Report: Kids forced to dig for diamonds

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 26 (UPI) -- The Zimbabwean Army, still controlled by President Robert Mugabe, is forcing children to work in the diamond fields, Human Rights Watch said Friday.

In a report, "Diamonds in the Rough: Human Rights Abuses in the Marange Diamond Fields of Zimbabwe," the group said the Army engaged in a violent takeover in 2008 of the diamond fields in Marange. At least 200 people have been killed, the report said.

Diamonds were discovered there in 2006.

Zanu-PF recently entered a power-sharing government with the former opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change headed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Human Rights Watch charges the military remains under Zanu-PF control.

"The police and army have turned this peaceful area into a nightmare of lawlessness and horrific violence," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Zimbabwe's new government should get the army out of the fields, put a stop to the abuse, and prosecute those responsible."

The military has put adults to work along with children in the diamond fields and tortured local villagers, the group says.