An international network of diamond buyers and suppliers on Thursday advised its members to boycott diamonds from Zimbabwe’s Marange fields, threatening to expel and blacklist anyone who violated the ban on trading in gems from the controversial area according to the group's press release.

The New York-based Rapaport Diamond Trading Network  noted that the Kimberley Process has just certified approximately 900,000 carats of rough diamonds from Marange, Zimbabwe. While the trading of Marange diamonds may be legal in certain jurisdictions, companies owning or selling the diamonds are sanctioned by the U.S., EU, and U.K. governments and their trading may be illegal by citizens of these countries.

They went on  to sat that  the Kimberley Process (KP) does not have a mandate to deny its certification for diamonds involved in human rights violations and there is no guarantee that diamonds with KP certification are free of human rights violations.

Rapaport strongly advised all diamond buyers not to trade in KP certified Marange diamonds and to request written assurance from their suppliers that their diamonds have not been sourced from Marange.

RapNet, the Rapaport Diamond Trading Network, will not allow the trading of any diamonds sourced from Marange, Zimbabwe. Members found to have knowingly offered Marange diamonds for sale on RapNet  are threatened with expulsion and their names will be publicly communicated.

By Staff reporter and agencies