I heard that Zimbabwe is problematic in term of conflict diamonds – is this true?

A convention of the Kimberley Process is supposed to take place in Namibia in Nov 2009, in the purpose of discussing whether to prohibit the trading of diamonds from Zimbabwe. Lately many human rights organizations are trying to convince the Kimberley Process members to announce a ban, isolating Zimbabwe's diamond industry and not allowing these diamonds to be traded worldwide. This summer there have been riots and violent events in the Marange region in east Zimbabwe, in which the police forcefully pushed away illegal diamond miners and smuggled diamonds independently.

One of the ideas raised by Kimberley members is to announce a ban of 6 months, during which Zimbabwe could corporate with Kimberley standards, and stop the trading of conflict diamonds. After this period the Kimberley Process committee will consider to allow the trading of diamonds from Zimbabwe again.

Some human rights groups claim that this idea is too permissive and that only if Zimbabwe is completely banned than its government could free the Marange region from army troops and truly try to improve the country's diamond trading infrastructure. The Human Rights Watch has addressed a letter to South Africa, Belgium and Israel, requesting to suspend Zimbabwe, since only such a drastic move could lead to meaningful change. Normally, decisions made by the Kimberley Process committee must be unanimously in order to be implemented. As for now, it seems that Namibia objects the suspension of Zimbabwe, hence much debate is still expected.

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Despite the fact that Zimbabwe is a member of the Kimberley Process regulation scheme, which is supposed to prevent the smuggling of blood diamonds, it seems that many diamonds are being smuggled through there. Conflict diamonds are smuggled through Zimbabwe in an attempt to get them certified as legitimate diamonds in the neighboring South Africa. In addition, the diamonds miners in Zimbabwe suffer from severe violence and tough working conditions.

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New developments took place lately. In a meeting of the Kimberley Process committee in Namibia last week the status of Zimbabwe was thoroughly discussed. Many diamond producing African countries objected the suspension of Zimbabwe from the Kimberley Process, according to reports, while western members were more eager to ban Zimbabwe's diamond market, because of violations of human rights in the Marange region. It seems that as for now it's unlikely that Zimbabwe would be suspended any time soon.

Zimbabwe's mining minister, Obert Mpofu, was present in the meetings, presenting a governmental plan for the diamond mines area in Marange and claimed that Zimbabwe's government is taking all measurements needed in order to operate in accord with the Kimberely's Process guidelines. Still, many protestors claim that Zimbabwe's army is still managing the Marange region. Mpofu argued that untill private mining companies hire security staffs, which could prevent any illegal mining in the area, the Zimbabwe government must secure the area and keep the army involved.

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Recent reports of violence by the military against diamond mining workers in Zimbabwe led to a visit from the UN and Kimberly Process committee members to check things out. The report confirmed tales of terrifying violence, using violent force to recruit diamond mining workers and corroborated claims that thousands of diamonds were being exported illegally. The border control in Zimbabwe also leaves much to be desired. Many believe that the revenue from these illegally exported diamonds is actually going to high ranked officials in the government of Zimbabwe. The fact is, however, that Zimbabwe is a "no conflict" zone. There is no civil war, and the government is not a rebel terrorist group which doesn't exactly flow with the technical definition of conflict diamonds.
Nevertheless, the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme is now threatening to expel Zimbabwe from the committee as diamonds from Zimbabwe are not exactly conflict free diamonds either. This would make it illegal for Zimbabwe to export or import any diamonds from countries that are part of the committee. The KPCS includes approximately 72 countries which make up about 98% of the diamond market. If a country is expelled from the KPCS organization, it is left without any legitimate international diamond buyers or sellers. Of course, Zimbabwe denies all claims of human rights abuse and government corruption because they don't want to be considered a country that produces conflict diamonds.

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In the past 2 years, Zimbabwe has become a diamond smuggling center. The diamonds are smuggled from Zimbabwe to South Africa where they receive their certification and are then exported worldwide. Though the government in Zimbabwe does not admit to smuggling, more and more evidence of dishonesty and brutality in relation to diamonds has been brought to the attention of the UN and the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. According to Human Rights Watch studies, the police have been the perpetrators of the torture and killings of diamond miners in Zimbabwe. It appears that the military in the country has been responsible for the deaths of several hundreds of people in the diamond mines in the year 2008. The proceeds go to the head of the Zimbabwean military, President Robert Mugabe and his administration. Even the most recent mission to the country by the KP has shown that Zimbabwe is nowhere near where the Kimberley Process wants it to be so a recommendation has been made to keep the country out of the KP and keep them from exporting diamonds. However, as of yet, Zimbabwe is not suspended from KP. Diamonds from Zimbabwe are still being exported, sold, and set in diamond jewelry all over the world.

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