‘Stop Manipulating Communities’: Diamond Industry Told

By Romeo Takundwa

The Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition has ordered diamond and jewelry industries to stop ‘manipulating’ communities affected by their mining activities.

The remarks were made by Shamiso Mtisi, Coordinator of the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition (KPC SC) and Deputy Director at the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) during a live webinar.

The webinar was held on the backdrop of continuous reports of conflicts in diamond mining communities especially Manicaland’s Marange area.

“Companies should honestly, transparently and without manipulation engage diamond-affected communities, and not just hand-chosen examples, in particular when publicly discussing or making statements about their well-being”, she said.

In a statement released by KPCSC after the webinar, the Coalition also urged players in the diamond industry to abandon conflict-free marketing claims as there has been no standardised, testable system guaranteeing that any diamond is free of conflict for some time now.

“Diamond mining continues to cause violence and conflict in some producer countries. These conflict or blood diamonds still circulate and are being sold to unwitting jewelry consumers relying on KPCS assurance. This problem has remained unaddressed for far too long, and it’s time for the diamond and jewelry industries to exert their influence to create meaningful change and to align their actions with their marketing claims,” read the statement.

Many affected communities have been commended for exposing harmful impacts of diamond mining.