UN Resolution 57/302: The Role of Diamonds in Fuelling Conflicts

UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 57/302:
Fifty-seventh session

Agenda item 27

The role of diamonds in fuelling conflict

Angola, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Central African Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mexico, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the former, Yugoslav Republic of Macedonian, Tonga, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay and Venezuela:
The role of diamonds in fuelling conflict: breaking the link between the illicit transaction of rough diamonds and armed conflict as a contribution to prevention and settlement of conflicts.

The General Assembly,

Recognizing that the trade in conflict diamonds is a matter of serious international concern, which can be directly linked to the fuelling of armed conflict, the activities of rebel movements aimed at undermining or overthrowing legitimate Governments, and the illicit traffic in and proliferation of armaments, especially small arms and light weapons,

Recognizing also the devastating impact of conflicts fuelled by the trade in conflict diamonds on the peace, safety and security of people in affected countries and the systematic and gross human rights violations that have been perpetrated in such conflicts,

Noting the negative impact of such conflicts on regional stability and the obligations placed upon States by the Charter of the United Nations regarding the maintenance of international peace and security,

Recognizing, therefore, that urgent action to curb the trade in conflict diamonds is imperative,

Recognising also the positive benefits of the legitimate diamond trade to producing countries, and underlining the need for urgent international action to prevent the problem of conflict diamonds from negatively affecting the trade in legitimate diamonds, which makes a critical contribution to the economies of many of the producing, exporting and importing States, especially developing States,

Noting that the vast majority of rough diamonds produced in the world are from legitimate sources,
Recalling the United Nations Charter and all relevant resolutions of the Security Council related to conflict diamonds and determined to contribute to and support the implementation of the measures provided for in those resolutions,

Recalling also Security Council resolution 1459 (2003) of 28 January 2003, in which the Council strongly supported the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, as well as the ongoing process to refine and implement the regime, as a valuable contribution against trafficking in conflict diamonds,

Recalling further its resolutions 55/56 of 1 December 2000 and 56/263 of 13 March 2003 in which it called for the development of proposals for a simple and workable international certification scheme for rough diamonds based primarily on national certification schemes and on internationally agreed minimum standards, under the Kimberley Process,

Believing that the introduction of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme should substantially reduce the opportunity for conflict diamonds to play a role in fuelling armed conflict and should help to protect the legitimate trade and ensure the effective implementation of the relevant resolutions on trade in conflict diamonds,

Recalling the objective of ensuring that the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme should be simple, effective and pragmatic and that it should not impede the present legitimate trade in diamonds or impose an undue burden on Governments or industry, particularly smaller producers, and should not hinder the development of the diamond industry,

Acknowledging the important initiatives already taken to address the problem of conflict diamonds, in particular by the Governments of Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea and Sierra Leone and by other key producing, exporting and importing countries, and encouraging those Governments to continue the initiatives,

Acknowledging also the continued efforts of regional organizations and other groups of countries to curb conflict diamonds,

Welcoming the important contribution made by the diamond industry, in particular the World Diamond Council, as well as civil society, to assist international efforts to stop the trade in conflict diamonds,

Welcoming also the voluntary self-regulation initiatives for the diamond industry announced by the World Diamond Council, and recognizing that a system of such voluntary self-regulation will contribute, as described in the Interlaken Declaration of 5 November 2002 on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for Rough Diamonds, 1) to ensuring the effectiveness of national systems of internal controls for rough diamonds,

Recognizing that the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme will be credible only if all participants have established internal systems of control designed to eliminate the presence of conflict diamonds in the chain of producing, exporting and importing rough diamonds within their own territories, while taking into account that differences in production methods and trading practices, as well as differences in institutional controls thereof, may require different approaches to meet minimum standards,

Welcoming the important contribution of the Kimberley Process, which was initiated by African diamond producing countries,

Noting with appreciation that the Kimberley Process has pursued its deliberations on an inclusive basis, involving concerned stakeholders including those producing, exporting and importing States, the diamond industry and civil society,

Recognizing that State sovereignty should be fully respected and the principles of equality, mutual benefits and consensus should be adhered to,

Welcoming the Interlaken Declaration, which successfully launched the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme,

1. Notes with appreciation the report of the Chair of the Kimberley Process (2) submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 56/263 of 13 March 2002 and congratulates the Governments, and the representatives of the regional economic integration organizations, the organized diamond industry and civil society participating in the Kimberley Process, on finalizing the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme;

2. Recognizes that the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme can help to ensure the effective implementation of relevant resolutions of the Security Council containing sanctions on the trade in conflict diamonds and calls for full implementation of existing Council measures targeting the illicit trade in rough diamonds that play a role in fuelling conflict;

3. Strongly supports the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme presented in the form of the document entitled "Kimberley Process Certification Scheme";

4. Notes the commitment made at the Kimberley Process ministerial meeting on 5 November 2002 to ensure that measures taken to implement the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for rough diamonds will be consistent with international trade rules; (3)

5. Welcomes the decision to implement the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme from 1 January 2003;

6. Also welcomes the decision to collate and disseminate relevant statistical data on the production of, and international trade in, rough diamonds as a tool for effective implementation;

7. Stresses that the widest possible participation in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is essential and should be encouraged and facilitated, and urges all Member States to participate actively in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme;

8. Welcomes the willingness expressed by the Government of South Africa to chair the Kimberley Process during its first year of implementation;

9. Requests the Chair of the Kimberley Process to present to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session a report on its implementation;

10. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-eighth session the item entitled "The role of diamonds in fuelling conflict".