phones, cars, and furniture. The soldiers also search houses without the necessary search warrants, in violation of Zimbabwean laws protecting privacy and prohibiting arbitrary searches. Soldiers beat villagers and demand to know the source of money they use to buy various items, and then confiscate those items. Villagers claim that the army forces local women and children to cook for them and slaughter livestock, another form of forced labor.128 A local leader in Marange told Human Rights Watch: The soldiers came with nothing. They are taking blankets from the community. I have received several reports of soldiers stealing goats and chickens for their meals, and they are forcing villagers to fetch water, firewood for them, as well as to cook and clean for them. The soldiers have become a burden on Marange community.129 A lawyer familiar with the soldiers’ activities told Human Rights Watch: Members of the army and police are violating people’s rights to due process of law. They are moving about in Mutare and Birchenough Bridge arbitrarily taking away people’s property. If there is reasonable suspicion of any crime, the police must properly investigate and take individuals to court, not the military.130 Trust Maanda, provincial coordinator for the organization Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights Manicaland, told Human Rights Watch that as of February 7, 2009, only one of the hundreds of victims of army and police brutality had asked him to file suit against those who tortured him. Maanda explained that this low figure was mainly a result of fear.131 Human Rights Watch researchers passed 11 police checkpoints along the road to Marange during a visit in February 2009. In addition, they observed armed uniformed soldiers guarding the diamond fields and military checkpoints at five-kilometer intervals within the diamond mining area. Such a presence indicates that illegal diamond panning and dealing remain rampant, albeit now under the control of the military. 128 Human Rights Watch interviews with villagers T.N., B.N., D.Z., I.Z., and H.N., Marange, February 22, 2009. 129 Human Rights Watch interview with community leader S.M., Marange, February 20, 2009. 130 Human Rights Watch interview with lawyer B.T., Mutare, February 7, 2009. 131 Human Rights Watch interview with lawyer Trust Maanda, Mutare, February 8, 2009. Diamonds in the Rough 42