Controversial KPCS Proposal Shot Down

Republic of Zimbabwe Minister of Mines Obert Mpofu has challenged the DeBeers diamond corporation for its theft of resources from the Southern African state. Zimbabwe has one of the largest diamond deposits in the world., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Controversial KPCS proposal shot down

Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu announced that Zimbabwe will table a proposal to host the envisaged secretariat

From Brezhnev Malaba in WASHINGTON DC
Zimbabwe Herald

AFRICAN and Asian members of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme yesterday shot down a controversial proposal to place the grouping under the control of Western thinktanks with strong military links.

On a day of swift drama at the State Department, the venue of the KPCS inter-sessional meeting, a proposal by the United States to redefine conflict diamonds was also strongly rejected by African and Asian members.

The KPCS, formed in 2003 to prevent the use of rough diamonds to fund rebel movements, has no full-time secretariat.

At a plenary session in Kinshasa, DRC, in November last year, the diamond watchdog adopted a resolution to push for the establishment of a full-time office.

Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu announced that Zimbabwe will table a proposal to host the envisaged secretariat.

“We will tell them that Zimbabwe is willing to host the secretariat,” he said at a dinner hosted for his delegation by Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the US, Dr Machivenyika Mapuranga.

“Yes, why not? We’re the biggest diamond producer.”

In heated discussions that were closed to the Press, the US and its allies tabled a proposal to outsource KPCS secretariat services to three organisations whose selection was queried by African and Asian members.

The Swiss-based Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of the Armed Forces, one of the shortlisted entities, formally offered to run the KPCS secretariat on an annual budget of US$311 500.

Diamonds are forever, and for Zimbabweans
Norway-based International Law and Policy Institute, jointly with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, tabled a US$463 345 budget.

The third organisation, Washington-based Foley Hoag Corporate Social Responsibility Practice, offered to run the envisaged KPCS secretariat on an annual budget of US$677 000.

Member countries of the diamond watchdog asked tough questions as to how the US chose the three organisations.

They challenged the US to abide by the same rules of transparency and consultation that it demands of other countries.

Attorney-General Mr Johannes Tomana, who is part of the Zimbabwean delegation, was cautiously optimistic, saying it was imperative to remain vigilant.

“I would like to thank the Zimbabwean team for working tirelessly to ensure that we make progress,” he said.

“But we must remain alive to the fact that although we have waded past the deeper part of the river, we must not rest on our laurels, we must remain vigilant.”

Sources said there were dramatic scenes during discussions by the Working Group on Reform when the US and its allies moved a motion to outsource the proposed new secretariat to the shortlisted thinktanks whose links with Western-militaries and governments are in the public record.

“The African and Asian members of the KPCS immediately objected and shot down the motion,” said an African delegate who refused to be named.

“There is no way the KPCS can outsource its secretariat to such organisations whose values do not tally with ours.”

Zimbabwe’s position on the matter was that although the nation supported the idea of establishing a secretariat, it strongly opposed attempts to outsource such an important task to Western organisations whose values and motives were questionable.

On the proposal by the US, Canada and their allies to push for the redefinition of conflict diamonds, the Westerners again hit a brick wall as the idea was rejected by African and Asian members during closed-door discussions by the Working Group on Reform.

The members argued that the KPCS must respect the outcome of a recent questionnaire which explored the question of whether the definition of conflict diamonds must be broadened to encompass “human rights” issues.

More than 75 percent of the members shot down the proposal through the questionnaire.

“During the Working Group on Reform, attempts by the US to go into the merits or de-merits of changing the definition of conflict diamonds was totally resisted,” said an African delegate who spoke on the sidelines of the inter-sessional meeting.

“The whole motion was shot down on account of its defective methodology. If the recent survey clearly showed that more than 75 percent of the members were against redefinition, on what basis was the US trying to force the matter through?”

Discussions by the Working Group on Monitoring went smoothly, even though delegates spent more than 90 minutes out of three hours talking about Zimbabwe, which was item seven on the agenda.

Mr Marc van Bockstael, the KPCS monitor of Zimbabwe whose last visit to the country ended on May 26, presented his report to the working group.

The report was well-received and all the negativity that has been witnessed in the past was absent this time around, sources said.

Today, the inter-sessional meeting continues with wider discussions focusing on issues emanating from yesterday’s group sessions.


Fresh bid to redefine conflict diamonds

Tuesday, 05 June 2012 00:00
From Brezhnev Malaba in WASHINGTON DC, USA

THE four-day Kimberley Process Certification Scheme inter-sessional meeting was officially opened yesterday amid calls for unity among member countries.

Delegates braced for heated discussions on a controversial proposal by a Western-led coalition to push for the redefinition of conflict diamonds.

In her speech, KPCS chair Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic, from the US, said the diamond watchdog must reform or lose credibility.

She outlined the US government’s position on the need to redefine “conflict diamonds”, saying that broadening the scope of the human rights discourse would enable the KPCS “to do a better job of monitoring its members and implementing the agreed rules.”

Ambassador Milovanovic sought to placate African members of the KPCS by assuring the meeting that there was nothing sinister in the US campaign to push for the redefinition of conflict diamonds.

“We hope the inter-sessional will be a platform for the exchange of ideas, keeping the KP strong and making it better than ever,” she said.

“None of us has a monopoly on ideas, but each one of us has a contribution to make.”

The US diplomat set the stage for a bruising fight when she urged KPCS members to embrace calls for the redefinition of conflict diamonds.

“Fundamentally, we believe a carefully re-worded, redefinition will keep the KP relevant in future,” she said.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is a joint initiative that brings governments, industry and civil society together to stem the flow of rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments.

The US and other Western countries now want the scope of conflict diamonds to be extended to encompass any “diamond-related violence”.

Analysts say the redefinition could be open to abuse by powerful nations.

African and Asian members of the KPCS have vowed to resist the US-led calls for the inclusion of “human rights” in the definition of conflict diamonds.

They view the Western campaign with suspicion, saying it is part of a plot by powerful nations to bully smaller countries that have resisted domination.

Addressing the same meeting, South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Ms Susan Shabangu, urged KPCS members to exercise caution when discussing proposals for the re-definition of conflict diamonds.

She said if the matter was badly handled, it would divide members and sow disunity, much to the detriment of the organisation and the “millions of people who rely on diamond revenue”.

Ms Shabangu said it was through “the spirit of Ubuntu” that countries such as Zimbabwe were now able to benefit from the diamond sector, which created “a springboard for economic growth and development”.

The president of the World Diamond Council, Mr Eli Izhakoff, supported calls for the redefinition of conflict diamonds, but urged KPCS members to preserve unity and justice.

Drawing inspiration from American civil rights legend Dr Martin Luther King Jnr who delivered his famous “I have a Dream” speech here in 1963, Mr Izhakoff said all members of the KPCS were entitled to liberty.

“Dr King understood intuitively a truth that some of us in the diamond sector have known all along, that we are mutually dependent as members of the Kimberley Process,” he said.

The Civil Society Coalition also voiced support for calls for the re-definition of conflict diamonds.

Today members of the KPCS will break into groups to discuss reports tabled by the Working Committees on reform, statistics and monitoring.