five days before being taken to court, charged with prospecting without licenses, and forced to pay “admission of guilt” fines before release.68 Several other villagers told Human Rights Watch that they were arrested indiscriminately, detained for at least four days, and taken to Mutare, where they were also ordered to pay “admission of guilt” fines for illegal prospecting, and then released.69 One villager said: I was arrested [for failure to produce an identification card] by three police constables patrolling in Chiadzwa in May 2008. I was taken to Chakohwa police base, where I joined about 30 other people detained there. We were all beaten on the soles of our feet using iron rods, and we were made to sing and dance. For six days we were in detention. The police gave us very little food. We were divided into three groups, one for cooking, the next for washing clothes and fetching water, and the last for general cleaning. On the seventh day, we were driven to Mutare, where we were all charged with illegal prospecting and fined and released.70 The mass arrests and detentions of suspected local miners and members of the local community soon filled Mutare remand prison beyond its 300-person capacity, to more than 1,600 inmates. Many were not fed, and those in detention slept outside in the open, but within the prison perimeter and under guard.71 A member of the Mutare Legal Practitioners Association (MLPA), who was part of a team of lawyers that represented the villagers and diamond miners, told Human Rights Watch that in May 2008, the MLPA represented close to 1,000 individuals from Marange, including boys and girls as young as 10 years old, whom police had detained for well over the 48-hour limit set by law. Scores of these villagers had dog-bite wounds.72 A medical officer at a private hospital in Mutare told Human Rights Watch that in 2008 alone he had treated more than 200 victims with dog-bite wounds from Marange.73 A victim of dog attacks under police guard told Human Rights Watch: 68 Human Rights Watch interview with former detainee F.D., Marange, February 22, 2009. 69 Human Rights Watch interview with local miner M.M., Mutare, February 7, 2009. 70 Human Rights Watch interview with villager T.N., Mutare, February 23, 2009. 71 Human Rights Watch interview with prison guard S.Y., Mutare, February 23, 2009. 72 Human Rights Watch interview with lawyer, Mutare Legal Practitioners Association, Mutare, February 23, 2009. 73 Human Rights Watch interview with medical officer M.S., Mutare, February 23, 2009. Diamonds in the Rough 26