Maguwu, director of the Mutare-based Centre for Research and Development, has been monitoring alleged human rights abuses by government security forces in the Marange diamond fields. His June 3 arrest sparked protests by local and international rights groups, including Amnesty International and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC).
This week SALC said Maguwu’s arrest “followed closely” after his meeting with Kimberley Process (KP) monitor Abbey Chikane, a South African businessman mandated to assess whether Zimbabwe has met the minimum standards of the KP.
Chikane provoked outrage from rights organisations when he recommended that Zimbabwe should be allowed to resume gem exports.
In an interview with the London-based Zimbabwe radio station, SW Radio Africa, Chikane said Maguwu had given him a “fraudulently obtained document”. Asked if he had handed this over to Zimbabwean authorities, he replied: “I did not want
to be in possession of stolen material.”
Asked this week how he justified his recommendation that Zimbabwean diamond exports should resume, Chikane said the country had met the main KP requirements. He declined to comment on Maguwu’s arrest, saying it was sub judice.
Zimbabwe-based human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, who is assisting Maguwu’s legal team, said the charges against Maguwu remained unclear.
Mtetwa claimed that detective Henry Dowa -- the policeman investigating the case -- had said he was travelling to South Africa to meet Chikane. “He says he is going to frame the charges against Farai once he’s met Mr Chikane, so even the police themselves are not sure,” she said.
SALC’s executive director, Nicole Fritz, appealed to the South African government to “speak out” about Maguwu’s detention and raise the issue with Zimbabwean authorities.
* M & G
