Calls for an international ban on Zimbabwe’s diamond sales are set to dominate this week’s meeting of the global body set up to prevent trade in “blood diamonds,” in a key test for the regulatory regime.
Civil society groups who form part of the Kimberley Process are demanding the suspension of Zimbabwe’s international diamond trade, citing human rights abuses in the eastern Marange diamond fields.
A Kimberley investigation in July documented “unacceptable and horrific violence against civilians by authorities” in Marange, following months of reports of killings, forced evictions and other abuses by the army in the region near the border with Mozambique.
The Kimberley Process, named after a South African mining town, was created in 2003 with the aim of curbing the flow of “blood diamonds” into the mainstream market.
About 70 diamond-producing countries, industry groups and civil society organizations form part of the Kimberley Process, which is meant to stop diamond sales from benefiting armed groups.
In Zimbabwe’s case, the military has taken control of the Marange fields, which is believed be an important source of revenue for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, a report by Human Rights Watch said.
Global Witness, which monitors exploitation of natural resources, said Zimbabwe is in violation of Kimberley Process rules — even though its diamond sales aren’t funding a war.
“You have a situation in which the exploitation of diamonds is accompanied by, and very directly linked to, human rights abuses, which the Kimberley Process was designed to prevent,” campaigner Mike Davies said.
Countries like Namibia, chairing the four-day meeting that opens today, however, have so far opposed suspending Zimbabwe. After the Kimberley investigation, Namibia sent its own mission to Zimbabwe and indicated that suspension was not an option.
The meeting will also review the findings of a team sent to Angola to investigate claims of rape and other abuses committed against foreign workers, as well as claims that diamonds are being smuggled from Ivory Coast to Israel.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese