A Magistrate's Court in Harare, Zimbabwe, has dropped all charges against Farai Maguwu, a human rights activist with the Centre for Research and Development (CRD) who reported abuses in the Marange diamond fields to a Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP) monitor, Amnesty International reports.

The charges against Maguwu, who was arrested on June 3 and released on bail on July 12, included "publishing or communication false information prejudicial to the state."

Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Africa, Michelle Kagari, said that the organization was "thrilled" that the charges against Maguwu had been dropped but that Amnesty remained concerned about "persistent harassment of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe."

Zimbabwe, which some diamond industry experts predict could turn into the world's largest producer of rough diamonds within three to four years, has come under international scrutiny since the government took control of the nation's rich Marange and Chiadzwa diamond fields and human rights violations by state security forces began to be reported.

Diamonds from Zimbabwe have been under an international embargo, although the KP did authorize two small sales in September, provided that the KP be allowed to monitor conditions in the diamond fields. Zimbabwe's Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, meanwhile, insisted at an international diamond trade conference in Mumbai, India, that his country had fully complied with all the KP requirements and that further sanctions on Zimbabwe diamonds were "hypocrisy" on the part of Western nations.