel Aviv where they recently made their vote regarding Marange, and in St Petersburg in July 2010. The tension of the issue at Tel Aviv was further exacerbated by diamond magnate, Martin Rapaport’s hunger strike, to protest the influence that “corrupt governments” wielded over the KP.

Marange

According to one anonymous activist, there is also some concern about whether the Kimberly Process monitor, Abbey Chikane was performing his tasks as objectively as he should have done. One finding that Chikane made was regarding the need for a slow withdrawal of the Zimbabwean security forces, to ensure that no “illegal miners” could take advantage of a lapse in security. However, these are the same security forces that were reported to have beaten, killed and raped civilians in Marange, none of whom have been brought to justice. These troops have also been executing a slow withdrawal for a year or so, which makes one wonder if they ever really intend to comply. 

The human rights group, Global Witness recently released a report titled: “Return of the blood diamond: how the crisis in Zimbabwe is undermining international efforts to eradicate conflict diamonds.” In this report, they detail how President Mugabe, his party Zanu PF and the state’s military elite are slowly enriching themselves through Zimbabwe’s diamond wealth, how the Government has sponsored violence and human rights abuses. One suggestion by the KP was that Zimbabwe should privatise their operations in Marange, but this has only led to shady joint venture operations that still seem to be leaving Zimbabwe’s citizens without a fair stake. The report focuses on this point and details the KP’s inability to set things right. They argue that Zimbabwe’s military and political elite barely pays the KP lip service. To highlight the arguments laid out by Global Witness, the Zimbabwean Minister of Mines sums it all up in one sentence: "...we are going to benefit from our diamonds whether with the KP or not".

There have been many reports over the past year and more about the atrocities committed in Marange and about the government’s unwillingness to amend their ways. And so, whilst it would seem as if one cannot rely on the Zimbabwean government to make the right choices, there is a need to rely on the Kimberly Process.

Suggestions?

After Tel Aviv, Eli Izhakoff, the President of the World Diamond Council (WDC) pointed out the need for a rethink of the KP’s decision-making process. The WDC is another international body dedicated to eradicating the production and distribution of illegal diamonds and it holds a large degree of influence within the KP. Izhakoff felt that a two-thirds or a 75% majority was a viable solution, and that blocking issues should be confronted: “…a situation in which one participant has the power to block progress without even having to declare the reason for doing so".

Annie Dunnebacke of Global Witness said that many active members of the civil society also felt that it was time for a review of the KP’s decision-making process. Her suggestion is to make it more flexible, allowing for majority votes on some issues, like non-compliance by members. She felt that: "What we have now is block voting, and block voting leads to the lowest common denominator prevailing."

The reality is that any votes that require a full consensus has a natural tendency to end up in a deadlock. Many organisations or decision-making bodies often stipulate the need for consensus voting at the start of an organisation’s life span, and there are many good reasons for this. But as the organisation evolves, this veto ability of members tends to stagnate its development and could lead to its premature demise. The Zimbabwe issue is a pivotal point in the development of the KP. As it nears the end of its first decade, it now needs to adapt or perhaps be replaced by something more efficient.

NOTES:

(1) Andre Lotz is an External Consultant in Consultancy Africa Intelligence’s Conflict & Terrorism Unit ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).