Ilya Gridneff Nairobi
THE Kimberley Process, which seeks to halt the trade in diamonds from conflict zones, planned a review of an embargo on Central African Republic’s (CAR) gem business next month, an EU official said.
The “peer-review mission”, composed of industry officials, members of civil society groups and representatives from member countries,would visit from April 28 to May 5, Joris Heeren, deputy head of the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, said this week.
The Kimberley Process did not reply when requesting comment.
“Any possible decision to lift the suspension in place has to be taken by consensus of all Kimberley Process participants,” Heeren said.
Violence erupted in CAR in March 2013 after the ousting of former president Francois Bozize by Seleka, a mainly Muslim rebel group.
The Kimberley Process banned the trade in diamonds from the country two months later because it said there was no way to determine whether conflict diamonds had been eliminated from shipments.
At least 3 000 people died, more than 2.5 million need urgent humanitarian aid and about 1 million have fled their homes to neighbouring countries or camps because of fighting, according to the UN.
The embargo deprived the government of revenue it needed to rebuild the shattered economy, Dominique Youane, CAR’s permanent secretary to the Kimberley Process, said in an interview in the capital, Bangui, in January.
The country’s economy shrank by 36 percent in 2013 and grew only 1 percent last year, according to International Monetary Fund estimates.
The ban created a “parallel system” where official diamond houses were stockpiling gems, while others were smuggling them illegally, Youane said.
CAR ranked as the world’s 10th-biggest producer by value in 2012, according to the US Geological Survey.
Since the ban was introduced, at least 140 000 carats of diamonds valued at $24 million (R283.5m) have been smuggled out of the country, Aurelien Llorca, co-ordinator of the UN experts panel on CAR, said.
The Kimberley Process was formed in 2000 to ensure diamond purchases do not finance violence by rebel movements. It represents 81 countries, including the US, EU nations, Russia, China and South Africa. – Bloomberg