2 Read the full article at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1213894/The-returnbloody-diamonds-Miners-gunpoint-Zimbabwe.html#ixzz1URPbYJQS Marange diamond exports approved – IDEX Online, 26 January 2011 1 © Copyright photo - Raul Sapora 3 INTRODUCTION Following the Marange story is like following game trails deep in the African wilderness. The paths are tortuous: intersecting, diverging, becoming increasingly distinct then blurring in the dense bush shrouding a cliff face or precipice - or even disappearing, seemingly without a trace, in the open veld. Those that deal in blood diamonds know how to cover their tracks… Or do they? The discovery of significant alluvial diamond deposits in the Marange area of eastern Zimbabwe [Manicaland Province] in June 2006 should have been a means of salvation for the virtually bankrupt country after ten years of chaos that saw world record inflation and the nation brought to its knees. Instead, it has led to greed, corruption and exploitation on a grand scale, the use of forced labour – both adults and children - horrifying human rights abuses, brutal killings, degradation of the environment and the massive enrichment of a select few. So what exactly is at stake? 1 IDEX Online, ‘Marange diamond exports approved’, 26 January 2011: http://gemmanews.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/idex-online-marange-diamond-exports-approved/