Special Topics: Zimbabawe
While diamonds are one of the most beautiful gemstones, some diamonds are associated with human rights abuses. Rapaport takes an active role promoting human rights throughout the diamond industry and was one of the early proponents of the Kimberley Process (KP). Although the KP has successfully reduced the amount of blood diamonds – or diamonds associated with armed conflicts – it has failed to develop a definition of conflict diamonds that includes diamonds associated with human rights abuses.
Diamonds mined in Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields since 2006 have been associated with severe human rights abuses – including murder, rape, and torture – yet they are now exported from Zimbabwe with the approval of the KP. Rapaport has banned these diamonds from RapNet, the Rapaport Trading Network, and continues to promote new initiatives to combat human rights abuses in the Diamond Industry.