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An illegal
diamond dealer from Zimbabwe displays diamonds for sale in Manica, near the
border with Zimbabwe, September 19, 2010. Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
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Illicit trafficking of
diamonds from Central African Republic into neighboring Cameroon is helping
finance the continuation of a nearly three-year conflict, an expert panel that
monitors U.N. sanctions said in a confidential report. Central African Republic
(CAR) descended into chaos in March 2013 when predominantly Muslim Seleka
rebels seized power, triggering reprisals by "anti-balaka" Christian
militias who drove tens of thousands of Muslims from the south in a de facto
partition of the landlocked country.
Although
rival armed groups agreed to a peace accord in May, the conflict has continued
at a lower intensity, and a transitional government has been unable to assert
its authority over all of the vast, mineral-rich territory.
Reuters report continues:
The
export of diamonds from CAR was banned in May 2013 by the Kimberley Process,
which represents 81 countries, including the United States, the European Union,
Russia, China and all major diamond-producing nations. The group was formed to
prevent so-called blood diamonds from funding conflicts.
In
its interim report to the CAR sanctions committee, the U.N. Security Council's
panel of experts said the illicit trade in diamonds is still funding major
players in the conflict and increasingly involves neighboring countries such as
Cameroon and Chad.
The
panel has not previously highlighted the role of Cameroon in the conflict
diamond trade. But the report does not directly implicate Cameroon authorities
in the trade.
"Despite
a decline in violence by anti-balaka elements in the southwest, some
anti-balaka continue to be involved in the illicit exploitation of
diamonds," the panel said in the report, seen by Reuters.
"Diamond
mines in the (sub-prefecture) of Amada Gaza (Mambere-Kadei province) are
violently contested between anti-balaka and armed Peul," the experts said.
Many
Muslims from the Peul ethnic group were displaced by the war.
The
panel has said that all sides in the conflict profit from the trade in
diamonds. It estimates that some 140,000 carats of diamonds, valued at $24
million, have been smuggled out of the country since the 2013 ban on the export
of CAR's rough diamonds. [ID:nL6N0SU3FH]
Its
latest report said that diamonds from Amada Gaza were suspected to have been
trafficked through Gbiti, a Cameroon border town. Other examples of cases the
panel is investigating include diamond trafficking through the Cameroonian town
of Kenzou, including a large, 40-carat stone.
Another
involves the seizure of 160 carats of undocumented diamonds worth around
$28,000 in Yaounde, Cameroon in April. These diamonds, the panel said, had been
carried from Kenzou by two Indian nationals who recently visited Bangui, CAR's
capital.
Cameroon's
U.N. Mission did not respond to a request for comment.
Armed
anti-balaka elements, the panel said, are involved in illicit diamond
exploitation at a number of mining sites.
The
panel of experts recommended that the Security Council urge transitional CAR
authorities to suspend diamond-trading houses that purchase the gems from areas
"under direct or indirect control of armed groups." It also said the
council should urge neighboring countries not to violate CAR's borders.
MINUSCA,
the U.N. peacekeeping force in CAR, was deployed in 2014 to shore up the
precarious stability established under the transitional government. A U.N.
sanctions regime for Central African Republic, which includes an arms embargo,
was set up in December 2013.
In
May 2014, the Security Council blacklisted former President Francois Bozize and
two other men, one of whom has since died. Last month it blacklisted the
Belgian branch of CAR's diamond-trading company and three individuals linked to
the conflict
CAR
presidential and legislative elections are scheduled for Oct. 18. They have
already been postponed several times, however, and the transitional government
said on Tuesday the vote was unlikely to take place on time
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