KIMBERLEY PROCESS CHAIR GIVES ZIMBABWE KID-GLOVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000263 SENSITIVE SIPDIS AF/S FOR B. WALCH AF/EPS FOR ANN BREITER EEB FOR BROOKS-RUBIN NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR STATE PASS TO USAID FOR L.DOBBINS AND J. HARMON TREASURY FOR D. PETERS COMMERCE FOR ROBERT TELCHIN ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD PGOV PHUM ASEC EMIN ZI SUBJECT: KIMBERLEY PROCESS CHAIR GIVES ZIMBABWE KID-GLOVE TREATMENT -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) During a short visit, hijacked to some extent by the marketing might of Rio Tinto's Murowa Diamonds, Kimberley Process (KP) Chair Bernard Esau got a white-washed account of the violence in the disputed Chiadzwa diamond field in late ¶2008. Esau made conciliatory remarks about the need for SADC to support Zimbabwe in his parting address. He failed to challenge the GOZ's assertion that no deaths had occurred at the hands of government agents at the site, nor did the KP team apparently have or seek the opportunity to engage human rights activists or the registered claimant of a disputed part of the diamond field. The Namibian Chair's kid-glove treatment of Zimbabwe is a disappointment, but not a surprise. End Summary. -------------- -------------- GOZ Asserts No Human Rights Abuses at Disputed Site -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Murowa Diamonds Managing Director Niels Kristensen briefed econoff on March 24, 2009 on the previous week's visit by a Kimberley Process team to Zimbabwe. Kristensen said Murowa Diamonds, a member of the Rio Tinto group of companies, had lobbied hard for face time with the KP team. (Note: Rio Tinto is working doggedly to prevent Zimbabwe's suspension from the Kimberley Process. Along with Murowa, it lobbied the EU hard and successfully not to follow the U.S. lead in sanctioning the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ). The companies argued that EU sanctioning of MMCZ or Zimbabwe's suspension from KP would compel Murowa to close its mine and lead to the mine's expropriation by the GOZ. End Note.) ¶3. (SBU) A Murowa employee who participated in the GOZ's planning of the visit reported to Kristensen that the issue of how to handle questions about violations of human rights in Chiadzwa had dominated the planning sessions. At one point a high-level police officer had been brought in to remind the group of the government line that there had been no deaths at the hands of government agents in Chiadzwa in November/December 2008. 
 ¶4. (U) Adhering to that line, Obert Mpofu, the ZANU-PF Minister of Mines and Mining Development and a Mugabe loyalist, reiterated during the March 25 session of Parliament that neither the police nor the military had been responsible for any deaths in Chiadzwa. While Mpofu acknowledged that a military operation had cleared the area of panners, he denied that violence had been used. The MDC half of Parliament responded that his argument was ludicrous Qhalf of Parliament responded that his argument was ludicrous as both the independent press and NGO groups have reported that the police and military were behind the deaths of several hundred panners. HARARE 00000263 002 OF 003 -------------- Murowa Diamonds-Sponsored Tour -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Murowa flew the 5-person team, consisting of Chair Bernard Esau, three other Namibians, and a South African, to its mine in the company's corporate jet for a tour on March 17, 2009. From there, it flew the team to Mutare for vehicle transfer by officials of the Zimbabwe Minerals Development Corporation (ZMDC) to Marange to see the diamond field. (Note: The GOZ has given the parastatal ZMDC responsibility for development of the site. The ZMDC is a specially designated national, i.e. a USG-sanctioned entity. End Note) The ZMDC did not permit two accompanying Murowa employees to join the group. However, the plane was grounded by bad weather and the KP team spent the night in a Mutare hotel at Murowa Diamond expense. The KP team told the Murowa employees that the only diamond operation they had seen was hand panning of diamonds in a shed, with some older earthmoving equipment parked in the vicinity. Along the same line, soldiers at the Mutare airport had told the Murowa employees during their long wait for the KP team that the military clampdown in the area had ended the diamond paning and trading frenzy. ¶6. (SBU) Kristensen said that the team had an appointment with President Mugabe on March 18 and had also visited the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ),where it was shown a carry-on suitcase-sized box of rough Marange diamonds of indeterminate value. Esau had posed the question why diamonds were being stored at the RBZ, but did not get a satisfactory reply, according to Kristensen. -------------- Conciliatory Farewell Remarks by KP Chair -------------- ¶7. (SBU) At a GOZ-hosted farewell dinner for the KP team on March 18th attended by Kristensen, Esau gave a conciliatory speech in which he stressed SADC's obligation to help Zimbabwe address its problems and not "tread" on the country when it was in need. He also praised the systems, infrastructure and procedures in place in Zimbabwe for monitoring the diamond trade, noting that they only needed to be re-invigorated and followed. Kristensen said Esau did not challenge the GOZ's assertion (repeated that evening) that nobody had been killed by government agents during the Chiadzwa crackdown. He also said Murowa was not aware of any discussion about a return visit by a Kimberley Process team to Zimbabwe. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The KP team apparently never had or sought the Q8. (SBU) The KP team apparently never had or sought the opportunity to engage human rights activists or the HARARE 00000263 003 OF 003 registered owner of a disputed part of the Marange diamond field during its visit. We are disappointed, but not surprised, at the Namibian-led KP team's kid-glove treatment of Zimbabwe. If the Kimberley Process is to maintain any international credibility, it must not allow the killings by government agents and the illicit trade in diamonds from Zimbabwe to be swept under the carpet under the mantle of African solidarity. DHANANI