39 To put this figure into perspective, the Zimbabwe Independent reported the previous month that the fiscus had been bled of nearly US$500 million “by mining syndicates involved in under-invoicing, smuggling, and general lack of quality policing….” 171 What is fundamental to Zimbabwe’s recovery is the restoration of the rule of law. Organisations such as Human Rights Watch and the Zimbabwe Blood Diamonds Campaign have called repeatedly for the removal of the army from the Marange district, the demilitarisation of the diamond industry and a return to the rule of law. Finance minister Tendai Biti has stressed the need for the country’s mining laws to be overhauled so that there is greater transparency in the operations of the industry. Expressing its concern in February 2011, the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association noted, “The situation in Chiadzwa illustrates the agony of a community under siege as more and more mining companies will get mining licences and disregard the environmental, economic, social and cultural rights of the people in pursuance of profit from natural resources extraction.” 172 President Mugabe said in his inaugural speech when he came to power in 1980, “Our majority rule could easily turn into inhuman rule if we oppressed, persecuted or harassed those who do not look or think like the rest of us.” 173 The persecution of unlicenced miners in Marange demonstrates the inhumanity of President Mugabe and those who enrich themselves with Zimbabwe’s blood diamonds. Time may, however, be running out. The International Criminal Court (ICC) says the evidence of gross human rights abuses documented by the BBC can be used to classify the massacres in Chiadzwa as crimes against humanity. 174 It is time to call the perpetrators to account. 171 Zimbabwe Independent, ‘Mining syndicates bleed fiscus dry of US$500m, 29 July 2011: http://www.theindependent.co.zw/local/31802-mining-syndicates-bleed-fiscus-of-us500m.html 172 Extractive Industries Policy & Legal Handbook, ‘Analysis of the Key Issues in Zimbabwe’s Mining Sector: Case Study of the Plight of Marange & Mutoko Mining Communities’, January 2011, pg 43: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QkVKYYeExgoJ:www.internaldisplacement.org/8025708F004CE90B/(httpDocuments)/1DD3341690E24DF7C125784E002E708C/%24file/EXT RACTIVE%2BINDUSTRIES%2BHANDBOOK%2B(1).pdf+marange+diamonds+%2Benvironmental+issues&cd=6&hl =en&ct=clnk&gl=ie&source=www.google.ie 173 Partnership Africa Canada, ‘Zimbabwe, Diamonds and the Wrong Side of History’. March 2009, pg 1: http://www.pacweb.org/Documents/diamonds_KP/18_Zimbabwe-Diamonds_March09-Eng.pdf 174 SW Radio Africa: Evidence of Chiadzwa massacre could be used to prosecute Mugabe, 10 August 2011: http://www.swradioafrica.com/news100811/evidence100811.htm