Idex Online notes that the interim report on Zimbabwe's diamond trade compiled by the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) review team has recommended a six-month suspension from the scheme. The team investigated alleged human rights abuses in the country's diamond fields.

If the suspension is approved, Zimbabwe will be barred from exporting diamonds mined in the country.

The KP delegation visited the country amid mounting growing testimonies and NGO protests that the Zimbabwe military attacked and killed illegal diamond diggers at the diamond fields in the Marange district.

The KP review team’s leader Kpandel Fiya, Liberia's Deputy Minister of Mines, commented that the team had witnessed "direct involvement of the military in illegal mining and related activities."

The state-controlled newspaper The Herald stated that in the interim report, the team recommended the "initiation of procedure to implement suspension of Zimbabwe from importing or exporting of rough diamonds within the KPCS for a period of at least six months...[or] until such time as a KP team determines that minimum standards have been met.”

Elly Harrowell of Global Witness was quoted as saying that Zimbabwe's proposed "suspension is not surprising, but frankly it has been a long time coming."