Unreported World on Channel 4: Zimbabwe's blood diamonds

On 29 October 2010 Channel 4's investigative series, Unreported World, showed a report on Zimbabwe which found that there is still corruption and terror in that country.  People are unwilling to talk much about the diamond fields but the team heard that military units are rotated so that they all have a go at making a profit from the diamonds, in exchange for loyalty to Mugabe and his party.  The Channel 4 team were filming secretly and pretending to be tourists.  To find out more about the diamond trade and how diamonds were smuggled over the border into Mozambique (and from there eventually to a high street near you) they had undercover investigators who could speak the local language.  

The Kimberley process is an internationally agreed scheme for certifying the origin of rough diamonds being transported across borders.  The scheme is being reviewed at a meeting on 1 November.

Unreported World is shown on Fridays at 7:30 pm on Channel 4 and you can also catch up through the website.  Next Friday's film is on Pakistan after the floods, showing that the catastrophe continues after the flood waters receded.