Nkosana Dlamini
15 December 2011
Harare — “I receive death threats over the phone and sometimes I have strangers following me wherever I go. I am constantly checking who is in front, behind and at my side.”
This is how human rights defender Farai Maguwu describes his case. Maguwu is head of the Zimbabwean Centre for Research and Development (CRD), a voluntary organisation that contests President Robert Mugabe’s regime by documenting instances of murder, torture and the forced labour of civilians at the controversial Marange diamond fields in Eastern Zimbabwe.
“Life has been extremely difficult. I live one day at a time,” says Maguwu. “At our offices we have state agents parked outside the gates for most of the day, monitoring who comes in and out. I fear for my life but I also try not to be paranoid about security.”
The rights activist was jailed for a month earlier this year after allegedly leaking documentary evidence of army brutalities to the world diamond watchdog, the Kimberly Process. He was soon after labelled an enemy of the state. For Maguwu, the human rights situation in Zimbabwe remains terrible. “Citizens are not protected by the law,” he explains.
Imprisonment
During his incarceration, Maguwu fell very ill but doctors were banned from attending to him by detectives investigating his case.
“My condition worsened and for a while I began to smell death,” he explains. “I cried at one point, thinking my life was being prematurely terminated.”
Doctors later performed an operation to remove his swollen tonsils but he was still forced to spend two weeks recovering from the effects of the medical operation while in a prison cell.
“When I was released from jail, I was under intense pressure to slow down. I began to realise the high risks involved in my work as the surveillance around me intensified,” he says. “But at the same time, I had a strong conviction that told me not to betray my conscience. I decided to continue with my work. I have committed my life to God and I take refuge in his hands.”
But it is not always gloom for the rights activist who speaks of cases where he sometimes shares lighter moments with his tormentors.
“I joke with a number of security agents. Recently I met one at an intersection in Mutare and he shouted, ‘Maguwu, when will you be arrested again?'”
Diamonds & blood
Thirty percent of the world’s rough diamonds are currently mined in Zimbabwe. Following a decade long economic crisis, the Zimbabwean government is keen to protect this lucrative industry, even if it means turning a blind eye to human rights abuses. Maguwu himself has been accused of working as an agent for hostile western governments, with the aim of shutting down Zimbabwe’s diamond trade.
“We are saying that the government should stop brutalising its citizens in order to secure diamonds,” argues the outspoken activist. “Diamonds must not enrich a few people, as is the case now and for the foreseeable future, but rather should benefit the whole country.”
But for Maguwu, the decision by the Kimberley Process in November to lift the ban on Marange’s diamond trade will only serve to line the pockets of a corrupt minority rather than tackling the serious human rights abuses at stake. “It is largely a blank check to the privileged few who are making a killing out of Marange diamonds,” he adds.
Extraordinary activism
Human Rights Watch recently honoured Maguwu, graduate of the European University Centre for Peace Studies, with the Alison Des Forges Award for extraordinary activism.
“Being chosen amidst many great people doing incredible human rights work around the world is something very special. I keep asking sarcastically, ‘why me!?” It looks like Maguwu’s work is far from over yet.
AllAfrica – All the Time
Read More:
Zimbabwe: ‘I Fear for My Life but I Try Not to Be Paranoid’ Says Activist