Global Witness Praises Kimberley Process Over RoC Decision
July 13, 04
Global Witness has expressed its strong support for the Kimberley Process decision to remove the Republic of Congo (RoC) from the Process, the international governmental certification scheme aimed at ending the trade in conflict diamonds.
“Removing the Republic of Congo is a major step towards ensuring that the Kimberley Process is working effectively and has teeth,” said Corinna Gilfillan of Global Witness.
“This decision sets an important precedent for how to deal with countries and diamond traders that are not complying with the Kimberley Process.”
Meanwhile, the World Diamond Council also voiced its strong support for the decision. WDC Chairman Eli Izhakoff told IDEX Online: “We strongly support the decision of KP Chairman Martin and we see it as a sign of strength for the Process and the confidence consumers can have in it.”
KP Chairman Tim Martin said at the end of last week that it was removing the RoC as a participant in the process due to its consistent failure in preventing conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate diamond trade.
KP investigators found the RoC was “unable to account for a massive discrepancy between the scale of rough diamond exports and the absence of any reported production or imports”, effectively meaning that almost all the diamonds it sent to market were smuggled into the country.
“The Canadian government's strong leadership on this issue has been critical to ensuring the credibility of the Kimberley Process and the protection of the legitimate diamond trade,” Gilfillan added.
The next few months would be a key test of whether the Kimberley Process and the diamond industry ensures that the millions of dollars of smuggled Angolan and DRC diamonds go through legitimate channels rather than a new smugglers' paradise, Global Witness said.