Zimbabwe's Blood Diamonds For Sale

Zimbabwe's corrupt and tyrannical regime is trying to raise much needed cash through the sale of blood diamonds. And the regulatory body that was supposed to prevent this from happening isn't doing it's job.

Right now, diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange fields are being sold to buyers from around the world at an auction. Millions will be raised, most likely going directly into the pockets of officials who have helped turn Zimbabwe from a prosperous breadbasket into a pariah state that has impoverished and brutalized its own people. None of the revenue from previous sales of Marange diamonds ever reached the national treasury.

Perhaps the worst part of this tale is the role of the Kimberley Process, charged with preventing the sale of blood diamonds, which is doing precisely the opposite.

"We have put in place measures to ensure that we abide by the Kimberley Process principles and sell our diamonds in a transparent manner."

Kimberley last month ruled that Zimbabwe had ceased abuses by the military, which seized control of the Marange fields in late 2008, forcing out tens of thousands of small-scale miners.

Human rights groups say about 200 people died in the operation, and that soldiers then beat and raped villagers to force them to mine the gems in early 2009.

Kimberley blocked the sale of Marange diamonds in November last year, giving Zimbabwe until June to clean up its operations.

Think about that for a moment. Kimberley's people were totally aware of the brutal human rights abuses of Zimbabwe's regime against the locals at the Marange fields. But they didn't ban all diamonds drawn from the Marange field outright, ending this horror immediately.

Instead, they effectively told the regime, "you've got seven months to stop killing, beating, raping and enslaving people. If you can meet those minimum requirements, then you ought to be able to sell whatever your victims took out of the ground."

No matter what these incompetent bureaucrats and corrupt government officials say, these are still blood diamonds. A murderous regime gets a big payday and the the rest of the world can't seem to stop it.

Jonathon Narvey is the Editor of The Propagandist.