Blom Urges KP to Define Systemic Violence

RAPAPORT... The war on conflict diamonds will remain at a standstilluntil the industry can agree on what constitutes systemic violence, accordingto World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) president Ernie Blom. The lack of agreement on the matter is preventing Africanproducing nations from accepting a broadened definition of conflict stones, asthey fear it might fuel unfair treatment against them, Blom told RapaportNews. Many retailers decide whether to stock goods fromparticular countries based on media reports, without checking the facts forthemselves, Blom noted. That sometimes results in companies wrongly boycottingnations, he argued. Those countries are concerned such a boycott will get worseif the Kimberley Process (KP) approves the wider definition of conflictdiamonds for which the World Diamond Council (WDC) has been lobbying, Blomcontinued. The solution is for the KP to introduce a procedure for determiningwhether systemic violence has occurred, he explained. The WDC, which represents the industry at the KP, wantsto define conflict diamonds as stones "acquired through systemic and widespreadviolence, forced labor, the worst forms of child labor, or through violationsof international humanitarian law." That definition would build on the current wording,which only refers to rough diamonds used by armed groups to acquire wealththrough illegal actions, and fails to address violence by governments or otherentities. The group proposed the new definition during the KP'stwo-year review period, which will come to an end at the KP annual plenary meeting in New Delhi, India, in November.  However, adopting the new definition requires a unanimousdecision by all KP member states, and some are hesitant to do so, Blomstressed. The "elephant in the room" is that there are currently norules determining what violence qualifies as "systemic" or assessingobjectively whether such incidents have taken place, he added. "The reason [it has taken so long and there is still no final decision] isobviously related to a fear within several African diamond-producing countriesthat a new rule may affect them," he explained. "These countries today alreadyare confronted with decisions of large corporations like Tiffany and Blue Nile...thatthey will not purchase any diamonds anymore from certain countries, and thiswhilst there is actually no rule which prohibits this." Instead, the KP must have parameters that helpdistinguish between unconfirmed media reports and verified facts, therebyencouraging progress in the effort to update the conflict-diamond definition,Blom stressed. "If such can be done, I am personally convinced that that will be the way outfor several African diamond-producing countries to agree with the broadening ofthe definition," he concluded. Image: Ernie Blom. (Laurent Boeki)