The inconclusive and reportedly unilateral decision by the chairman of the international diamond trade watchdog the Kimberley Process (KP), to allow Zimbabwe to resume diamond exports, has been rejected.

The decision was announced after a four day meeting of KP members in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which once again ended in a stalemate over how to proceed with Zimbabwe. The country’s diamond trade status was top of the agenda, with some KP members still concerned about ongoing smuggling out of the Chiadzwa diamond fields and reports of sustained human rights abuses there.

The situation at Chiadzwa remains largely clouded in secrecy, with the army still maintaining tight control of the area. But recent reports coming out of Chiadzwa have raised concerns that nothing has improved. Last month it was reported that more than 100 dogs were set on miners by police and soldiers, leaving more than 80 people injured. And earlier this year an undercover investigation by a UK based newsgroup found that at least 20 people are killed each month at the alluvial diamond fields.

On top of this have been ongoing reports of rampant smuggling, an operation said to be controlled by military led syndicates who smuggle the stones through the border to Mozambique. The benefactors of this rampant smuggling are said to be top ZANU PF officials and Finance Minister Tendai Biti recently said some US$300 million worth of diamonds from Chiadzwa has disappeared.

Despite all this the KP’s new chairman, Mathieu Yamba (who is from the DRC), earlier this year announced that Zimbabwe was allowed to resume sales. This original unilateral decision was blasted by mainly Western members of the KP, who insisted that no consensus had been reached on Zimbabwe’s future. Decisions within the KP are all meant to be taken after consensus is reached, according to KP protocol.

But Yamba has again thrown protocol out the window, after last week’s meeting in his country. After the final meeting Thursday night, which saw civil society groups stage a mass walkout, he announced that Zimbabwe would be allowed to resume sales.

The United States has since said it is “deeply disappointed,” with the meeting and emphasised that KP members did “not reach a consensus.”

“We believe that work toward a solution must continue, and that until consensus is reached, exports from (Chiadzwa) should not proceed,” the US Embassy in Harare said in a statement.

At the same time John Baird, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, has announced that Canada has rejected the statement by Yamba, saying that it “incorrectly states that a compromise was reached.”

“Contrary to the Chair’s Notice, key concerns were not addressed and Canada, and like-minded states, did not endorse the proposal submitted by the Chair,” said Minister Baird.

He added: “The notice was issued in contravention of rules and procedures of the Kimberley Process. We are advising the Canadian diamond industry against trade in (Chiadzwa) diamonds.”

Israel has also announced that it will not allow any imports of rough diamonds from Zimbabwe, in a sign that it has rejected the decision by Yamba. Israel’s Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai has said that all stones that arrive in Israel from countries that support Zimbabwe’s diamonds, like India and China, will be searched and thoroughly examined.

The World Diamond Council has also expressed regret about what it called the ‘inconclusive end’ to the KP meeting. The Council has called on all KP members to renew efforts to reach agreement over the future of exports from Zimbabwe. The group said that it urges “all members of the trade to deal only in rough diamonds that are accompanied by KP certificates.”

Council President Eli Izhakoff meanwhile blamed a lack of time for the ongoing stalemate, insisting that “there was a genuine and concerted effort to resolve the differences that remained.”

“I do not feel that we reached a dead end. Progress was being made, but we simply ran out of time. We have to continue talking in order to reach the necessary consensus as soon as possible,” Izhakoff said.