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[PDF] Harvesting hunger in Angola's diamond fields
For the past year, I have been paying special attention to a new trend of violations, consistently committed by Sociedade Mineira do Cuango (joint venture ITM-Mining, Endiama, Lumanhe)...The new trend [of seizing and destroying fields where crops are cultivated] amounts to a practice of enforcing hunger among communities which have traditionally depended on subsistence farming...These seizures are enforced by the Angolan private security company Teleservice, an outfit armed for warfare. Between 2004 and 2006, I reported tens of cases of systematic human rights abuses carried out, in Cuango, by Teleservice security guards. These included killings, torture, flogging and forced labour of garimpeiros and locals alike. [Also refers to Lazare Kaplan] [The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Endiama, ITM Mining, Lazare Kaplan to respond. The companies declined to respond]