Kimberley investigators last year documented forced labour, beatings and other abuses by the military against civilians in Marange, where the mines are operated by two South African firms.
By AFP, ZIMBABWE
Special Report
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe security agents have raided the home of an activist who helped expose forced labour by the military in a diamond field and he has gone into hiding, rights groups said on Wednesday.
Agents from the Central Intelligence Organisation on Thursday raided the home of Farai Maguwu, head of the Centre for Research and Development which has documented abuses in the Marange diamond fields, the groups said.
His nephew was arrested and Maguwu has gone into hiding, according to a statement from Global Witness, Human Rights Watch and Partnership Africa Canada.
The raid came after Maguwu met with Abbey Chikane, the monitor tasked by the Kimberley Process - a global diamond regulator - with certifying that Zimbabwe has ended forced labour, killings and other abuses in Marange, it said.
"This is the latest in a series of attempts by the Zimbabwean authorities to intimidate Centre for Research and Development representatives, and stop them from investigating and publicising ongoing abuses in the Marange diamond fields," said Bernard Taylor of Partnership Africa Canada.
"Such harassment is wholly unacceptable and must stop."
The Kimberley Process, created to prevent the sale of "blood diamonds" on world markets, has given Zimbabwe until this month to end human rights abuses in the eastern Marange diamond fields.
Kimberley investigators last year documented forced labour, beatings and other abuses by the military against civilians in Marange, where the mines are operated by two South African firms.
Chikane told reporters in Harare on Thursday that the country appeared on track to meet Kimberley's minimum human rights standards in Marange.
- AFP
