Zimbabwe agrees to remove troops from mines

Zimbabwe’s government agreed to remove troops from local diamond mines after international pressure, the BBC reported.

The state-run media reported the unity government would withdraw troops “in phases”.

Troops were deployed to the diamond mines last year after the disputed elections that now compromise the unity government. The government claimed the troops were meant to bring calm to the area, but human rights organizations have blasted Zimbabwe and its troops for participating in illegal and deadly acts in the mines.

A team from the Kimberley Process – an organization that monitors diamond mines to ensure they are kept to international mining and trading standards – are currently in the country monitoring the situation.

“We agreed to remove soldiers but it will be done in phases while proper security settings would be put in place,” Deputy Mines Minister Murisi Zwizwai is quoted by Zimbabwe’s Sunday Mail newspaper as saying.

According to the BBC, “If the diamond industry was legally regulated, Human Rights Watch estimates it could amount to $200m (£122m) a month for the poverty-stricken country, which is struggling to raise aid from Western donors.”

According to the organization Human Rights Watch, workers and villagers who don’t corporate with the military who are stationed in the area are beaten and tortured, the group said.

They are urging the cooperative government to crack down on human rights abuses in the eastern area.

“Zimbabwe’s new government should get the army out of the fields, put a stop to the abuse,” Human Rights Watch’s Africa director Georgette Gagnon said.

“The police and army have turned this peaceful area into a nightmare of lawlessness and horrific violence,” she said.

Human Rights Watch also accuses President Mugabe, one side of the unity government, of using his troops to gain control of wealthy land areas, possibly to fun his regime.

“Millions of dollars in potential government revenue are being siphoned off through illegal diamond mining, smuggling of gemstones… and corruption”, the rights organization said.

Currently, Western journalists are not allowed in the country, and much of the information received by human rights organization and the media come from unnamed sources.