VII. Continuing Abuses by the Military in Marange

The scale of brutality and ruthlessness displayed by the military during Operation Hakudzokwi resulted in thousands of miners leaving Marange. By mid-November 2008, Marange diamond fields had come under tight control of the military. After the Chiadzwa killings, the army did not leave; instead, as of June 2009, the army continues to occupy the area. Different army units are rotated in turn into Marange, with about 600 soldiers based in the area at any given time. There is virtually no access to the Marange diamond fields for those without military or ZANU-PF connections at the very top level.[110]

Illegal diamond trading has not stopped; it continues to flourish, now with the military largely in control. Similarly, human rights violations are also continuing, as children and adults endure forced labor for military-controlled mining syndicates and soldiers continue to torture and beat villagers, accusing them of either being or supporting illegal miners who are not in military syndicates.

Mining Syndicates and Forced Labor

In late November and December 2008, the soldiers quickly revived the system of syndicates, setting up their own, often forcing villagers and miners to join them. A middleman acting for a principal based in South Africa told Human Rights Watch that he continues to buy Marange diamonds, but now he buys from soldiers.[111]

A local miner told Human Rights Watch how he and four others became part of a syndicate run by soldiers who violently defrauded the miners:

On December 10, 2008, we were arrested by two armed soldiers when we attempted to sneak into the diamond fields to dig. The soldiers said, "You need not run away from us; we need to discuss business with you. Tell us how and where to find diamonds and we can share equally with you whatever we find." That is how our syndicate with the two soldiers was formed and before long it had 23 local miners.

By December 24, we had found 709 grams of industrial diamonds and 17 gemstones, but the soldiers refused to give us anything. When we complained, the soldiers beat us all and ordered us to continue working.

When we attempted to run away, the soldiers shot at us and killed my friend who was running in front. I continued to run, not realizing immediately that l had been shot as well. I then noticed that my trousers were drenched in blood, and discovered I had been shot in the testicles, the left testicle hung out of the scrotum.

 

I slowly walked to Masasi clinic where staff there refused to attend to me. The nurse in charge said, "We are under strict instructions from the soldiers not to treat anyone shot or injured in the diamond fields." I eventually got transport to Mutare where l received treatment after three days. I do not know the names of the soldiers but I know for certain they are in No.1 Commando Regiment.[112]

Local people who spoke to Human Rights Watch said that in joint operations between the army and members of the Police Support Unit, people on several occasions were forcibly transported from Mutare, Birchenough Bridge, and surrounding small towns to fill up the pits and gullies created by diamond miners. According to witnesses, on November 24, 2008, soldiers rounded up 76 people in Mutare, put them on a bus, and took them to Chiadzwa, where they were detained, beaten, and forced to dig for diamonds for the soldiers.[113] Muchena and Betera villagers told Human Rights Watch how on November 30, soldiers ordered everyone in their village to dig diamonds for them under armed guard for several days.[114]

Witnesses said that soldiers routinely force members of the local community, including children and women, to work on the diamond fields for them.[115] If anyone resists, they risk torture, beatings, or even death. Villagers told Human Rights Watch how soldiers also beat them for failing to find diamonds, accusing the villagers of pretending not to find the precious stones, saying, "How come you used to find stones when you were digging for personal benefit?"[116]

Forced Child Labor

In violation of international law, children in Marange are being forced to work without pay under the most arduous of conditions. A local lawyer told Human Rights Watch that his organization had received credible information leading him to conclude that as of February 2009 at least 300 children continued to work for soldiers in the diamond fields.[117]

According to 10 children (seven boys and three girls of ages ranging from 12 to 17 years) whom Human Rights Watch interviewed, soldiers forced the children at different times from December 2008 to February 2009 to work in the diamond fields. The children carried diamond ore from the field and assisted women to sieve and select the precious stones. They worked up to 11 hours each day with no pay or reward for their labor.[118]

Two women, who were among a group of villagers forced to dig for diamonds for three weeks in December 2008, told Human Rights Watch:

The soldiers were armed and guarded us every day while we worked in the fields. Each day we worked for 11 hours, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., without a break. Men did the digging, while women and children carried the ore from the field to a source of water-either a borehole well or a stream. Women and children were also responsible for sieving the ore and selecting the precious stones. But all the time, the armed soldiers would be standing close by, on guard and ready to take the diamonds we selected.

