Curbing illicit diamond trade "a matter of life and death"

The United Nations General Assembly has urged the finalisation of an international certification scheme for rough diamonds in order to curb the flow of diamonds used to finance armed conflict.

Referring to the "Kimberley Process [KP]", a statement issued by the Assembly on Wednesday called for the "full implementation of existing measures targeting the illicit trade in rough diamonds that play a role in fuelling conflict".

The KP was set up in 2000 through initiatives by southern African diamond-producing countries. It aims to stem the flow of rough diamonds used by rebels to finance fighting to overthrow legitimate governments; to protect the legitimate diamond industry, on which many countries depend for their socioeconomic development; and to create and implement an international certification scheme for rough diamonds, based primarily on national certification schemes and on internationally agreed standards.

The statement quoted a representative from Botswana, and a co-convener of the KP, as saying that the issue of conflict diamonds had tarnished the image of Africa, as well as the public perception of a resource that otherwise should be one of sustenance and development for diamond-producing countries.

For those whose economies and democratic governance structures were sustained by the proceeds of diamond mining and processing, he said, "the success of the KP is a matter of life and death", as it was for those countries that had fallen victim to the murderous activities of rebel groups and their illegal trading in diamonds. It was the intention of participants in the process to start full implementation of the international certification scheme by the end of 2002, the General Assembly stated.

Meanwhile, however, the Fatal Transactions nongovernmental organisation has described the KP as being "a watchdog without teeth, chained in a kennel".

"Although the issue has been high on the international agenda, we just keep each other busy talking about the issue", with little concrete action taking place, Judith Sargentini, the international coordinator of Fatal Transactions, told IRIN. "To date we have no monitoring system, secretariat, no agreement on statistics," she said. "There has been a lot of talk, but little changing of theory into practice."