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Global Witness Warns of CAR Diamond Smuggling
Jun 26, 2017 3:06 AM
By Joshua Freedman
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RAPAPORT... Smugglers are using social-media platforms such as
Facebook and WhatsApp to get diamonds out of the Central African Republic (CAR)
and into international markets, Global Witness claimed in a report last week.
A representative from the organization posed undercover as a diamond trader to
gain “unprecedented access” to those involved in smuggling diamonds out of CAR,
it said Thursday. During the year-long investigation, it found that sellers and
middlemen were tagging potential buyers in Facebook posts and then using
private messages to develop relationships and negotiate deals.
The Kimberley Process (KP) suspended CAR in
2013 — meaning the country was banned from exporting rough diamonds — after
rebels took over the nation’s government. Last year, the KP readmitted the
country and permitted it to resume exports from certain regions that the KP deemed
compliant with regulations to prevent conflict-diamond trading.
However, non-profit Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) alleged late last year that CAR diamonds were still entering the global market because of poor prevention controls.
On Thursday, Global Witness warned that smugglers were managing to get their goods
past all the checks, moving diamonds “with ease” within the country and across
its international borders.
In its report, titled “A Game of Stones,” Global Witness said it had spoken to seven diamond
dealers, including five CAR nationals. Five openly discussed smuggling across
international borders, with the diamonds in question allegedly headed to buyers
in Belgium, Brazil, France, China, Israel, Lebanon, South Africa, Sierra Leone
and Liberia, the organization said. The largest parcel the dealers mentioned
was over 900 carats, it added. Only two traders, both CAR nationals, said they
did not engage in smuggling and respected the Kimberley Process.
Traffickers source diamonds from the rebel-controlled
areas because they are much cheaper than goods from the government-controlled
regions, the report cited one diamond dealer as saying.
“Often there is a local rebel chief there that hosts
them…. They buy, they buy, they buy,” the trader said. “Once at the airport [in
CAR or neighboring Cameroon], they leave, as there are no controls, and they
pose as simple travelers.”
Dealers can also transport CAR’s diamonds by sending a courier
on a motorcycle to one of the compliant zones, such as Berberati, to deliver
them to Cameroon, according to the report.
The fact that smugglers are getting diamonds out of CAR illegally shows the KP is not succeeding in policing the country’s trade, argued Michael Gibb, the campaign leader for conflict resources at Global Witness.
“CAR is precisely the kind of case the Kimberley Process
was established to confront,” Gibb said. “It illustrates perfectly that it cannot
tackle the continued trade in conflict diamonds alone. Diamond companies
must take greater responsibility for building an industry that stops ill-gotten
gains reaching international markets.”
The illustration was commissioned by Global Witness from an artist based in CAR.
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Tags:
Berberati, cameroon, car, Central African Republic, Conflict Diamonds, facebook, Global Witness, Joshua Freedman, Kimberley Process, KP, pac, Partnership Africa Canada, Rapaport News, social media, WhatsApp
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