ZCDC Guard Shoots And Injures Marange Villager For Tresspassing

A villager who was suspected to be an illegal miner by a Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) security guard was shot and injured by the guard for trespassing, ZimMorning Post reports.

22-year-old Oscar Maunze was shot on 2 January on his right cheek by a Mossberg gun, and the incident was confirmed by Zimbabwe Diamond Allied Workers Union (ZIDAWU)’s Cosmas Sunguro who said:

ZCDC should stop brutalising the local people. In fact, they should come up with effective ways of stopping poverty in the area.

We still expect them to offer some of these youths decent employment. As ZIDAWU, we propose that they reserve some of the mining portions not ideal for commercial diamond mining to be released to local youths as part of empowerment.

According to the Center for Research and Development’s James Mupfumi, ZCDC guards are responsible for many human rights abuse cases in the area:

The ZCDC security guards are currently responsible for serious human rights abuses, including killings, shootings, torture, beatings, and harassment deployed to drive out the artisanal miners.

For the greater part, the villagers in the area have complained of arbitrary arrests, beatings, and harassment that have continued unabated.

CSOs in the area have reportedly received reports of abuse by ZCDC guards in the area. ZCDC was not able to comment on the issue.

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