SW Radio Africa (London)
Alex Bell
9 July 2009
A confidential memo by the head of a delegation of the Kimberley Process, which recently wrapped up an investigation into the reports of violence and killings in Marange, has detailed the 'horrific violence' used by the army against civilians there.
The Kimberley Process, a scheme tasked with halting the trade in 'blood diamonds, sent the delegation to investigate Zimbabwe's 'compliance' with international diamond trade standards. Their visit came days after a Human Rights Watch report detailed the ongoing human rights abuses at the Marange diamond fields, which in turn followed numerous accounts of abuse and killings there.
Accounts from survivors of the military onslaught at Marange detailed the killings, speaking of machine-gun attacks by helicopter and armed attacks by troops on the ground. Civilians in the region also reported that anyone attempting to enter the area was arrested and often tortured and killed. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have said that about 5,000 people were arrested during the army operation, with three quarters of them showing signs of having been tortured severely.
Government officials have repeatedly and adamantly denied state-sponsored violence at the diamond fields. Mining Minister Obert Mpofu earlier this year, at the start of a separate Kimberley Process mission in March, said the accounts of killings were fabrications. Most recently, his Deputy Murisi Zwizwai told a meeting of the Kimberly Process in Namibia two weeks ago that no killings had taken place. The MDC minister's comments have since landed him in hot water with his party, who last week said his comments were 'inaccurate'.
In his confidential memo handed over to government officials and which has also been made available to The New York Times, the Kimberley Process team's leader, Kpandel Fayia, told Zimbabwean officials that he was so disturbed by the testimonies of victims that he had to leave as they spoke.
"Our team was able to interview and document the stories of victims, observe their wounds, scars from dog bites and batons, tears, and ongoing psychological trauma," said the memo by Fayia, a deputy minister of the ministry that oversees mining in Liberia.
He told Zimbabwean officials in the memo: "This has to be acknowledged and it has to stop." One of the anonymous victims also reportedly described seeing at least 80 bodies being buried in a mass grave, while the Mutare Mayor, Brian James, has said the delegation was left 'traumatised' by what they heard from survivors. The Kimberly team, which included Liberian, American and Namibian officials, as well as representatives of the diamond industry and civic groups, told Zimbabwean officials that they should suspend mining in the Marange fields, demilitarize the operation and investigate the role of the military and the police.
Government officials have said they would 'try' to comply with the Kimberly Process standards before the team issued its final report. Deputy Mining Minister Zwizwai was quoted as saying that Zimbabwe had agreed to remove soldiers from the fields "in phases while proper security settings would be put in place."
But while Zimbabwe could face being removed from the Kimberley Process as a result of the delegation's findings, it appears the human rights violations in Marange could be swept under the rug. The delegation has recommended a temporary suspension in Zimbabwe diamond trading. But Susanne Emond from Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), an organisation that has been campaigning for the end of conflict fuelled by the blood diamond trade, explained to SW Radio Africa that the Kimberley Process, as a regulatory body, "doesn't have a specific language when dealing with human rights." She said that one of the few tools that the Process has is the suspension of a participating country from the body, therefore preventing the country from trading in diamonds all together.
"This suspension would normally be enough to force a participant to comply with their standards," Emond said. "But it is unacceptable that a country says it is applying the laws while killing people."
Emond continued that steps are being taken to include a human rights directive as part of the Kimberley Process and for it to have authority in situations such as Zimbabwe. But she conceded that in the interim it would be up to Zimbabwe's government to initiate any recourse for victims of the rights abuses.
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It is sad that in a continent that has produced such beauty and logic there are still the elements of continued corruption, malfeasance, and many things worse, that folks like Thuthu continue to heap praise on the destroyer of their very culture. Once Upon A Time, Robert Gabriel was not only very well educated, he took to the bush in a righteous revolution. When all was said and done, he and his family politic began the “free” government of Zimbabwe. He did many wonderful things … then he became man without God.
As with many things over recent years its sad that events like this are still taking place in Zim and even sadder that people like Thuthu are supporting them by denying their existence. When many Zimbabweans are saying they happened I for one believe it. I guess it was one way for Mugabe and the generals to shut up the troops by giving them access to diamonds - of course you can be sure the heirarchy are getting their cut as well!
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Well.........
At least you removed your most blatent lies........... but otherwise, there's a village somewhere that's missing it's idiot, I'll tell them you can be found here.
How much evidence does the ICC need to indict Robert Mugabe and his cronies for their tyrannical rule?. from the massacres of the 20 000 in the 80s , to the killings of the elections in 2008 and then these human right violations at the marange diamond mines. I guess they are waiting for them to kill people live on CNN so something can be done.
Tell us another story.The KP didnt have facts and they were not there when the incidents are supposed to have happened. When reports are given, its about creating the worst picture to poush for a positive result which is favourable to those pushing an agenda. Like those hwo once told use of the WMD in Iraq. They painted a grim, deadly picture of Saddam Hussein and how he had ruled Iraq without following human rights laws. The lives of Iraqi are worse off now than before the invasion. The Haiti situation is the same, people need to learn from the… [Read Full Text]
"Accounts from survivors of the military onslaught at Marange detailed the killings, speaking of machine-gun attacks by helicopter and armed attacks by troops on the ground. Civilians in the region also reported that anyone attempting to enter the area was arrested and often tortured and killed. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have said that about 5,000 people were arrested during the army operation, with three quarters of them showing signs of having been tortured severely."
And you say they have no evidence. What an idiot.
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Diamonds are supposed to be used to develop Zimbabwe, but the KP and PAC are trying by all means to stop that from happening. African should not be forced to believe all these lies. Five white farmers who were killed in Zimbabwe are of more value than the 50000 killed during the 1980s. The ICC specifies that crimes committed only after 2002 can be prosecuted. Therefore that tells us, that its not about the killed Ndebeles, and its not bout the 200 people who are supposed to have been killed in Marange, because they dont have evidence of that, but… [Read Full Text]