Conflict Diamonds’ Deadly Toll

Posted in News by Admin on November 11th, 2009

They might end up as costly baubles on sale in shops around the world. But for some diamonds mined in Zimbabwe, the journey begins in massive illegal pit mines where men, women, and children are forced to work long days under the brutal authority of government troops, who took over the mine in a spree of bloodshed. Since February 2009, ZANU-PF has shared government power, but the military remains under its control.

The report, “Diamonds in the Rough,” also suggests that revenue from the gems enriches senior ZANU-PF officials and provides significant revenue to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which has underwritten some military operations. The Marange fields could potentially yield US$1.2 billion a year, according to one estimate, at a time when the country is broke, unable even to pay its teachers or for basic sanitation and health care, and begging the world for aid. The two other Zimbabwe diamond sites are deep mines run by private commercial enterprises.

After the Marange fields were discovered in 2006, they were open to anyone, and illegal mining and smuggling flourished. The army took control in October 2008 with an unrestrained assault, witnesses said. Troops in helicopters fired tear gas and machine guns at unarmed miners. Soldiers overran the fields and nearby villages. According to several villagers, they fired their AK-47 assault rifles indiscriminately, without warning. Over a three-week operation, more than 200 civilians were killed.

Since then, diamond mining - and smuggling - remain in the grip of the armed forces. The worst of the violence has ended, but Human Rights Watch found that the army continues to commit human rights violations, including beatings, torture, forced labor, and child labor in Marange.

“Zimbabwe’s new government should immediately end all human rights abuses in the Marange diamond fields and remove the army from the area,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “All soldiers and police officers responsible for horrific abuses must be held to account.” The report also calls for a worldwide ban on diamonds from the Marange fields.

“Diamonds in the Rough” is based on two research missions to Zimbabwe in February 2009. Human Rights Watch researchers visited Harare, Mutare, and the Marange fields and interviewed more than 100 people - witnesses, local miners, local court officials, local community leaders, victims and relatives, lawyers, medical staff, soldiers, police, traditional leaders, and local human rights activists.

To States and Organizations that Are Major Consumers of Rough Diamonds

• Support initiatives to speedily reform and broaden the mandate of the KPCS to include human rights concerns at the core of its mandate.
• Guard against the purchase of rough diamonds without a certificate
• Take steps to inform consumers of polished diamonds that they should not buy, trade, or sell diamonds originating from conflict diamond sources.