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Jacob Thamage, Chair of the Kimberley Process, addressing the 2022 KP Plenary in Gaborone, Botswana.
The Kimberley Process, the international forum charged with overseeing the regulatory process to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate pipeline has wrapped up 2022 Plenary Meeting in Gaborone, Botswana, reaching agreement on the commencement of a Review and Reform Cycle during which the critical topic of the “conflict diamonds definition” will be discussed.
According to media reports, the meeting very nearly ended in a stalemate, with discussion on the final day stretching into the early hours of the following morning, because of the insistence of a group of mainly Western countries to include a paragraph in the final communique that referenced the war in Ukraine.
Before the start of the Plenary Meeting on November 1, 2022, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Ukraine had sent letter to the KP Chair, Jacob Thamage of Botswana, requestiNG that the official agenda include a discussion on the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from the perspective of the Kimberley Process.
Russia, which was joined by Belarus and a number of other countries, among them Venezuela and the Central African Republic, opposed the move. Because all decisionS in the KP, including the composition of a Plenary’s agenda, need to ratified by full consensus, the discussion the war in Ukraine was effectively vetoed.
But, while it was officially not discussed, the discussion about having a discussion dominated most of the first and last days of the KP Plenary, mainly because the Western protagonists and Ukraine’s instance tht the refusal to add an agenda items be reflected in the final communique. When, just before sunrise on Saturday morning the two sides agreed on the text of the final communique, it mentioned the long debate only obliquely, but included all the letters sent earlier to the KP Chair, both in favor of an agenda item being discussed and against it.
A PERMANENT KP SECRETARIAT
Another milestone for the KP Plenary was the decision that Botswana will become host of the Permanent Secretariat of the Kimberley Process. To date, the task of managing the international system has moved from country to country each year, as the role of KP Chair is passed on at the start of each new calendar year.
“The KPCS (Kimberley Process Certification Scheme) today offers incomplete solutions, for the current definition of ‘conflict diamonds’ is ineffective in preventing all instances of systemic violence,” Mr. Asscher said.
“We were unable to reach consensus in the previous Review and Reform cycle about how it may be possible to reference violations of human rights in the conflict diamonds definition,” the WDC President said. “But in the past two years the centrality of human rights has been formally recognized by the KP Plenary.”
At the previous Plenary meeting in November 2021, the KP ratified Frame 7, which defined the key requirements for responsibly sourcing rough diamonds in the supply chain. It specifically cited the protection of human rights.
“Frame 7 was an important step in the right direction,” Mr. Asscher said. “It also fell in step with the WDC’s revised System of Warranties, which was launched in 2021. But we now need to close that circle, and that means finally amending the conflict diamonds definition.”
Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, President of Botswana, addressing the KP Plenary on November 1, 2022.
Edward Asscher, President of the World Diamond Council, addressing the 2022 KP Plenary.
A PERMANENT KP SECRETARIAT
Another milestone for the KP Plenary was the decision that Botswana will become host of the Permanent Secretariat of the Kimberley Process. To date, the task of managing the international system has moved from country to country each year, as the role of KP Chair is passed on at the start of each new calendar year.
The new Permanent Secretariat will not begin operating immediately. While its financing was agreed to at meeting in Gaborone, premises must be found and staff appointed. It is expected to begin operations at the beginning of 2024.
“The KP continues to face major challenges. A permanent and reinforced secretariat should contribute to a positive dynamic within the organization and ensure that we as a KP are able to cope with these challenges ahead,” Mr. Asscher said.
The KP Plenary also confirmed that Zimbabwe will take over as KP Chair on January1, 2023, meaning that for two years in a row the important position will be held by a southern African government.
The Plenary also conformed the appointment of the United Arab Emirates as KP Vice Chair in 2023. The UAE will is then slotted to serve as KP Chair in 2024.