Rappaport Bans Zimbabwe Diamond Trade
Zimbabwe’s government is pushing sales of controversial diamonds despite an international public condemnation of the sales. Last month, the Kimberly Process ruled that Zimbabwe’s collection of diamonds from the Marange region were fit to be sold in the international market after a two year ban.
Within the first week of diamond sales, diamond sales from Zimbabwe exceeded $72 million. The Marange fields, where these diamonds were mined, has a history of brutal “blood diamond” practices which led to the international ban.
Despite the Kimberly Process ruling, US Based Rapaport Diamond Trading Network has refused to trade and sell diamonds from the Marange mines. Rapaport issued a statement reading: "The Rapaport Group and the RapNet Diamond Trading Network are implementing an immediate trade ban on all diamonds from Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields.” The strong Rapaport statement confirms that the Kimberly process does not guarantee that the diamond mining in Zimbabwe is free from human rights violations.
RapNet is the world’s largest diamond trading network. The company stated that they would reject any member of their group if they buy or sell the Marange Zimbabwean diamonds. This ban only applies to the Marange district, not Zimbabwe as a whole. RapNet connects thousands of diamond buyers and sellers internationally- do their public statements are being met with serious consideration.
The recent Marange sale of 900,000 carats will serve to funnel in tremendous amounts of money to a nation with many of its citizens living below the poverty line. Governmental officials have asserted that the sale of these diamonds will benefit the civilian population, but RapNet is suspending its belief in that promise.
Human Rights Watch has stated that violations of basic human rights are still being carried out in the Marange mining region. Among these violations are the enslavement of children, and murder of laborers. Until the region is free from these violations, the Rapaport group is keeping its firm stance.
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