A Kimberley Process Review Mission is expected in Zimbabwe at the end of this week to approve an agreement permitting Zimbabwe to sell diamonds mined in the Chiadzwa diamond fields. The agreement, reached last month between the Kimberley Process and Zimbabwe's Mines Ministry, allows Zimbabwe to export a certain number of Chiadzwa diamonds mined since May 2010 provided the country assents to rigorous human rights monitoring.

The deal also allows Zimbabwe to export more diamonds in September 2010 but stipulates that any additional diamond trade will be approved only if the human rights situation in the diamonds fields improves significantly.

AllAfrica.com reports that the review mission, headed by Kimberley Process Monitor Abbey Chikane, will examine the Chiadzwa diamond fields and evaluate conditions there, as well as local adherence to the diamond industry's minimum trade standards.

According to the AllAfrica report, some observers of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe have expressed concern that Chikane, whom researcher Farai Maguwu accused of "shopping" him to the police, remains in the position of monitor for the Kimberley Process.

Following his meeting with Chikane, Maguwu was arrested and held in custody for over a month. Many believe that Maguwu's release was a precondition set by the international diamond industry before Zimbabwe would be allowed to export any diamonds.

In the meantime, allegations of human rights abuses and diamond smuggling continue to come out of the Chiadzwa diamond fields. AllAfrica reported that an "emergency clean-up" was happening ahead of the arrival of the Kimberley Process review team, and that military and police had upped their presence in and around the fields to chase away illegal diamond prospectors.