 

We worked together with about 30 children of ages between 10 and 17 years. The children worked the same 11 hours each day as adults did. The soldiers had a duty roster for all villagers in Chiadzwa to take turns to work in the fields, irrespective of age.[119]

A 13-year-old girl told Human Rights Watch:

For two weeks in January 2009, I worked in the diamond fields together with several other children to carry sacks of diamond ore from the field and to fetch water to sieve the ore. I was too afraid to run away. Every day, I would carry ore and only rest for short periods when the men were digging. We always started work very early in the morning before eight and finished when it was dark after six. All I want now is to go back to school.[120]

A 15-year-old boy added:

Sometimes, when we get hungry and tired, we walk slowly because the bags of ore are heavy to carry. But the soldiers tell us to be fast. Sometimes, soldiers would beat us for working slowly so we always tried to be fast.[121]

A 15-year-old girl told Human Rights Watch that the work in the diamond fields was hard, and soldiers provided no food or water to everyone working on the fields. On one occasion, she said, five young girls collapsed after working for more than five hours in the sun while the soldiers refused to give them a break.[122] Another 15-year-old boy said he quit school in 2006 and worked in the fields as part of a police syndicate before soldiers forced him to join their syndicate in December 2008.[123]

A teacher at a local school in Marange told Human Rights Watch:

Soldiers force everyone to work for them in the diamond fields, including teachers and pupils. I was forced to work in the diamond fields together with other teachers and pupils from my school for a week in February 2009. The soldiers compiled a duty roster of all teachers and some pupils and they force us to take turns to work in the fields in accordance with their roster.

However, even before soldiers began to force everyone to work for them, schools had long stopped functioning due to the economic crisis, and hundreds of children were panning for diamonds alongside adults. The difference is that this time the children and adults are forced to work without pay and we all surrender any stones we find to the soldiers.[124]

A 17-year-old boy told Human Rights Watch how on December 1, 2008, he and two friends (ages 16 and 17) were part of a group of people randomly picked up from Mutare and taken to the diamond fields by bus:

Five armed and uniformed soldiers told me and my friends and six other boys in the group that we were still young so they would teach us community service and lessons in patriotism. On the bus to the fields the soldiers ordered everyone on the bus to surrender all personal valuables.

At the diamond fields the soldiers forced us into a cage and beat us throughout the night demanding to know the names of diamond dealers. The next day, we were forced to fill the holes and gullies made by local miners using bare hands. We were given no food or water. That evening we were bused back to Mutare.[125]

These working conditions for children are forbidden by international law.The International Labour Organisation's Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, ratified by Zimbabwe on December 11, 2000, forbids forced or compulsory labor for children, defined as any person under the age of 18.[126] Article 3(d) of the convention states that "the worst forms of child labour" comprise"work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children."[127] By this definition, scores of children in Marange have been engaged in the worst forms of child labor, in violation of Zimbabwe's obligations under the convention.

Theft and Harassment of the Local Community

Villagers interviewed by Human Rights Watch said the soldiers continue to subject them to unlawful and arbitrary searches and loot property such as cash, food, blankets, mobile phones, cars, and furniture. The soldiers also search houses without the necessary search warrants, in violation of Zimbabwean laws protecting privacy and prohibiting arbitrary searches. Soldiers beat villagers and demand to know the source of money they use to buy various items, and then confiscate those items. Villagers claim that the army forces local women and children to cook for them and slaughter livestock, another form of forced labor.[128]

A local leader in Marange told Human Rights Watch:

The soldiers came with nothing. They are taking blankets from the community. I have received several reports of soldiers stealing goats and chickens for their meals, and they are forcing villagers to fetch water, firewood for them, as well as to cook and clean for them. The soldiers have become a burden on Marange community.[129]

A lawyer familiar with the soldiers' activities told Human Rights Watch:

Members of the army and police are violating people's rights to due process of law. They are moving about in Mutare and Birchenough Bridge arbitrarily taking away people's property. If there is reasonable suspicion of any crime, the police must properly investigate and take individuals to court, not the military.[130]

Trust Maanda, provincial coordinator for the organization Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights Manicaland, told Human Rights Watch that as of February 7, 2009, only one of the hundreds of victims of army and police brutality had asked him to file suit against those who tortured him. Maanda explained that this low figure was mainly a result of fear.[131]

Human Rights Watch researchers passed 11 police checkpoints along the road to Marange during a visit in February 2009. In addition, they observed armed uniformed soldiers guarding the diamond fields and military checkpoints at five-kilometer intervals within the diamond mining area. Such a presence indicates that illegal diamond panning and dealing remain rampant, albeit now under the control of the military.

The army also maintains a ban, ostensibly to prevent smuggling of diamonds, on public transport reaching or passing through Chiadzwa. Buses stop at Mutsago and Bambazonke shopping centers, forcing members of the local community to walk more than 20 kilometers to reach their homes. This ban is not based on any law. It is an unnecessary infringement on freedom of movement, constituting harassment.

Torture and Beatings

Several witnesses and victims told Human Rights Watch that soldiers continue to assault, harass, and subject the local community to torture, demanding that they reveal the names of local miners and diamond smugglers.

