hundreds of children were panning for diamonds alongside adults. The difference is that this time the children and adults are forced to work without pay and we all surrender any stones we find to the soldiers.124 A 17-year-old boy told Human Rights Watch how on December 1, 2008, he and two friends (ages 16 and 17) were part of a group of people randomly picked up from Mutare and taken to the diamond fields by bus: Five armed and uniformed soldiers told me and my friends and six other boys in the group that we were still young so they would teach us community service and lessons in patriotism. On the bus to the fields the soldiers ordered everyone on the bus to surrender all personal valuables. At the diamond fields the soldiers forced us into a cage and beat us throughout the night demanding to know the names of diamond dealers. The next day, we were forced to fill the holes and gullies made by local miners using bare hands. We were given no food or water. That evening we were bused back to Mutare.125 These working conditions for children are forbidden by international law. The International Labour Organisation’s Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, ratified by Zimbabwe on December 11, 2000, forbids forced or compulsory labor for children, defined as any person under the age of 18.126 Article 3(d) of the convention states that “the worst forms of child labour” comprise “work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.”127 By this definition, scores of children in Marange have been engaged in the worst forms of child labor, in violation of Zimbabwe’s obligations under the convention. Theft and Harassment of the Local Community Villagers interviewed by Human Rights Watch said the soldiers continue to subject them to unlawful and arbitrary searches and loot property such as cash, food, blankets, mobile 124 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher D.C., Marange, February 22, 2009. 125 Human Rights Watch interview with boy R.M., Mutare, February 9, 2009. 126 ILO Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention), adopted June 17, 1999. 127 Ibid. 41 Human Rights Watch | June 2009