Due to recent allegations regarding brutality by its soldiers, Zimbabwe is facing a potential suspension from the international diamond trade.

Activists claim Zimbabwe soldiers killed about 200 people at a diamond field. The government refutes the claims.

Rights groups are lobbying members of the Kimberly Process to stop exports from Zimbabwe. The Kimberly Process, which has 70 members, was set up in 2003 to assure consumers that their diamond purchases were not financing war or human rights abuses. Zimbabwe opponents warn that its credibility will be undermined if it fails to act against the country.

Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields were once used to gather diamonds and sell on the black market. Troops moved in late last year, and rights groups say they massacred about 200 people.

Human Rights Watch said the police and army have turned what was a peaceful area into a “nightmare of lawlessness and horrific violence,” and that the Kimberly Process should enforce that diamonds are not mined in areas where human rights are being abused.

Some analysts argue that even if Zimbabwe were suspended, it would be almost impossible to prevent all the illegally mined diamonds from reaching the international market.

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