Maguwu has blasted the placement of Marange community under protected area to pave way for diamond extraction saying the PPAA is running afoul to Zimbabwe’s Constitution.
The director of Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG), Farai Maguwu has rapped the implementation of the Protected Places and Areas Act (PPAA) in Marange diamond mining community, saying it infringes on basic freedoms of bonafide villagers as entrenched in Zimbabwe’s constitution.
This emerged in a paper written by Maguwu which was published on December 30 last year.
The paper gleaned by Orbit Youth International is titled “Zimbabwe: Withdrawal of Basic Freedoms of the Marange Community to Pave the Way for Diamond Mining. Ukrainian Policymaker, Volume 11, 57- 64. https://doi.”
Maguwu noted that the PPAA has been implemented in a way that violates constitutionally enshrined rights including the rights of arrested and detained persons, freedom to demonstrate and petition, access to information, freedom of movement, right to privacy and the right to administrative justice.
“The Act has been implemented in a way that has infringed upon the constitutional rights listed above, and additional constitutional rights not enumerated in the Act have been overlooked.
“As stated in this article, those arrested during the police and military raids have several of their rights violated with impunity.
“Their right to water, food, access to ablution facilities are taken way,” writes Maguwu.
He added: “The withdrawal of many freedoms from the Marange community violates many international human rights instruments, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Communities, African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.”
According to Maguwu, there is need for a legal challenge in the courts of law against the placement of Marange villages under PPAA.
He also pointed out the need to petition Parliament and home affairs minister to review the status of Marange community as a protected area.
“Ultimately, the prayer to parliament should seek to reduce the Protect Area by restricting it to the diamond fields only and creating a buffer zone between the diamond fields and the villagers
“Finally, the entire global diamond value chain has a responsibility of demanding that measures be put in place to ensure the prison conditions imposed on the Marange community are lifted with immediate effect,” he added.
Orbit Youth International published an article last year whereby bonafide Chiadzwa villagers laid accusations on “corrupt” law enforcement agents for violating their freedoms.
Diamonds were discovered in Chiadzwa in 2006 after withdrawal of De Beers from the area.
The diamond rich community was declared a protected area governed under PPAA which was gazzeted by government on July 30 2007.
This enabled the home affairs ministry to deploy police, army and other law enforcement agents in Marange to man the diamond fields.
However, 14 years after the deployment experts in the natural resources governance sector and villagers claim that the diamond plunder is still going unrestricted.