HRW Urges Consumers to Join Fight against Zim Blood Diamonds
Post Date: 28 May 2010 Viewed: 469
Human Rights Watch is urging stronger actions against Zimbabwe and the blood diamond trade emanating from the Marange diamond fields, where gross human rights violation are being perpetrated.
On its website, Human Rights Watch details it last inspection of Marange, and the results, said the group, has made it more determined than ever to fight against blood diamonds, which are "a key source of revenue for Zimbabwe's abusive government."
The group compiled a report – "Diamonds in the Rough" – detailing its findings.
"We worked with three main partners: the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which is the international body responsible for preventing blood diamonds from reaching the market; major diamond vendors, such as Tiffany & Co. and Cartier; and consumers in the general public who had considered purchasing diamonds," said the group in its online post.
After filing its report with the official bodies, Human Rights Watch launched the second part of its campaign aimed at consumers, retailers, and the jewelry industry.
"We are calling on these actors to stop the global trade in Zimbabwean diamonds, and specifically to boycott gems that have been mined in Marange," said the group..
Jewelry giants Tiffany's and Cartier are just the two most recent jewelers to join the fight abd publicly denounced and boycott blood diamonds from Zimbabwe. Ultra Jewelers supports the boycott as well, and Rapaport and Leber Jewelers have explicitly guaranteed to their customers that they do not sell blood diamonds from Zimbabwe, said the group.
On its website, the human rights group urged consumer to join the fight: "If you are considering purchasing jewelry…we hope you will demand a guarantee from your vendor that the diamonds you buy were not mined under abusive circumstances such as those at Zimbabwe's Marange diamond fields.
"By being a responsible consumer, you can help stop the flow of funds to a government that perpetuates these abuses."