South African bodies call for Israel to be excluded from diamond processing over ‘war crimes’
South African human rights groups, trade unions and major civil society organisations are calling for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme to exclude Israel from diamond processing.
The certification scheme is designed to stop 'conflict diamonds'
from entering the mainstream diamond market and was set up in
2003. The organisation which runs the scheme is currently meeting
in South Africa.
The coalition of organisations such as South Africa's National
Union of Mineworkers, the country's largest trade union
federation COSATU; South African Students Congress; the Coalition
for a Free Palestine and BDS South Africa say that “billions of
dollars' worth of diamonds exported via Israel are a major source
of revenue for the Israeli military, which stands accused of war
crimes."
The coalition is calling for Israel to be excluded from the
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme due to its human rights
record against Palestinians, and to end all exports of rough
diamonds to Israel immediately.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is the process to prevent "conflict diamonds" from entering the mainstream rough diamond market. Established by UN GA Resolution 55/56 in 2003, the process is aimed "to ensure that diamond purchases were not financing violence by rebel movements and their allies seeking to undermine legitimate governments." 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. As of 30 November 2012, there were 54 participants in the KPCS representing 80 countries, with the European Union counting as a single participant.
The organizations also wants to ban diamond polishing and cutting
in Israel. They claim excluding Israel from the diamond
processing would be a great chance for the South African
authorities to display "moral vision and political
leadership".
"The Kimberley Process has played an important role over the
past decade in resolving conflicts linked to the diamond trade
but there is no doubt that it has to be reformed... [by]
expanding the definition of conflict to include human rights
abuses linked to diamond extraction perpetrated by governments
and companies; and expanding downstream monitoring so that the
process covers not just the rough diamond trade but also the
international movement and polishing of diamonds," Southern
Africa Resource Watch director Claude Kabemba told the Business
Day newspaper.
The coalition also pointed to the local benefits of such a move,
claiming it could bring more diamond processing jobs back to
South Africa. "Consumers will have a clear conscience that
their diamonds are not funding, assisting or in any way involved
with the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine, and more jobs
will be created locally for our people by bringing this diamond
processing back home instead of it being done in Israel,"
South African activist Mbuyiseni Ndlozi is quoted by the Middle
East Monitor as saying.
The Kimberley Process, established a decade ago to help resolve
international diamond trade conflicts and to ensure that the
diamond trade is not used as an instrument to fund military
rebellions and other violence interfering with human rights. The
organization includes 54 participants representing 90 countries
while its members account for about 99.8 percent of the global
production of rough diamonds, the Middle East Monitor reports.
