Diamonds from Zimbabwe are being smuggled here, according to a recent report from Partnership Africa Canada (PAC); an Ottawa, Canada-based group fighting for the eradication of “blood diamonds” around the world.
In a recent report, the international pressure group said that diamonds from Zimbabwe’s Chiadzwa field are being smuggled as far as Sierra Leone and Guyana. In its report, the group accused the industry watchdog of manufacturing “polite fiction” to cover up for shortcomings by Zimbabwean authorities. It said that Zimbabwe exhibited a wide variety of serious problems ranging from smuggling and illegal seizure of diamond leases to outright denial of easily verifiable murder and human rights abuse in its diamond fields. “In 2009, Zimbabwean industrial diamonds, easily identified by their size and colour, showed up as far afield as Guyana and Sierra Leone,”, the agency said in its report titled “Other Facets” released last week.
It accused the Kimberley Process (KP) of turning a blind eye to the illegal activities taking place in Zimbabwe and other diamond-producing or importing countries. “If low-value diamonds like these travel that far and that easily in search of a laundry, it is clear than high value goods have even greater range and speed,” the group observed. It said that the KP in particular was not doing anything to stem a thriving illegal diamond market that has emerged in Mozambique’s Manica town which is supplied with the precious mineral smuggled out of Zimbabwe by army and government officials.
Guyana is a signatory to the Kimberley Process, a regulatory system backed by the United Nations which seeks to track the international production and movement of diamonds. The Process stipulates that freshly mined diamonds should be sealed in registered containers that certify their country of origin and that diamond exporters do not accept unregistered gems that might profit insurgents or criminals.
The Kimberley Process evolved out of international concern over the role that diamonds have played in sustaining guerilla and terrorist operations in various parts of the world, notably in conflict ridden regions of Liberia, the Congo, Angola and Sierra Leone. Since its implementation the Kimberley Process has been chaired by some of the world’s leading diamond producers including South Africa, Canada and Russia.
The process was initiated in May 2001 when diamond-producing countries in Southern Africa met in Kimberley, South Africa in May 2000 to discuss ways of stopping the trade in “conflict diamonds” and ensuring that diamond purchases were not funding violence.
Several years ago when local diamond declarations were extremely high, it was believed that diamonds from Venezuela were making their way into Guyana.
Zimbabwe diamonds being smuggled here …COCAINE BEING SMUGGLED OUT…Guns coming in (allegedly)….Under this present administration whats next for this country that going nowhere but down?!!!
Give us a break now.Diamonds are a girl best friend.
Well maybe it’s your life long friend “Light -Hearted”
Sandhurst , the drugs cartels from Mexico and Columbia will becoming soon to open branches in Guyana . The word is out there that Guyana is a comfort zone for criminals and corrupt public officials .
LIGHT HEARTED – NOT WHEN THERE ARE CHILDREN INVOLVED…
Oh!! The guns are “allegedly” coming in. Tell us more sf, we want to know how much you know about that!!!
SandhurstMan,
Like You don’t miss anything buddy? lol.
It will take a Guyanese woman with an extremely high social conscience to part with one of those “blood diamonds” if she already possesses one. We need not only decorate our wives but also educate them. Hopefully, this news report is a start of that process. It should be clipped and stored in every jewel box containing diamonds in Guyana.
Always works; when wives are not ‘co-operating’, shower them with industrial diamonds – that’ll wear ‘em down…
poor people don’t own diamonds. what we should do is find the culprits and reveal their names….i have an idea who they are. do you Yasuman71? ohhhhhhh! i bet you don’t know…sorry.
who cares about diamond, at least it does not kill directly.
let them look into illegal guns that kills.
This was a bubble head response from you freespeech. Do you understand what is meant by Blood Diamonds? Did you saw the movie “Blood Diamond”? Stop freespeech stop…be sensitive, it doesn’t always have to be you against them. Christ.
Blood diamonds fund the puchase of arms that kills. Lots of raw materials used to make stuff in our computers and electronics also fund arms purchase arms!
Guyana seems to be the launching pad for a lot of Bloody Things.Who are bringing Zimbabwean diamonds to Guyana for washing?You guys call de names i gon whiiisssllle.
Well the original religous sect cartel around the would have a hard time with this news, definately not Zimbabwe or Guyana
I am not surprised. Guyana has a West, and central south African connection.
This is a serious issue and the report should be taken seriously by this government and anyone or group found to be culpable should face the full force of the law.
We cannot allow ourselves to be caught up or be used in every bad thing that happens around the world. We have our own in house problems and all should come out against this issue. Soon we’ll hear that we are doing internet scams like the Nigerians – fleecing people of there wealth and sing rap songs glorifying the act as was shown on 60 minutes last night.
Diamonds are forever.
I am a sierra Leonean currently working in Guyana for the past one year.
I worked in the diamond industry in Sierra Leone before and know a little bit about how the business transact. For those who doubt or down play this issue of Blood Diamond needs to reflect on what the power of one suicide bomber can do. Well if you want to know why they do it; MONEY is the answer. The families of these poor bombers mostly living in poor Arab refugee camps will have to be paid for their son/daughter’s sacrifice to the “CAUSE” of fighting and bringing WOEs on the WEST. How do this terrorist organisations move money around- MONEY LAUNDARY- In west Africa Lebanese and Syrians are the middle men who in turn pass it to other nationalities that pass it through a well organise chain of “trolleys” that eventually reach the package to its destination.
If that doesn’t make sense to you, start believing that millions of innocent Africans have lost their lives or limbs or homes or even towns and villages just to satisfy these greedy and wicked business people who exchange the diamonds for arms and drugs to fuel the wars just to get their line of business going.
Diamonds of Sierra Leone have funded one of the most savage rebel campaigns in modern history. The movie “Blood Diamonds” is the gripping tale of how the diamond smuggling works, how the rebel war has effectively destroyed Sierra Leone. This is not different from DR Congo, Liberia, Angola and Ivory Coast.
The risk in this business (if you have followed recent wars in Africa) is that blood always follows the trail or path of Blood Diamonds. Liberia use to pass their Diamond “booty” through Sierra Leone and Guinea (then very peaceful countries), what happened there was the blood follows the trail. Liberia and Sierra Leone pass the Gem through one of the most developed and peaceful country in Africa in the 80’s and early 90’s Ivory Coast; and what happen couple of years later was blood flow. Guyanese have to understand that these wars are complex wars that are not fought by Citizens of Africa alone, but groups of highly trained and ruthless mercenary groups that can “ kill any time and more professionally for Diamond”. These guys knows and can track the route of these stones and can go anytime to get it back even when they are paid for it. Infact one of such mercenary group is currently mining few of the numerous Kimberlite pipes in Sierra Leone because the government cannot pay them for their service (fighting on the side of the government against the rebels).
… de connection wid de “blood diamonds ,, is fum brazil ,, mostly by the “nigerian mafia” ,,– i keep tellin de 4×4 rohee thru this forum afforded us by the foresight and graciousness of the venerable Mr. David deCaires[RIP]for whom all GUYANA must forever be thankful — !… these undesirables who is being sheltered in GUYANA must be rounded up .