13 call for a partial or complete ban on the country's diamonds should the government fail to meet a number of requirements that included acknowledging the existence of human rights violations at the extensive diamond fields.” 51 At the annual KP plenary in November 2009, civic groups called for Zimbabwe’s expulsion from the KP scheme, but a joint work plan was agreed instead. The country was given six months to fulfill requirements, including gradually withdrawing the army. 52 On May 25, 2010, Farai Maguwu, the widely respected director of the Mutare-based Centre for Research and Development (CRD), who had been monitoring the human rights abuses and rampant smuggling in Marange, had a confidential meeting with the KP’s Abbey Chikane. Three months earlier, in February, Chikane, a former chairman of the South African Diamond Board, had been designated as a KP Monitor. On June 3, Maguwu was arrested and interrogated; sparking protests from local and international human rights groups, including Amnesty International. He had reported the ongoing human rights abuses and the involvement of the security forces to Chikane and had warned that “at least 2,000 carats a day were being smuggled out, with the prime suspects being employees of … Canadile”. 53 Fears for his health and safety while he was incarcerated in one of Zimbabwe’s notorious prisons were expressed in media statements by his legal team. Chikane’s report, released in June while Maguwu was still in jail, concluded that the minimum requirements in complying with the work plan developed in 2009 had been met. This contrasted with extensive reports by human rights organisations and the media of ongoing violence perpetrated by the armed forces and the continuation of widespread smuggling. Following intense international pressure, Maguwu was eventually released on bail on July 12 after five weeks in police custody. In recognition of the tremendous courage Maguwu had demonstrated by exposing the rampant human rights violations in Marange, Human Rights Watch honoured him with their Alison Des Forges Award in August 2011. 54 On July 15, 2010, three days after Maguwu’s release from prison, an agreement was reached with the Harare government at the KP meeting in St Petersburg, Russia, to allow two strictly supervised auctions to take place. Mines Minister Obert Mpofu assured the meeting that Zimbabwe would 51 Financial Gazette, ‘Shock report on Chiadzwa diamond fields yet army refusing to leave’, 10 July 2009: http://forum.newzimbabwe.com/index.php?/topic/4350-shock-report-on-chiadzwa-diamond-fields/ 52 International Crisis Group, ‘Time to rethink the Kimberley Process: The Zimbabwean case’, 4 November 2010, pg 4: http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/africa/southern-africa/zimbabwe/op-eds/time-to-rethink-thekimberley-process-the-zimbabwe-case.aspx 53 SW Radio Africa, ‘Zim set to be cleared for diamond sales’, 27 May, 2010: http://www.swradioafrica.com/news270510/zimdiamonds270510.htm 54 SW Radio Africa, ‘Activist Farai Maguwu humbled by top rights award’, 12 August 2011: http://www.swradioafrica.com/news120811/faria120811.htm