Rapaport bans Zimbabwe Diamonds

| Wednesday August 18, 2010 00:00

This was despite the Kimberley Process (KP) having allowed Limited diamond exports from the Marange diamonds fields to resume, following a suspension earlier this year.  RapNet parent company, the Rapaport Group, informed members in a trade alert notice on its website that, while the trading of Marange diamonds was legal in some jurisdictions, it was still illegal for US, European Union (EU) and UK citizens or entities to knowingly trade in these diamonds, owing to government sanctions.

'We strongly urge members to contact their suppliers and obtain written assurances that they are not being supplied Marange diamonds. US, UK and EU members may have a legal obligation to do so and should consult their legal advisers,' the group stated.

Rapaport said that the KP has certified about 900 000 ct of rough diamonds from Marange since the export ban was lifted.

It noted, however, that there was no assurance that diamonds with KP certification were free of human rights violations.

Human rights groups had, in the past, criticised the export of diamonds from the Marange area, where security forces were said to be committing serious human rights abuses. 'Based on the above legal and moral considerations, RapNet will continue to forbid the trading of any diamonds sourced from Marange, Zimbabwe, on our network,' it said.

In response Zimbabwe Mines minister, Obert Mpofu, has dimissed as inconsequential the move by Rapaport to bar its members from dealing in gems extracted from the Marange fields saying Zimbabwe would sell its stones where they are welcome.  Mpofu said he was 'not surprised at all' by the move.

'You might be aware that America, the European Union and the United Kingdom have made every effort to make Zimbabwe fail,' Mpofu told a Germany news agency.  'In any case, these countries do not constitute the entire market of diamonds. We will sell our stones to countries where they are welcome.  We have countries like Russia, China, India and other Asian countries where we can market our diamonds.'

The US and other western governments recently led opposition to the lifting of the ban imposed by the Kimberly Process (KP) certification scheme on Marange diamond exports during meetings held in Israel and Russia.

However, the KP, set up to keep 'blood diamonds' - stones from conflict zones - out of global gem trade, last week endorsed the sale of 900,000 carats from the controversial Marange fields.

The auction raised about US$72 million. But Western human rights activists have called for a ban on Marange, where Zimbabwe's army is accused of widespread atrocities when it moved in to guard the poorly secured fields after a diamond rush drew up to 30 000 informal diggers.

The government denies the allegations. The country says it has stockpiled nearly 4 million carats of diamonds since the start of the year, estimated by state media to be worth $1.7 billion.

Authorities say the diamond revenues can help fix the struggling economy, which is recovering from a decade-long recession.