{"id":8860,"date":"2022-06-17T15:33:20","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T15:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/russia-blocks-effort-to-redefine-conflict-diamonds-at-botswana-meeting"},"modified":"2022-06-17T17:10:09","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T17:10:09","slug":"russia-blocks-effort-to-redefine-conflict-diamonds-at-botswana-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/russia-blocks-effort-to-redefine-conflict-diamonds-at-botswana-meeting","title":{"rendered":"Russia blocks effort to redefine \u2018conflict diamonds\u2019 at Botswana meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>Western-backed proposal sought to discuss whether rough diamonds from top producer Russia are funding Ukraine war<\/b>
\nRussia, supported by Belarus, Central African Republic (CAR), Kyrgyzstan and Mali, has torpedoed a Western-backed proposal to discuss whether its diamonds are funding war ahead of an international conflict diamond meeting in Botswana, letters seen by Reuters show.<\/b><\/p>\n

The rift in the Kimberley Process (KP), which certifies rough diamond exports, risks paralysing the body that makes decisions by consensus.<\/p>\n

The letters, which have not been previously reported, show a dispute over a proposal by Ukraine, the EU, Australia, Britain, Canada, and the US to discuss Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine and whether to broaden the KP\u2019s definition of conflict diamonds to include state actors at its June 20-24 meeting in Botswana.<\/p>\n

The US and Britain have already placed sanctions on Russia\u2019s Alrosa, the world\u2019s largest producer of rough diamonds, which accounted for about 30% of global output in 2021, and is partly state-owned.<\/p>\n

A draft agenda, dated May 20, included an hour-long slot to discuss the issue, but the item was removed after objections from Russia, Belarus, CAR, Kyrgyzstan and Mali.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe find ourselves at an impasse,\u201d Botswana\u2019s KP chair Jacob Thamage told participants \u2014 who include 85 nations, industry representatives, and civil society organisations \u2014 in a June 9 letter urging them to find common ground.<\/p>\n

The KP defines conflict diamonds as gems used to fund rebel movements seeking to undermine legitimate governments.<\/p>\n

Officially labelling Russian diamonds \u201cconflict diamonds\u201d would require widening the definition. The KP Civil Society Coalition has been calling for such a change for years, along with some KP member countries.<\/p>\n

The certification scheme, designed to eliminate the trade in so-called blood diamonds, was set up in 2003 in the wake of devastating civil wars in Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which were largely financed by the illicit diamond trade.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s KP delegate said in a May 20 letter that the situation in Ukraine has \u201cno implications\u201d for the Kimberley Process and is \u201cabsolutely beyond the scope\u201d of its certification scheme.<\/p>\n

Belarus, CAR, Kyrgyzstan and Mali all similarly argued that the proposal was \u201cpolitical\u201d or outside the scope of the KP, and that its inclusion on the agenda was inappropriate. All four countries have backed Russia in recent UN General Assembly votes.<\/p>\n

War-torn CAR is the only country in the world under a partial KP embargo for rough diamond exports. Russia, with which it has close trade and security ties, has worked to lift those restrictions.<\/p>\n

Mali also has close ties with Russia. Hundreds of Russian military contractors have deployed there since the beginning of 2022 to help the government fight insurgents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Kimberley Process is to be a credible guarantor that diamonds exported with a KP certificate are actually conflict-free, it cannot refuse to consider the valid questions that have been raised about whether rough diamonds exported by Russia are financing its invasion of Ukraine,\u201d Canada\u2019s Ioanna Sahas Martin wrote to the KP chair earlier this month.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the chair on Monday, Ukraine KP representative Andrii Tkalenko proposed two amendments to the certification scheme: to widen the definition to include government actors, and to allow KP countries, by a majority vote, to expel a country that infringes on another KP member\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Britain, the EU and the US also said Russia should step down from the KP committees it currently chairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cInaction would undermine the credibility and integrity of the Kimberley Process not only as a conflict prevention mechanism but also as a trade regulation mechanism,\u201d the European Commission\u2019s Marika Lautso-Mousnier said in a letter.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. Western-backed proposal sought to discuss whether rough diamonds from top producer Russia are funding Ukraine war Russia, supported by Belarus, Central African Republic (CAR), Kyrgyzstan and Mali, has torpedoed a Western-backed proposal to discuss whether its diamonds are funding war ahead of an international conflict diamond meeting in Botswana, letters seen by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":8859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8,12,16],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-8860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nRussia blocks effort to redefine \u2018conflict diamonds\u2019 at Botswana meeting - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta 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