When diamonds were first discovered in Zimbabwe’s Marange region, local communities hoped they would bring a better life.
“It brings us hope that we will have work. We will develop our system of life, that we will help our kids, even ourselves, for better schooling. Then the future will be bright. That was our hope.” – Marange resident
The find has delivered only disappointment. While diamonds worth US$2.5 billion have been officially exported from Zimbabwe since 2010, only around US$300 million can be clearly identified in public accounts. Instead, this precious resource appears to be secretly financing the institutions responsible for perpetrating serious human rights abuses and subverting the country’s democracy.
After years of denial, President Mugabe has finally admitted that billions are missing, claiming the country has been “robbed” by private companies. But this is only half the story. Any heist, it is clear, started closer to home.
In GLOBAL WITNESS’ new investigation, An Inside Job, we document the ways in which Zimbabwe’s powerful military, feared Central Intelligence Organisation, and well-heeled political elites have gained control of diamond revenues. Our exposé includes:
Secret documents indicating that Zimbabwe’s feared ‘secret police’, the Central Intelligence Organisation, may have a stake in a mining company which has traded diamonds in Antwerp and Dubai— meaning buyers could inadvertently be funding an institution implicated in serious human rights abuses.
Evidence of Zimbabwe’s highly partisan military profiting from a number of diamond companies, with one having sold diamonds in Antwerp on several occasions, likely in violation of EU sanctions.
A never-before-seen map showing exactly which companies owned Marange concessions, and which may continue to hold a stake in the industry’s future.
Nearly three quarters of Zimbabwe’s population are living below the poverty line as the country looks ahead to elections and an increasingly divisive Presidential succession contest. Disappearing diamond wealth and a partisan security sector with access to secret funds has major implications for Zimbabwe’s development and democratic future.
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