We gathered 37 bodies and piled them in an army truck and took them to the edge of Nyazika village. There we found two more army trucks offloading 35 bodies. The soldiers then ordered us to dig a grave and bury the bodies. We buried 72 bodies in that grave.87 Another miner who took part in the digging of the mass grave told Human Rights Watch: After burying the bodies we were all taken to an open area nearby and ordered to pitch tents for the soldiers. For a week we were detained by the soldiers who beat us and forced us to sing. They warned us never to talk about what had happened in Chiadzwa. After that we were released.88 The military operation continued every day for the next three weeks until November 16, 2008. Military helicopters would fire teargas and live ammunition from the air to support soldiers shooting at miners on the ground. The helicopters used in the operation were temporarily based in Mutare at 3 Brigade army base.89 A Chiadzwa villager told Human Rights Watch: On November 8, I discovered 22 decomposing bodies near Chiadzwa Dam. I reported the matter to my village headman. None of the dead were from my village. On the following day, we saw a group of soldiers in army uniform directing some miners using bulldozers to dig a mass grave. All the bodies were buried in that grave on November 9. It is possible they were bodies of diamond miners killed by soldiers.90 A local headman told Human Rights Watch that in the three weeks of the military operation, Chiadzwa resembled “a war zone in which soldiers killed people like flies.”91 Another headman was forced to bury five bodies of miners; all five bodies had what appeared to be bullet wounds.92 None of the bodies were identifiable. A policeman operating in Marange explained that identification of bodies was impossible because often local miners would 87 Human Rights Watch interview with local miner H.G., Mutare, February 5, 2009. 88 Human Rights Watch interview with local miner A.C., Mutare, February 5, 2009. 89 Human Rights Watch interview with soldier C.G., Mutare, February 19, 2009. 90 Human Rights Watch interview with villager T.N., Marange, February 21, 2009. 91 Human Rights Watch interview with headman P.M., Marange, February 20, 2009. 92 Human Rights Watch interview with headman B.C., Marange, February 21, 2009. 31 Human Rights Watch | June 2009