Diamond Dealers Ban Zimbabwe’s Gem

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

By Shamsydeen Badmus

Published: November 28, 2009

Diamond Dealers Ban Zimbabwe’s Gem

By Shamsydeen Badmus

The world’s largest diamond trading network has declared a ban on all gems from Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields because of what it calls “severe and continued human rights violations”. Rapaport Group’s RapNet Diamond Trading Network issued a ban on Wednesday forbidding its members from trading Zimbabwean diamonds. The call follows a decision earlier this month by the Kimberley Process group – the diamond industry’s watchdog – not to suspend Zimbabwe from the group. Instead the body gave the government a June 2010 deadline to reform its running of the mines. Human rights activists claim Zimbabwean soldiers killed over 200 people at the Marange diamond field last year. Activists have accused soldiers of widespread atrocities and say that profits from the stones go to President Robert Mugabe and his cronies.

 Email This Post