Zimbabwe Mine Minister Obert Mpfou told Bloomberg this week that the Marange diamond field as well as its mines are all Kimberly Process compliant and Zimbabwe would not allow any sort of monitoring other than that which is stipulated by the Process's guidelines. His statement comes during the annual four-day Kimberly Process meeting held this week in Kinhasa, DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

The meeting, in which Kimberly Process participants discuss issues regarding the diamond industry, is expected to be focused on Zimbabwe, whose Marange diamonds are suspected of being conflict diamonds. The diamond industry has been awaiting a ruling regarding the Marange diamond field and its diamonds for over a year and an announcement is expected at this years’ meeting.

The Marange diamond mines were originally discovered by De Beers in the 1980s. However, they never actively mined the field and in 2006 gave up all rights to the field to British-Owned African Consolidated Resources, who has been fighting the Zimbabwean government to retain ownership. In 2006, the Zimbabwe government seized the mines, evicted civilians and then forced those same civilians to work the mines under threats of violence, rape and other human rights violations. At the same time, the government also allowed a different company to oversee daily operations. The actions, when revealed to be public, caused the Kimberly Process to ban the sale of any diamonds coming from Zimbabwe.

In March of this year, Mathieu Yamba, Chairman of the Kimberly Process, approved Marange diamonds for export and sale on the open market without the consent of Kimberly Process members. As a result, the embargo remains in effect as most members disagreed with his decision.

Mpofu also accused the US and EU of turning the Kimberly Process into a political tool to be wielded against Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe as a way of imposing sanctions on the nation for its human rights abuses and possibly as a way to force a regime change in the country.

Most of the African nations who produce diamonds, together with India, are in favor of lifting the sanctions and allowing rough diamonds from Zimbabwe on the open market. However, most of the other nations insist that the ban remain in place until Zimbabwe proves it will comply with Kimberly Process regulations. There are also allegations that the African nations push for certification is due to solidarity with the Zimbabwean president rather than actually believing that Marange diamonds are not conflict diamonds.