Keyword: Kimberley Process

Kimberley Process

The Kimberley Process is a certification practice designed to ensure that the diamonds exported from Africa’s diamond producing countries do not originate from an area where there is a rebellion or a conflict in progress.

It was instituted in 2003 after a meeting of diamond-producing states in Kimberley, South Africa. Previously, warring rebel groups had used the profits from the export of ‘blood diamonds’ or ‘conflict diamonds’ to finance their coups, which had frequently violated international human rights agreements. This issue was recently popularized by the Hollywood film Blood Diamond.

For a country to participate in the Kimberley Process:

it must certify that any diamond it exports does not finance a rebel group seeking to overthrow a UN-recognized government;
Every diamond export must be accompanied by an authentic Kimberley Process certificate; and
It must certify that no diamond is imported from or exported to a non-member of the Kimberley Process.

Because the Kimberley Process is a self-monitoring regulation, many organizations, such as Amnesty International, feel it does not go far enough to ensure that diamond profits will not be used to finance deadly rebel conflicts. These organizations feel there should be mandatory oversight of the diamond trade by objective overseers. Currently, participation and monitoring are purely voluntary.