Kimberley Process Launches New Website

Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic and the entire U.S. team are pleased to announce the official launch of our newly redesigned and reconstructed website, www.kimberleyprocess.com. Thanks to the hard work and support of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), the Kimberley Process now has a modern website that can meet our needs:

•On the public side of the website, it has updated information on participants, observers and candidate countries, streamlined data for the public, and a new blog section. You will see a new section on development (and soon one on enforcement), and we will also be looking to Kimberley Process participants and observers to contribute stories about their work for the blog. We've added a link to our new Facebook page, too.

•On the participants-only side (for which new log-on information is forthcoming), we will be working to add new features that make the work of the Kimberley Process and our working groups more efficient, transparent to all in the Kimberley Process, and less reliant on e-mail. We also hope to have the official intersessional registration online there for your use next month.

Like any good website, we expect it to be ever-changing, growing, and increasingly useful to you in your work; as such, we always welcome suggestions to make it more user-friendly or comprehensive. In particular, if you notice information that should be on the public and/or participants-only sections, please send them to us at kpcs.chair-at-state.gov.

In the coming weeks, we will transition from e-mailing documents to posting them on the website directly and simply emailing alerts that the site has been updated. We also expect that the website can begin to be a forum for exchange of information and views among Kimberley Process participants and observers.

We again thank the AWDC for their vision and essential support and we look forward to hearing from you about the new site.

-RAPAPORT

U.N.: Kimberley Process “Too Important to Fail”

Delegates to the United Nations General Assembly called the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme “too important to fail," and credited it with significantly reducing the trade in conflict diamonds, according to a Dec. 20 United Nations press release.

However, many also expressed concern that NGO Global Witness, a founding member of the KP, had left the organization, in part over the scheme's recent approval of exports from the Marange region of Zimbabwe.

A representative of the Delegation of the European Union welcomed the enhanced cooperation regarding implementation of the Process, particularly with the World Customs Organization.

But he stressed that civil society participation was a key element to the group's effectiveness and said participants needed to boost the system’s credibility. He also said he was encouraged that many civil society groups continue to remain engaged in the KP.

Canada’s representative said the process was at a “critical juncture” and needed to adapt to “new realities.”

The representative of the Russian Federation supported the KP’s November decision to allow exports of Marange diamonds, and urged the establishment of strengthened internal controls in producer countries and improved transparency of statistics.

Israel’s delegate noted that the Kimberley Process’ success is demonstrated by the fact that conflict diamonds now number 1 percent of the global market, down from 15 percent in the 1990s. He also expressed support for reforms, particularly the formation of a secretariat.

Also speaking was KP chairman Matthieu Yamba, who noted that Swaziland had joined the certification scheme, while Mali, Mozambique, Cameroon, Panama, Burkina Faso, and Kazakhstan had expressed interest in joining.

He also announced that Venezuela, which left the Kimberley Process two years ago, had also complied with the recommendations issued to it at the recent Plenary, and was now entitled to rejoin the scheme.

-JCK Online

U.S. Adds Mbada Diamonds, Marange Resources to Sanctions List

The United States has added Mbada Diamonds and Marange Resources to its list of sanctioned entities, the Department of the Treasury stated.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) updated its ‘specially designated nationals list to include the two companies, which operate diamond mines in Zimbabwe’s Marange fields. The listing extends to any aliases they might operate under, including Block Wood Mining and Condurango Investments.

Sanctioning these companies follows the recent decision by the Kimberley Process to allow diamond exports from the Marange Resources and Mbada Diamonds respective mines despite reports of human rights abuses associated with the operations.

Marange Resources and Mbada Diamonds both operate their Marange mines in a joint venture with the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), a state owned company which was already on the OFAC list.

U.S. citizens are prohibited from dealing with individuals or companies on the expansive list. As part of its enforcement efforts, OFAC publishes a list of individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries and lists individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific.

Following the Kimberley Process decision on Marange in November, Rapaport Group warned members of its RapNet trading network not to deal in these Marange diamonds.

-Rapaport