 

On January 19, 2009, eight soldiers detained four ZMDC employees at Zengeni shopping center and beat them on the soles of their feet using iron bars for at least 30 minutes. One employee reported that the soldiers said, "We will beat you until you pass urine that has blood in it because as ZMDC employees you are illegal miners."[132] The government of Zimbabwe appears to be at war with itself, as the ZMDC was granted the license to mine, without the ability to do so, and now the military is suppressing it, as well.

On February 4, 2009, five soldiers beat three Muchena villagers for over five hours using a rubber hose without stating any reasons for the assault.[133] The same night, eight soldiers assaulted a family in Muedzengwa village using open palms, clenched fists, rifle butts, and booted feet. The soldiers then allegedly stole several items of personal property. During the beatings, the soldiers demanded information on local miners, which the villagers did not have.[134]

On February 14, 2009, seven uniformed soldiers beat up scores of villagers at Muchena shopping center using thick tree branches, despite all the villagers having produced identification cards as demanded by the soldiers. The soldiers, who, according to witnesses, appeared to be drunk, also hurled abuses and insults at the villagers.[135]

A 43-year-old woman told Human Rights Watch about beatings at the hands of soldiers in Betera village:

On February 20, 2009, at 8 p.m., two soldiers accused us of keeping illegal diamond miners. They beat us using fresh tree branches. They stole US$200, a radio, and a 50-kilogram bag of maize meal and various other kitchen utensils. They ordered me and my 14-year-old niece to their base at Betera primary school to clean their tents and cook for them. They only released us around 10 a.m. the following day.[136]

Several villagers told Human Rights Watch how four uniformed and armed soldiers raided a drinking place at Mukwada shops on February 20, detained 13 men drinking beer there and beat them with fresh tree branches, saying to them, "People in rural areas cannot afford clear beer, you must be illegal miners spending ill-gotten money."[137] On March 28, five soldiers from 4 Brigade beat up eight men from Nyazika village at Chakohwa base station, demanding information on illegal miners. The soldiers used iron bars in an assault that lasted some six hours.[138]

Planned Forced Removal of the Local Community

Senior ZANU-PF officials have informed the local community and national media that families presently living on or near the diamond fields in Marange would be relocated in order to secure the diamond fields, although no forcible relocation has yet taken place. Human Rights Watch believes that any relocation of families should respect the property rights of members of the local community and should be consistent with international human rights law.

Area residents told Human Rights Watch that no planning, consultation, or environmental impact assessment has taken place in connection with the proposed removals. Neither has any offer of compensation been promised, and numerous local people told Human Rights Watch that the proposed relocation site in Kondozi was unacceptable. One Mutare City Council official said that Kondozi, some 70 kilometers from Marange, is too close to an oil pipeline and that an airport has also been earmarked to be built in the same location.[139]

Chiadzwa and Mukwada community leaders told Human Rights Watch that local people do not want to be relocated. There is no need to uproot at least 7,000 families, or around 20,000 individuals, the community leaders said. For example, at least four secondary schools and 18 primary schools would be forced to close, and there are no plans to reopen them elsewhere.[140] A ZMDC official supported the view that relocation plans were premature and without merit, and noted that the ZMDC had not yet done a comprehensive exploration to determine whether or not relocation might be necessary.[141] Some local people believed that the proposed relocation is a ZANU-PF project designed to punish the people of Marange for voting overwhelmingly for the opposition MDC in the March 29, 2008 elections.[142]

Human Rights Watch has established that Zimbabwean authorities have so far failed to comply with several consultation and compensation requirements. On February 1, 2009, the then governor of Manicaland, Chris Mushohwe, accompanied by a group of soldiers, informed the local community gathered at Chiadzwa primary school that relocation of the community was imminent and that the government would not compensate anyone.[143] A villager who attended the address said Mushohwe informed villagers that Chiadzwa and Mukwada wards were to be evicted by mid-2009 to make way for mining operations. There was no consultation about the proposed move.[144]

The ZMDC has not carried out an environmental impact assessment in Marange. Neither has the government conducted one in Kondozi farm, the proposed site of relocation. Fear has muted community opposition. One local leader told Human Rights Watch that because of the involvement of the military, the leaders in Marange were too scared to openly oppose relocation or seek legal representation to challenge the proposed evictions.[145]

The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) told Human Rights Watch that any relocation of the local community currently living in and around the diamond fields should be in strict accordance with domestic environmental law and international standards regarding relocations and compensation for the displaced.[146] Zimbabwe's Environmental Management Act, 2002 (Chapter 20:27), obliges the state or relevant private authorities to "carry out environmental impact assessment[s] before undertaking any mining or relocation and put in place required management procedures and plans, ensure informed public participation in all decisions relating to relocation and to equitable sharing benefits from natural resources."[147] As previously mentioned, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which Zimbabwe has ratified, guarantees property rights and prohibits arbitrary encroachment.[148] The United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement also prohibit arbitrary displacement and provide for consultation with affected communities and planning before displacement can take place.[149]