Global Witness Leaves Kimberley Process

The Global Witness campaign has announced departure from the Kimberley Process, aimed at stopping the blood diamond trade.


The Process is an international scheme set up in 2003 that requires international sales of diamonds to be certified in order to prevent these from fueling conflicts in African countries.


According to the campaign, the Process has failed to break the ties between violence and diamond sales with consumers still not sure "where their diamonds come from". According to  the founding director of Global Witness, Charmian Gooch, "the scheme has failed three tests", namely the "trade in conflict diamonds from Ivory Coast", "the blatant breaches of the rules over a number of years by Venezuela" and "diamonds fueling corruption and violence in Zimbabwe."