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NGO Upholds Boycott of Kimberley Process
Oct 31, 2016 6:15 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... A member of the Civil Society Coalition said it is still boycotting the Kimberley Process (KP) despite claims it will attend the organization’s plenary meeting in Dubai beginning November 13.
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based KP chair for 2016, announced October 22 that CENADEP will attend the meeting, citing a letter he received from Albert Kabuya Muyeba, CENADEP’s KP representative.
Civil Society is boycotting the KP over the UAE’s chairmanship due to the country’s failure to address concerns about its rough trade such as over-valuation of rough re-exports, and for the lack of engagement with the coalition. Bin Sulayem recently appealed to Civil Society to attend the plenary, outlining efforts made to address the coalition’s concerns.
While other members of the coalition have upheld the boycott, CENADEP’s executive director Danny Singoma stressed Kabuya Muyebal was “not authorized” to make such a decision and the group, which operates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), will not attend the plenary. “[Kabuya] is receiving a suspension of 15 days and has been relieved of his representation of our organization at the KP,” Singoma said in an email to Rapaport News.
Bin Sulayem stressed there was no reason to doubt the genuine nature of the letter he received from CENADEP, which was seen by Rapaport News.
“Frankly, we were both surprised and pleased with the positive reaction on our remediation proposal since we do not really know them,” Bin Sulayem said. “CENADEP is an important player in the Civil Society field in the DRC."
Kabuya Muyeba did not respond to a request for comment at press time.
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Tags:
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, CENADEP, Civil Society, Civil Society Coalition, Kimberley Process, KP, Rapaport News
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