HARARE (AFP) — Zimbabwe's military is involved in illegal mining in diamond mine fields in the country's east where civilians are victims of "horrific" violence, a global diamond mining watchdog said Wednesday 8 July.

Photo: AFP

A team from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme handed to the government an interim report urging the government to suspend production and the export of diamonds in the eastern Marange district amid security concerns.

The report denounced "unacceptable and horrific violence against civilians by authorities in and around Chiadzwa."

The team visited mine fields in eastern districts last week following allegations of human rights abuses there.

"Our team was able to interview and document the stories of tens of victims, observe their wounds, scars from dog bites and batons, tears, an on-going psychological trauma," team leader Kpandel Fiya said in the report.

"This has to be acknowledged and it has to stop," said Fiya, who is deputy mines minister in Liberia, a country whose civil wars were fueled by so-called "blood diamonds."

"I was in Liberia throughout the 15 years of civil war, and I have experienced too much senseless violence in my lifetime, especially connected to diamonds," he said.
The report also stated that there was "direct involvement of the military in illegal mining and related activities that we observed ourselves."

It also expressed concern about the trafficking of diamonds and "lack of border control or other measures to control smuggling."

The Kimberley team included members of the European Commission, World Diamond Council, US State Department, and the South African Diamond and Precious Metals regulator.

In June, a Human Rights Watch report accused Zimbabwe's armed forces of using torture and forced labour to control the Marange fields, saying more than 200 people had been killed last year -- allegations which Zimbabwe denied.

On Sunday 12 July, the Zimbabwean authorities said they will withdraw soldiers guarding diamond fields in the country's eastern district following advice by the Kimberley team.
"We agreed to remove the soldiers but it will be done in phases while proper security settings would be put in place," deputy mines minister Murisi Zwizwai was quoted as saying by The Sunday Mail newspaper.

The Kimberley Process was launched in 2003 to curb the flow of conflict diamonds into the mainstream market following wars in countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone.