As I had written about before, Mugabe has given his military full reign over several diamond mines in Zimbabwe.
The military, as could only be expected, is engaging in a campaign of violence, murder and oppression to extract as much monetary value from the mines and, not surprisingly, the miners.
HRW reports:
Zimbabwe’s armed forces are engaging in the forced labor of children and adults, and are torturing and beating local villagers on the diamond fields of Marange district … The military, which remains under the control of [Mugabe's] ZANU-PF … killed more than 200 people in a violent takeover of the diamond fields in late 2008…
…income from the fields has been funneled to high-level party members of ZANU-PF…
CNN provides a specific example of this military criminality:
Lameck Chiso, 29, said he was stopped at a police checkpoint on his way from work in the diamond fields.
“Three men in army uniform jumped into my car and asked me to drive them back to the mining area,” Chiso said.
They took his money and urged him to praise the “wonderful job” the army was doing of restoring order to the Marange diamond area, Chiso added.
Mugabe is a bastard who will use any means necessary to remain in power and to fund his criminal regime. His power-sharing agreement with Tsangvirai is at best impotent and a charade.
African leaders need to take the unprecedented step of supporting regime-change in Zimbabwe, before a civil war breaks out.
