In the wake of a three-day international meeting of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) held in Namibia last week, during which Zimbabwe's deputy mining minister Murisi Zwizwai denied that killings are taking place in the country’s eastern Marange diamond fields, Human Rights Watch has published a report stating that the country’s armed forces are forcing children and adults into labor and are torturing and beating local villagers on the diamond fields.

According to the report, revenue from the diamond fields has been funneled to high-level party members of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). The latter party formerly ruled the country singlehandedly but is now part of the country's power-sharing government.

Africa director for Human Rights Watch, Georgette Gagnon, noted: "The police and army have turned this peaceful area into a nightmare of lawlessness and horrific violence. Zimbabwe's new government should get the army out of the fields, put a stop to the abuse and prosecute those responsible."

Human Rights Watch’s report is based on more than 100 one-on-one interviews with witnesses, local miners, police officers, soldiers, community leaders, victims and relatives, and other involved parties.

The organization states that the country's diamond industry could be generating revenue for the struggling Zimbabwe economy. Instead, millions in potential revenue are being siphoned off through illegal diamond mining and diamond smuggling.

The organization has called upon Zimbabwe's new government to remove the military from Marange and restore power to the police.

Human Rights Watch also called upon the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) to pressure Zimbabwe to end the smuggling of diamonds and ensure that all diamonds are lawfully mined and documented.