Criticism
In June 2009, Ian Smillie of Canadian-based NGO, Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), and one of the founder members of the Kimberley Process resigned his position accusing the regulator of failing to regulate and saying he could no longer contribute to the "pretense that failure is success". At the same time, another founder member of the process, UK-based NGO Global Witness said, "Despite having all tools in place, the Scheme was failing effectively to address issues of non-compliance, smuggling, money laundering and human rights abuses in the world's... diamond fields". The Scheme came under further criticism from Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada in June 2010 after the Kimberley Monitor appointed to review diamond mining conditions in Zimbabwe recommended that the country be allowed to sell diamonds as conflict-free from its contested Marange diamond fields in Chiadzwa. For the first time the two NGOs jointly called for the classification of conflict diamonds to be redefined.
In August 2010, another key draftsman of the KP and Africa’s highest-ranking diamond official, African Diamond Council (ADC) and ADPA chairman Dr. André A. Jackson demoralized KP supporters after persuading African diamond producing nations to renounce their support for scheme. Jackson brazenly blasted the KP for its ongoing ineffectiveness, stating that “the System has failed to thwart trading of diamonds mined as a result of human suffering.”
Ahead of this denunciation, the ADC unleashed a distressing TV infomercial that exposed internal problems at the front end of the African diamond industry. The broadcast was not only a huge boost for the ADC, it proved to be an enormous setback for the Kimberley Process and ultimately led to a cessation of DeBeers’s ascendancy on the African continent.
In December 2010 Time Magazine published a piece discussing the newly founded rough diamond trade in Zimbabwe. The article questioned the legitimacy of the Kimberley Process, stating that it was unable to prevent Zimbabwean conflict diamonds from entering the market.
On 11 August 2011, the BBC radio documentary titled "Zimbabwe's Diamond Fields" repeated an interview with representatives of the Kimberly Process claiming officials were unaware of the killings and tourtures exposed in the documentary. The official stated they were only aware of incidents uncovered by their brief visits to the field implying that they were not staffed to do in-depth investigations.
The certification scheme lost a large amount of its integrity following Global Witness’ announcement to walk out on KP in December 2011. The human rights watchdog group stated that in recent times, the governments of Zimbabwe, Côte d'Ivoire and Venezuela have all dishonored, breached and exploited the system without bearing any consequential penalties for their infringements.
Read more about this topic: Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
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