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The matter relates to formal contract (CONTRACT IFS-RRM/2010/247-567) entered into by the European Union represented by a one Ms Nona Deprez and the Liberia Vice Minister Mr Kpandel Fayia (former Chairperson of the KP Monitoring team on Marange certification) where the latter was supposed to deliver “a report certified and sanctioned by the KP Chair”.
This meant that a report, which will not excite the EU, was not going to be paid for.
In the emails now in the public domain Mr Fayia is breathing fire over non-payment for his services because the resultant report did not stop the Marange diamond certification as wished by the EU.
In an email, Mike Davis of Global Witness offered to help Fayia to recover his loot. Did I say Global Witness?
In simple English, Your Excellency, EU wanted a specific outcome of the mission way in advance of its undertaking. This act satisfies all the essential elements of bribery and can be least be described as a scandal. It negates the virtues and principles of the founding statutes of the KP.
In particular, this bribery scandal denigrates the KP preamble, which states … “the international community develop detailed proposals for a simple and workable international certification scheme for rough diamonds based primarily on national certification scheme and on international agreed minimum standards…”
What is ironic, Your Excellency is that the same body that was mandated by a UN resolution to clean up the diamond trade from conflict diamond is now having powerful participants using dirty tactics to discredit other participants in pursuit of their crude foreign policies.
It makes sad reading that the KP has now joined a long list of multilateral institutions being abused by stronger countries as tools to achieve the objectives of their foreign policies.
We hope you will institute inquiry in this matter with the intention to commence criminal proceedings against the parties involved.
Your (in) action in this matter which involves your cousins, EU, will be precedent that will be used should similar acts be committed in the future and will shape the jurisprudence within KP.
Meanwhile, we put you on notice that as a civic group, we will report this matter to Interpol and Transparency International.
Secondly, Your Excellency, we register our disappointment and dismay over your statements in India regarding the Zimbabwe diamonds exports into India as regards the USA economic sanctions.
We believe that the USA State Department is adequately staffed with personnel to deal with ZIM-USA relations and your KP chairship must be confined to mandate and agenda of KP.
Regrettably, we see you have set an unfortunate precedent that a participant country chairing can use the KP platform to comment on its bilateral relations with one of the participants.
However, Your Excellency , the imposition of sanctions by USA (for whatever reason) are ultra vires Amendment 14 of the USA constitution which provides substantive and procedural rights by prohibiting the government to deprive persons of life, property and liberty without certain steps taken to ensure fairness.
I am glad that in your letter to Minister Mpofu of 29 March 2012, you admitted that they are “economic sanctions put in place by the USA government.”
Contrary to your claim, Your Excellency, these sanctions are not targeted because their precision to affect the selected persons and institutions are akin to kill a fly with a bazooka.
The tacit effect of sanctions on the Head of State of a country implies that the entire country is excluded from any meaningful economic dealings. For example, it is impossible to open an Apple ID account using a Zimbabwean address but you can use any other address in other neighbouring countries.
The impression created by these sanctions to the USA business is that Zimbabwe is a no-go area.
It is not by coincidence that after the imposition of USA sanctions, American companies like Coca-Cola and Heinz closed shops in Zimbabwe.
Further, Your Excellency, these sanctions you refer to are a violation of the United Nations General Resolution (Elimination of coercive measures as a means of political and economic compulsion) no 49 of 1996. It states that “. . .reaffirms right of every State to economic and social development and to choose the political, economic and social system which it deems most appropriate for the welfare of its people, in accordance with its national plans and policies . . . Calls
for the immediate repeal of unilateral extraterritorial laws that impose sanctions on companies and nationals of other State.”
The foregoing, Your Excellency, makes the USA sanctions illegal and we respectfully request that you do not refer to them during your KP term. Any future reference to these sanctions within the scope of KP business will leave us with no option but to lobby the Government of Zimbabwe to raise a point of order in terms of the Kimberly Process Rules of Procedure (Johannesburg) No 34.
Events in the last three years in KP have shown that participants were pursuing agendas that are alien to the KP mandate as directed by the UN Resolution 55/56 which was informed by the Fowler report.
Given, Your Excellency, your performance so far, we simply can’t wait for your term to come to an end.
For the record, Your Excellency, if the stringent minimum conditions imposed on the Marange Diamond Fields were to be extended across the globe, there would be no meaningful diamond industry to take place.
I remain,
Tafadzwa Musarara
Chairman — Resources Exploitation Watch.
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