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You can't yet ask for a conflict free diamond - Alex Yearsley, Global Witness
In an interview on 702 @ 18:25 on Tuesday, 20 June 2006
[miningmx.com] -- THE majority of the diamond industry had not yet adopted measures to control trade in so-called 'conflict diamonds', said Alex Yearsley, a founding member of Global Witness, a UK non-governmental organisation.
Conflict diamonds are unpolished stones that have been sold from areas of civil strife, the proceeds of which are used to fund guerilla activities and other acts against human rights.
The diamond industry implemented the Kimberley Process in 2000, a system to certify the integrity of diamonds, particularly those mined from Africa. However, there were cracks in the system.
"The majority of the diamond industry had not yet implemented a voluntary system; there's no systematic audit among jewellers," said Yearsley commenting on attempts to stem the flow of conflict diamonds.
However, Ernie Bloem, chairman of SA Diamond Dealers Club, said conflict
diamond trade had been reduced from 4% of annual rough diamond trade globally in 2000 to less than 0.25% of global trade today. "I think that's a fantastic achievement," he said.
But Yearsley believed that more could be done in the downstream end of the diamond market. "You can't yet go into a jewellery store and ask for a conflict free diamond," he said.
Meanwhile, Yearsley said Global Witness had advised on the making of "Blood Diamonds", a Hollywood-backed film starring actor Leonardo di Caprio, and focusing on the conflict diamond trade in Africa.
"The film brings in the Kimberley Process and it will tell the truth about it," Yearsley said.
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