Harare (AFP)
Harare was outraged on Friday by the US decision to ban the import of diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange mines in the east, strongly denying forced labor, contrary to Washington's claims.
"We have never forced anyone, let alone children, to work in the Marange diamond mines," Zimbabwean Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told AFP.
"Zimbabwe has one of the best labor laws that allow for forced labor, and there is some political clamor behind the US ban," he added.
"This ban is a new excuse to maintain the sanctions," said the minister, referring to the US sanctions against a hundred state-owned companies and Zimbabwean personalities since 2003, including current president Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The United States announced this week the ban on importing diamonds from Marange, citing the use of forced labor. "When sufficient information is available," Customs "may confiscate property believed to have been produced during forced labor," the US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Several products are affected by this decision, including uncut diamonds from the Marange mines, gold from "small artisanal mines" in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and clothing produced by a company in China. disposable gloves made in Malaysia.
For his part, Zimbabwean government spokesman Nick Mangwana said "the government is deeply disgusted with any form of slavery and servitude". "To suggest that Zimbabwe practices forced labor in companies is either malicious or grossly ignorant," he said.
Zimbabwe discovered diamonds some ten years ago in the region of Chiadzwa (east) where the mines of Marange are located. The country, plagued by a serious economic crisis for two decades, has never published statistics deemed credible of its diamond activities that began in 2006.
© 2019 AFP