On July 15, 2010, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) gave their approval to Zimbabwe to begin exports of diamonds mined in Marange, a mining area that has witnessed countless human rights abuses committed by soldiers and police working under orders of Robert Mugabe’s allies, a dictator who has been in power for three decades.

The human rights tragedies that have occurred in Marange are symptomatic of a larger problem plaguing the country of Zimbabwe. One quarter of the country’s population has fled their homeland. Inflation has crippled the economy as kleptocracy by government officials has proven to be the rule rather than the exception. Those that speak out for social justice are arrested, tortured, or killed.

In his argument of why Zimbabwe should be allowed to resume exports, Moti Ganz, Chairman of the International Diamond Manufacturing Association said, “Poverty and suffering are also very convenient instruments for manipulating and diverting people away from logical thinking.” To his mind, logical thinking means opening up a vast reserve of untapped diamonds to feed a market hungry for a new source of stones.

Plain and simple, Zimbabwe’s government won this round. They took a hostage (Zimbabwean human rights activist Farai Maguwu) and used him as a bargaining chip during negotiations. The diamond industry considered it a great step forward when, after weeks in prison, he was granted bail to await trial for “communicating falsehoods” after he provided first hand accounts of human rights abuses in Marange to the KPCS representative, Abbey Chikane, who, according to many, reported him to the police.

Zimbabwe threatened to dump 6 million carats of diamonds mined in Marange’s troubled diamond fields onto the black market if the KPCS didn’t approve their officially sanctioned export. For this threat they won the concession that they can begin releasing those same diamonds, but with Kimberley Process approval, into the “legitimate” global supply stream. This was Zimbabwe’s goal to begin with, since they will earn far more revenue releasing them slowly through normal trading networks than by trying to sell them en masse and illegally at fire sale prices.

So why did the Kimberley Process cave in to a country that was acting more like a terrorist group than a member of the international community? Because, more than anything, they fear consumer backlash should the public lose confidence in the flawed system known as the Kimberley Process.

At present, Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe and his political party ZANU-PF hold near-total control of Zimbabwe's diamond trade. Many of the individuals involved in this country's diamond industry and a number of the business entities created by this regime to manage Zimbabwe's diamond resources are subject to US targeted sanctions because of their complicity in a range of human rights abuses and corruption. Zimbabwe is currently a 21st century example of everything that is wrong with the diamond trade.

With a vast number of diamonds having direct ties to human rights abusers soon to enter the global market, now would be a perfect time for a little consumer backlash. We at Leber Jeweler will continue our fight on this issue we have worked on since the 1990’s. But we can’t do it alone. It’s up to the public to let the diamond and jewelry industry know they have made a deal with the devil.