ZIMBABWE has promised to withdraw its soldiers from diamond fields in the east, an official newspaper reported yesterday – a week after a rights group alleged the military was committing killings and abuses in the area.
The move appeared to be an attempt to defuse criticism over the military's takeover of the Marange diamond fields and ensure Zimbabwe's precious stones won't be tainted with the "blood diamond" label by activists, which would reduce their value.
T
he ministry of mines denied last month's report by Human Rights Watch that said troops had killed more than 200 people at the Marange diamond fields, beat villagers and forced children to search for diamonds.
Instead, Zimbabwe's government said the military was there to secure the area, about 150 miles east of Harare, where mining is managed by the state's Mining Development Corporation
The 140,000-acre Marange diamond fields were discovered in 2006, at the height of Zimbabwe's political, economic and humanitarian crisis.
The army took over the Marange diamond fields in late October 2008. Before that, the police were in control and Human Rights Watch said there were fewer abuses then.
Officials of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme – the world's diamond control body – visited the fields following allegations that security chiefs and those loyal to President Robert Mugabe were either perpetrating or tolerating rights abuses and illegal diamond exports.
"There cannot be effective security where diamonds are concerned with the involvement of the military," the Kimberley delegation said in a report to the Zimbabwean government.
The Kimberley report also noted illegal digging and processing of diamonds in Marange and called for stricter controls to stop diamond smuggling across the porous eastern border with Mozambique.
Mines minister Obert Mpofu on Saturday told Kimberley inspectors that the troops would be withdrawn from the diamond fields and the country would meet international mining standards. "We are going to work toward getting in line with the standards proposed," Mr Mpofu has been quoted as saying.
He also told the Kimberley delegation that the coalition government, formed between Mr Mugabe and prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai in February, planned to relocate villagers away from the diamond fields and find investors to help provide security.
Deputy mines minister Murisi Zwizwai – a member of Mr Tsvangirai's former opposition party – said the government had "agreed to remove the soldiers, but it will be done in phases while proper security settings would be put in place".
It is estimated the diamonds could be worth $200 million a month to the cash-strapped southern African nation, which is desperately trying to raise international aid to kick start the economy.
Withdrawing troops from the diamond fields would deflect further negative publicity, show the government's commitment to meeting international obligations and ensure greater revenue from the diamonds that are sold.
