U.S. State Dept Warns Zimbabwe to Cooperate or Be Banned from KP

Indicating that it is displeased with the failure to remove Zimbabwe from the Kimberley Process certification scheme, the U.S. State Department is threatening that if a plan to place strict controls on Zimbabwe’s Marange fields is not “thoroughly implemented,” the country will be suspended from the KP.

The statement also urges a “prompt resolution of the KP discussions on the critical role of respect for human rights in the administration of Participants’ diamond mining sectors.” The statement says that KP was created to mitigate such abuses in nations facing conflict or internal strife.

KP decided last week to place a monitoring mechanism on Zimbabwe’s Marange diamonds following reports of large scale smuggling and human rights abuses that include killings and rape.

“In light of serious concerns about Zimbabwe’s compliance with the Kimberley Process (KP) rough diamond certification scheme, we await full and expeditious implementation of the stringent controls.”

It further warns that, “The United States expects that if the Work Plan which obligates Zimbabwe to commit substantial effort and resources is not thoroughly implemented, the KP will suspend Zimbabwe’s status in the KP certification scheme. We further note that Zimbabwe agreed not to export Marange diamonds until the monitoring mechanism is established.”

The U.S. expressed deep concern about human rights abuses in and around the Marange diamond fields and “urged” KP members to demonstrate their "full commitment to the principles upon which the KP was established" - a stab at African countries that prevented a decision to suspend Zimbabwe.

The U.S. also welcomed progress made regarding increased oversight of exports from Guinea, new measures for identification and cooperation on suspicious shipments and efforts to improve coordination on technical and development assistance.