By Patricia Lee Sharpe
Zimbabwe is, essentially, a vicious post-colonial slave state run by black masters who overthrew minority rule by a notorious White regime. The tribal in-fighting that led to the predominance of Robert Mugabe was fierce, brutal and probably predictive, but the much-desired end overshadowed the means, and the well-intentioned people of the world rejoiced. Even today, Zimbabwe’s slave master is allowed by fellow Africans to do most anything he wants with his abject subjects, because he is one of a revered first generation of modern African leaders.
Would You Buy a Diamond from Him?
Yes, Robert Mugabe, the power-obsessed president of Zimbabwe, is one of those who badly abused the hope and trust that was placed in them. The question is: would you buy a diamond from him or from those who may now be using the aged leader as a front? Would you want to be responsible for perpetuating his abusive regime?
For buyers, this is a personal question, a matter of individual conscience. For a pariah state like Zimbabwe which desperately needs foreign exchange, however, it’s a matter of economic life or death.
Actually there was, not so long ago, an opening for positive political change in Zimbabwe. A majority of citizens were disenchanted and disaffected. All objective observers agree that Mugabe did not win the most recent presidential election. However, like Gbagbo in the Ivory Coast, Mugabe refused to accept the results of the election. He refused to step down. But he was cannier than Gbagbo, who gambled on winning a hot war. Mugabe acceded to a power-sharing agreement, knowing he would be able to dominate the resulting government through his continued total control of security forces. Thus, the reign of terror continues. And while the rest of the economy is as unproductive as before, the importance of the Marange diamond fields has increased dramatically. Robert Mugabe’s government wants those diamonds sold.
The Kimberly Process
Kimberly is the name of a famous diamond mine in South Africa. It’s also infamous. Working conditions for Blacks during the apartheid era were horrendous. Today the Kimberly agreement is supposed to govern the marketing of rough diamonds by the cartel that still controls much or most production and distribution. Why? Not for any newly discovered respect for humanity. Since so many highly-productive, high-quality diamond fields had been discovered in recent years, only stringent control of supply had allowed diamonds to retain their status as luxury goods at luxury prices. Then came a new threat to the very image of diamonds as desirable and glamorous. People hearing horror stories from Sierra Leone, where alluvial diamond sales were supporting brutal rebel gangs, had begun to boycott all diamonds and the word was getting around. Thus, the members of the well established diamond cartel moved to exclude “blood diamonds” from their inventory.
Here’s what the Kimberly Process is supposed to accomplish:
In order for a country to be a participant, it must ensure that any diamond originating from the country does not finance a rebel group or other entity seeking to overthrow a UN-recognized government, that every diamond export be accompanied by a Kimberley Process certificate and that no diamond is imported from, or exported to, a non-member of the scheme. This three-step plan is a simple description of the steps taken to ensure a chain of countries that deal exclusively with non-conflict diamonds. By restricting diamond revenues to government-approved sources, the Kimberley Process is neutral towards different governments.
Okay, rebel groups are bad. But what if the perpetrator of atrocities in diamond-producing areas is a government acting through its army? What if the profits from diamond sales, whether mediated through private ownership groups or generated directly from government-owned diamond-producing fields, go to support a government that stays in power by corrupting elections and abusing its citizens? What if murder and torture are a standard part of that government’s repertoire? Are such diamonds conflict diamonds? Are they blood diamonds? Or does sovereignty serve to launder them?
The Sovereignty Issue
Increasingly the issue of sovereignty intrudes on the world’s consciousness. Are states allowed to do whatever they want to the people within their boundaries? May the international community impose standards for governance and human rights whose violation automatically invites outside rectification?
Whether nor not the Kimberly Process allows Zimbabwe diamonds to be sold without prejudice, should we buy them?