Zenith Security guards employed at Petra Diamonds Ltd’s (LON:PEDL) Williamson mine in Tanzania deliberately swapped rubber projectiles with metal shot in their weapons, causing serious harm to local residents shot on the company’s concession, UK corporate watchdog RAID said.
Petra was quick to repond to the report.
“As previously stated, Petra takes the allegations of human rights abuses at the Williamson mine extremely seriously,” the company said. “Petra has committed to provide feedback on the investigation being carried out by an external advisor, in conjunction with our legal advisors; the scope of this investigation already includes the allegations mentioned by RAID in their report.”
RAID said the information was uncovered as part of ongoing research into human rights abuses at the mine.
“Deliberately altering ammunition to cause indiscriminate injury, even death, to local residents raises serious questions about Petra Diamonds’ oversight of security at its diamond mine in Tanzania, said Anneke Van Woudenberg, executive director of RAID.
Petra said it had taken a number of actions to address the situation at the mine, including the replacement of the third-party security contractor Zenith.
The diamond producer previously said that there have been frequent organised incursions of groups of illegal diggers, sometimes in large numbers and who are believed to be sponsored by local dealers in illicit diamonds, onto the concession.