SA firm involved in illegal diamond mining in Chiadzwa

Tuesday nights instalment of Special Assignment exposed the horrors of the ongoing human rights abuses at Chiadzwa, as well as the criminalisation of the Zimbabwean diamond trade. The program further revealed that a South Africa scrap metal company has spearheaded a shady business deal in Zimbabwe, to illegally mine in the Chiadzwa diamond fields. The firm, Reclamation, has dismissed the allegations as inaccurate, but Special Assignment Producer Sasha Wales-Smith told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that there is concrete evidence to prove the allegations are true.

Reclamation has spearheaded a shady joint venture between a Zimbabwean minerals group and a Mauritian off-shore company, which is trading under the name Mbada Diamonds, Wales-Smith explained. Any diamonds they trade will have been obtained illegally.

The footage broadcast on Tuesday night was gathered by Zimbabwean NGOs, many too afraid to put their names to a report that would likely have a violent backlash. Wales-Smith explained the footage was horrifying, with the military grip on the diamond fields tighter than ever before. She said it is clear that human rights abuses are continuing at the hands of the military, and expressed shock at the lack of accountability by the government.

The mines minister (Obert Mpofu) has publicly dismissed reports of atrocities at the diamond fields and reports of smuggling, Wales-Smith said. That couldnt be further from the truth.

The continued militarisation of the diamond fields has been in direct contravention of recommendations made earlier this year by a delegation from the Kimberley Process (KP), the international body tasked with stopping the trade in blood diamonds. The group was shamed into sending the review mission after receiving widespread accounts by Human Rights Groups of violence, torture, child labour and murder at the diamond fields last year. Survivors of the military violence have reported mass deaths at the hands of soldiers in 2008, after the military was ordered to clean up the area.

The KP delegation found evidence of serious non-compliance with minimum diamond trade standards, as well as dramatic human rights abuse. The teams interim report, which was leaked to the media and was never officially published, recommended Zimbabwes suspension from the regulatory body. But the suspension recommendation was quickly denounced by the Kimberley Process Chair who told reporters in Harare, before the teams report had even been completed, that suspension would never happen. Under pressure, he has since denied that he ever made the statement.

The Kimberley Process is now expected to decide on Zimbabwes fate at a plenary meeting in Namibia next week. But while a course of action is still being debated, the abuses in Chiadzwa are continuing. Special Assignments Wales-Smith explained that there has been no effort to demilitarise the area, and she described how every few kilometers on the Chiadzwa road, people are stopped by security check points, manned by police and soldiers. She said the soldiers are all profiting from the illegal mining of the gems, explaining they are involved in syndicates, which illegal panners often risk their lives to be a part of. Only last month, diamond panner Moreblessing Tirivangani, was beaten to death during a rotation of army units who patrol the area. His death is believed to be syndicate-related.

Our aim with this programme is to make people aware of the horrors that are still being committed, Wales-Smith said. We also want to alert the Kimberley Process that it is time for them to deal strongly with this crisis.