The Darker Side of Diamonds

“A diamond is forever.”  That gem of advertising genius created over 65 years ago ensured that diamonds would achieve an almost mythical status as the most enduring gifts of all.  But what of the diamonds’ origins?  We’ve all heard of blood diamonds and shuttered to think of the lives lost and pain suffered all in search of those beautiful, priceless stones.  But that all happens thousands of miles away in Africa and besides, aren’t all diamonds we buy certified as “conflict free”?  

Not so, according to many experts familiar with the workings of the Kimberly Process, the system of cross-border certification developed almost a decade ago to deal with the problem of so-called “blood diamonds.”  Critics of the Process claim that it is in need of redefinition to address current conflicts that are of a different nature than those dealt with in the past.  Garnering particular outrage is the Kimberly Process’s recent endorsement of diamonds exported from the Marange fields of eastern Zimbabwe, a region taken over by Robert Mugabe’s military in 2008 amid widespread reports of violence and killings.  While the Kimberly Process previously focused on rebel movements that used diamonds to fuel their uprisings against legitimate governments, advocacy groups now urge that the greatest concern should be corrupt governments like Mugabe’s in Zimbabwe who use diamond proceeds to line their own pockets.

The decision by the Kimberly Process to endorse the Marange diamonds “upset the delicate, triangular balance of more than 70 governments, diamond industry representatives and advocacy groups that united” to form it in 2003.  Global Witness, a British advocacy group pulled out in December, claiming that Kimberly had failed to deal with “diamonds [that] have been fueling violence and human rights violations.”  Others remain optimistic that change will come since the United States assumed formal leadership on January 1st.  What is undeniable is the world’s thirst for more and more diamonds.  While the U.S. remains the world’s largest consumer of stones, China is certainly not far behind and Chinese mining companies are already positioning themselves for a windfall.  In fact, Anjin, a joint Chinese-Zimbabwean company was the biggest beneficiary of Kimberly’s Marange endorsement with over two million carats in diamonds stockpiled and waiting for the announcement.

To read the whole article in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/world/europe/14iht-letter14.html?ref=world