The absence of labor rights is still present in the extraction of diamonds

The approval of the Kimberley Process in 2002 succeeded in reducing the trade in "blood diamonds", as those used to finance wars in Africa are called, but child labor and absence of labor rights are still behind the extraction of this mineral.

Brussels, Nov 18 (EFE) .- The approval of the Kimberley Process in 2002 managed to reduce the trade in "blood diamonds", as it is called to those used to finance wars in Africa, but child labor and the absence of labor rights are still behind the extraction of this mineral.

This was assured to Efe Serge de Backer and Marie d'Huart, the founders of My Fair Diamond, a company dedicated to the sale of "ethical diamonds", those that can fully guarantee its traceability.

"All our diamonds are bought in mines that meet the Mandeleo standard of the NGO Initiative for Development through the Diamond (DDI), "explained d'Huart, a social auditor with experience in advice from the diamond industry.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), agreed among 69 countries in 2002, reduced traffic in rough diamonds from zones of conflict up to a testimonial 0.2% of the total.

However, as reported by My Fair Diamond, "KPCS only applies when the sale of diamonds is used to finance to rebels who want to overthrow legitimate governments. "

In this way, diamonds extracted in areas where the social and health rights of workers are violated or hand-held child labor may continue to be marketed, a situation also reported by the NGO Global Witness.

"Many voices within the diamond industry are asking that the KPCS be expand to also meet the fulfillment of labor rights, "said d'Huart.

In case that goal is achieved, the question would be how to focus its implementation and its control "so that it does not remain in an empty desire".

To this day, My Fair Diamond works with thirteen artisanal mines in Sierra Leone that meet the DDI Mandeleo standard, although it does not they refuse to extend their purchases to Guinea or the Democratic Republic of the Congo "when they have been certified from an ethical point of view".

The first collection of the company was born this The same year after the CAP Council - a society focused on sustainable development - agreed to its launch with the Diamond Center of Antwerp (AWDC), a city through which it passes 84 % of the world's rough diamonds.

The diamond trade is not without controversy: the NGO Global Witness itself withdrew as an observer from the Kimberley Process in 2011 claiming that it had not fulfilled its purpose and it did not provide "the necessary security to ensure when you are not facing blood diamonds".

Marie d'Huart indicated that the KPCS standards They include situations such as the financing of dictatorships through the extraction and trade of diamonds.

There are also criticisms of the industry for its distribution of benefits, such as the of the president of Zimbabwe - one of the main producers of diamonds -, Robert Mugabe, who denounced in 2016 that his country only "received 2,000 million dollars for the trade of diamonds when the profits amounted to about 15,000 million. "

In this regard, the Minister of Mineral Resources of South Africa, Godfrey Oliphant, also expressed himself during the This week's celebration in Brussels of the African Diamond Conference (ADC), ensuring that "most of the benefits go far from Africa."