HARARE, Nov 19, 2009 (AFP) - Zimbabwean security forces have started withdrawing from the country's eastern diamond fields to meet Kimberley Process reforms over human rights abuses, the government said Thursday.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said Zimbabwe had complied with more than 90 percent of the requirements set by the global watchdog Kimberley Process, which monitors trade in conflict diamonds.
"We have done a lot since the last review by the (Kimberley Process) as part of our efforts to comply with their recommendations as well as towards achieving and fulfilling compliance," the state-run Herald quoted Mpofu as saying.
"As is evident at these fields, there are no army officers or police" units, he said during a government tour on Wednesday.
Early this month, Zimbabwe escaped a Kimberley ban despite calls for the country to be suspended and the scheme's own citation of "unacceptable and horrific violence against civilians by authorities" in the eastern Marange diamond fields.
The global scheme gave Zimbabwe a June 2010 deadline to make reforms to comply with global regulations, rejecting a recommendation by its own investigators made four months ago that Harare face a six-month suspension.
The withdrawal of the army and police comes as the government has licensed two South African firms to operate in Marange.
A representative for the investors said 200 private security guards had replaced the security officials.
"We are taking control of all areas that we have claimed but still working with state security agents in areas where we are still exploring. But they will move as soon as we have secured those areas," Dave Kassel was quoted as saying in the Herald.
International diamond dealers, meeting in Antwerp, Belgium this week, warned that they will not tolerate human rights abuses linked to diamond mining and processing.
The International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) and the World Federation of Diamond Bourses noted Zimbabwe's decision not to export rough diamonds from Marange pending the Kimberley controls being put in place.
"Any member who trades in rough diamonds from Marange prior to the full implementation of this monitoring system and in full compliance of the KP resolution will be subject to expulsion," the presidents of the two groups said on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the Kimberley Process outgoing chairman Bernard Esau said Zimbabwe would have until June to make reforms.
"It was felt that we should give Zimbabwe the opportunity to address issues of compliance like removing the military from the Marange diamond fields," he said.
"If Zimbabwe is not compliant at the next review meeting in June 2010, the KP will have to think of other measures, but let us give them a chance."
gm-jg/gs/db
Copyright (c) 2009 Agence France Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 11/19/2009 06:37:04
©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.
