By Staff Reporter
In a year, the Kimberley Process (KP) ambitiously christened its “Year of Best Practice,” the Civil Society Coalition (CSC) has delivered a stern reminder: platitudes and posturing are not progress.
The Kimberley Process Intersessional Meeting, held in Dubai in May, presented a stark contrast between optimism and reality. In his closing remarks, Jaff Bamenjo, representing the Civil Society Coalition, offered a candid assessment that pierced through the diplomatic formalities with unflinching clarity.
The Kimberley Process, established in 2003 to stem the flow of conflict diamonds, has always operated on consensus, sometimes to the point of paralysis. This year, it faces renewed scrutiny over its capacity to remain relevant in a world where the ethical sourcing of minerals is increasingly non-negotiable.
At the heart of the CSC’s critique lies the growing gap between the KP’s stated ideals and its operational realities. The coalition’s documentary, Beyond Shining Illusions, shown earlier in the week, underscored the human cost of diamond extraction, from environmental degradation to systemic rights abuses, particularly in communities in Africa’s diamond belts. The film triggered what one observer called a “rare moment of collective discomfort,” briefly piercing the KP’s usual veil of self-congratulation.
Despite acknowledging the issues, the response was marked by deflection. The KP Chair countered the CSC’s documentary with a video showcasing lab-grown diamonds, seemingly attempting to vindicate the moral legitimacy of natural diamonds.
Members of the KP Civil Society Coalition follow proceedings during a KP intercessional meeting
However, as the KP CSC astutely observed, this defensive manoeuvre overlooks the crux of the matter. Consumers are not rejecting diamonds per se, but rather, they are rejecting complicity in unethical practices. A genuine defense of natural diamonds necessitates substantive reforms, rather than polished marketing campaigns.
Reform, however, remains elusive. More than two years into yet another review cycle, the KP has failed to update its outdated definition of “conflict diamonds,” still narrowly focused on rebel groups and civil wars. The CSC has argued for a broader definition—one that includes state violence, environmental harm, and systemic exploitation. Without this, the KP’s credibility continues to erode, especially among younger, ethically conscious consumers.
This should also be put into the context, Dubai’s meeting offered one glimmer of practical engagement: the discussion on the Central African Republic, where a conditional lifting of a diamond export embargo has drawn both hope and concern. The KP CSC welcomed efforts by CAR authorities to report on compliance but flagged troubling human rights violations in the Ziki mining zone. For the KP to succeed in fragile contexts, vigilance, not victory laps, is the order of the day.
The KP CSC’s recommendations are clear: honest peer review, maximum transparency, rigorous traceability, and the decentralization of oversight through national tripartite structures. These are not radical demands; they are prerequisites for legitimacy.
“If better is possible, good is not good enough,” Bamenjo said, invoking the words of fellow activist Abu Brima. It’s a message the Kimberley Process would do well to heed.
For a certification scheme that once promised to clean up the bloodied diamond trade, best practice must mean more than business as usual. It must mean raising the bar—for governments, for industry, and above all, for the communities whose futures are carved from the earth.