Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) has questioned some of the conclusions presented in t recently released Amnesty International report on export of diamonds from the Central African Republic (CAR), entitled Chains of Abuse. In a statement released on Sept 30, the organisation said that it “cannot but conclude” that the report contains certain factual errors.

The statement points out that an Amnesty team had visited AWDC and the Antwerp Diamond Office and had witnessed how strictly controls on imports of rough are implemented in Antwerp. It says that the report ignores the fact the Antwerp Diamond Office implements a 100% strict control mechanism for each import or export of diamonds, which led to the interception and seizure of two shipments, containing rough diamonds potentially originating from CAR.

It said that the Diamond Office performs a 100% check of all shipments, instead of spot-checks as the report states.

Further, AWDC points out that the two shipments that were blocked in Antwerp never entered the market, contrary to what the report seems to suggest, a judicial inquiry was initiated and the companies involved lost their license to trade in Antwerp . Moreover, the fact these two shipments were intercepted, was one of the reasons why the UN imposed sanctions on certain entities later on.

The AWDC also says that its comments on fragments of a draft report that had been sent to them for revision have been ignored.