Country named as conduit for diamond smuggling

A "strong likelihood" exists that conflict diamonds from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and elsewhere, are being laundered through Central African Republic, according to a coalition of African and Canadian NGOs, Partnership Africa Canada (PAC). A new report entitled "Diamonds in the Central African Republic: Trading, Valuing and Laundering", issued on Monday, PAC revealed that significantly more diamonds were leaving the CAR each year than were produced there. Similarly, Belgian imports of diamonds declared as originating in the CAR had surpassed official CAR exports by a factor of three over the past few years, PAC said. Jean-Pierre Bemba's Movement de liberation du Congo rebel group is singled out as a likely participant in the trade. Two of the CAR's diamond export companies had been linked to Bemba by reliable sources investigating the diamond trade, the report said. The rebel leader had been able to finance his war against the government of President Joseph Kabila by controlling the sale of between one and three million dollars' worth of diamonds per month, it added. While the CAR had a "reasonably good" tracking system for locally mined diamonds, it was not being used, thereby rendering the country an attractive channel for diamond smugglers from other countries. The report recommended that while it was important for the CAR to comply with the Kimberley Process - an international tracking system - efforts must be made to halt the use of its name and territory in the trafficking of contraband diamonds. Kimberley must also be accompanied by a credible, independent review to ensure compliance. In the absence of such measures, the country's diamonds would remain "suspect", and it would therefore be appropriate for the UN Security Council to impose an international embargo on all diamonds from the CAR.