Farai Maguwu, the award-winning Zimbabwean human rights activist, will lead a special session at the Rapaport Fair Trade Jewelry Conference on June 3 at 10 a.m. at Mandalay Bay during the JCK Las Vegas show.

Maguwu will also speak briefly at the Rapaport breakfast at 8:30 a.m. the same day. There will also be a special luncheon honoring Maguwu at 12 p.m.

Maguwu, director of the Center for Research and Development in Zimbabwe, has been at the forefront of human rights advocacy in Zimbabwe. In May 2010, he was arrested for allegedly giving confidential information to the Kimberley Process monitor and held in jail until the charges were dropped. In November 2011, Maguwu was honored by Human Rights Watch with the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism.

“Farai Maguwu…is someone that every ethical person in the diamond industry should support, honor and emulate,” Martin Rapaport, chairman of the Rapaport Group, said in a statement. “As an industry and as individuals we must stand up and proclaim that the sanctity of life and the human rights of diggers are more important to us than diamond profits.”

JCK