Top jewellery brands failing to ensure gold, diamonds mined ethically, Human Rights Watch says – by Henry Sanderson (Financial Times – February 8, 2018)

https://www.ft.com/

Some of the world’s leading jewellery companies are failing to ensure that their gold and diamonds are mined ethically, according to Human Rights Watch, despite two decades of efforts to clean up the industry.

While the world has made progress limiting the flow of diamonds linked to conflict, so-called blood diamonds, leading brands such as Boodles, Rolex, Cartier and Bulgari are failing to do enough to show that all their gems are not linked to broader human rights abuses, the New York-based group said.

“An increasing number of customers want to be sure the jewellery they buy has not fuelled human rights abuses,” Juliane Kippenberg, associate child rights director at Human Rights Watch, said.

“Jewellry companies owe it to their customers and to the communities affected by their businesses to source truly responsibly and allow public scrutiny of their actions.”

The report comes amid growing concerns about child labour in global supply chains, especially in the resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo, which has large deposits of gold, copper, diamonds and cobalt.

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