CHIADZWA - In an incident that exposes the extent of the armys brutality at the Chiadzwa Diamond Fields; three men were reportedly asked to carry corpses as punishment for entering the highly secured area. The corpses are understood to be some of people who are reportedly killed on a daily basis by the army. We travelled to Chiadzwa from Harare to see if there were any prospects of getting the precious mineral, said one of the men. We managed to pass through all the highway checkpoints, but we ran out of luck when the soldiers caught us walking to the mountains.
The three men were taken to the army base where they say, after a night of severe beating, they were later taken to the minefields and as punishment, were made to haul four corpses from the mines dug up by illegal miners back to the base. After the punishment, the men were released.
Asked if they went to the police to report the incident, the men said they were not sure if the police were going to help them in any way. The police have been accused of paying a blind eye to the atrocities committed at Chiadzwa and this has been seen as an attempt by government to gloss over the murders and human rights abuses.
An army official in the Chiadzwa area who talked to The Zimbabwean on condition of anonymity confirmed the incidents and said this was a proper way of punishing people trespassing on government property. Asked if his superiors knew about these incidents, the officer said they were told to do anything necessary to stop people from trespassing into the minefields.
Post published in: News