Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-08-Speech-4-394"
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"en.20100708.21.4-394"2
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"Madam President, we are dealing with two issues here or, to be precise, one person and one issue. First of all, we are dealing with Farai Maguwu, a human being and a human rights activist, who was arrested in Zimbabwe and then badly mistreated in prison. Secondly, we are dealing with the strange role that the monitor of the Kimberley Process has played. This monitor is supposed to oversee the situation in Zimbabwe and yet he has actually established contacts with the Zimbabwean Government and used information which he received from Mr Maguwu, and thus put Mr Maguwu in an awkward position. Ultimately, then, we are also dealing with the Kimberley Process itself.
In my previous role as lobbyist for development organisations, I participated in the negotiations to bring this system in. It has proven to be a successful system. It has cut off, or decreased the amount of, finance for the wars in Congo, Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia raised through the sale of diamonds. However, we are now running the risk of the Kimberley system being used to legitimise another practice, and that is human rights violations by regimes. They are not covered by this resolution and that is why we are demanding an amendment. This resolution by Parliament sends out the message that conflict diamonds, or blood diamonds, are all there is to it. After all, all diamonds are mined in appalling conditions. That would be an enormous step forward, because that would enable us to denounce not only the situation in Zimbabwe, but also the already longstanding human rights abuses by the Angolan regime against the Lunda. So far, we have had no success on that score, because the Kimberley system is a collaboration of countries which take a dim view of other countries interfering in their home affairs. However, this signal from the European Parliament could be the first in a series of signals that bring about change there."@en1
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