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
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD PGOV PHUM ASEC EMIN ZI
SUBJECT: KIMBERLEY PROCESS CHAIR GIVES ZIMBABWE KID-GLOVE
TREATMENT

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Summary
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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.

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GOZ Asserts No Human Rights Abuses at Disputed Site
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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.


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Murowa Diamonds-Sponsored Tour
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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.

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Conciliatory Farewell Remarks by KP Chair
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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.

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Comment
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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

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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