If Mad Bob wants to sell diamonds, he has to go through the KP. It is for no other reason that this that he is complying with the UN investigation. Damn, I'll bet he wasn't planning for this.
Note too how it was a British company that found the diamonds. Old whitey is still at it - finding value in the resource-rich grounds of Africa on which blacks are starving.
Allegations that government soldiers in Zimbabwe killed hundreds of illegal miners at a diamond field in the east of the country are being investigated by an international team, according to state media.
Previous posts;
Zim: Soldiers are new illegal diamond miners
Mad Bob helicopters slaughter miners
The group from the United Nation’s Kimberly Process (KP) arrived in Harare last Monday to begin its investigation, which has been sparked by widespread local rumours around the diamond fields of Chiazdzwa.
The Chiazdzwa diamond fields were discovered in 2007 by a UK- based mining company, Africa Consolidated Resources, but President Robert Mugabe’s government quickly seized the claim and gave the mining rights to the state- run Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation.
However, word of the find sparked a diamond rush and it is estimated that 20,000 Zimbabweans descended on the area.
The police initially tried to tackle the illegal mining, but they failed to deter the miners. Consequently, the army was dispatched by the government last October.
Human rights organisations have accused the soldiers of using brutal tactics, saying the hospital morgues in Mutare are full of the operation’s victims.
The Movement for Democratic Change has alleged that hundreds were also buried in mass graves to hide the atrocities.
Last year the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, a combination of rights organisations, called for the alleged violations to be investigated so those responsible could be brought to justice.
The Herald newspaper reported the KP team began its investigation in Harare with government officials, and then travelled to Chiazdzwa, which is about 80kms from Mutare, last Tuesday to continue its fact finding mission.
Since the crackdown it has been reported that the soldiers posted to guard the fields are now taking part in illegal mining activities, allegedly forcing locals to carry out the digging and panning for them so as not to raise suspicion.
However, mining minister Obert Mpofu has denied the allegations of mass murder, telling the Herald on Wednesday that: “No one was killed in the [clean-up] operation” before confirming three diggers were murdered by criminals.
He added that Zimbabwe had signed up to the KP and as such was “committed to the successful implementation of the Kimberly Process, and will provide information on the situation on the ground”. The KP was established by the UN to monitor trade in illegally-mined diamonds, known as “blood diamonds” which have been used by armed groups to fund conflicts across Africa and support corrupt regimes.
Illegally mined diamonds are usually smuggled out of their countries of origin. The stones are then sold into the diamond supply chain of countries like South Africa where legitimate trading occurs.
The KP process is effectively an international certification scheme designed to prevent diamonds mined in conflict areas from entering these markets.
If the allegations against the government prove to be true, Zimbabwe could be struck off the KP list of signatories.
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2 Opinion(s):
Checking KP while diamond mines in Namibia and South Africa are "struggling?" They are no doubt afraid that the market will be flooded with Zim diamonds and this will cause a drop in price which the diamond industry can ill afford. They do not care about blood diamonds, the visit to Zim is purely a a PR exercise. Blood diamonds are miraculously cleansed when they are “smuggled” into SA where they are traded without a problem. How do I know, because I have an acquaintance who makes his living from trading Zim diamonds.
Namdeb is considering ceasing production for three months. This will no doubt create a "shortage" in the market. All the free publicity the "struggling" diamond industry gets in the MSM and movies,is a Coca-Cols flash. This will ensure that demand for the stone increases. Unfortunatley for the industry, this exercise will only work if Zim toes the line. Blood diamonds my ass. Are diamonds losing their sparkle?
In an internal staff memo, Mundell wrote: “It is time for all of us to stand up to the ‘rotten apples’ – those that spread their negativeness [sic] amongst us, trying to pull the whole business down and consuming some of our positive energy.”
He was referring to those who had criticised the various cost-saving options outlined during meetings with staff last week. Namdeb Managing Director Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi and members of Namdeb and De Beers management toured the mining area to discuss the effects of the global financial crisis on the industry.
It was during these sessions that the possibility of a three-month ‘production holiday’ was raised. The temporary production halt is expected to save the company up to N$200 million.
The Kimberley Process was what first gaurenteed that every diamond mined, would be owned by the Rothschilds... remember them, the guys who employed Cecil Rhodes, and who today own the Bank of England and the US Federal Reverve!
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