ANOTHER ONE FROM THE BLOOD MINES OF CONGO

In July 2009, Global Witness released a report listing foreign companies the organisation accuses of “buying minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that are funding armed groups and fuelling conflict.”

The Report- Faced with a gun, what can you do?- according to its accompanying press release, “details how companies are buying from suppliers who trade in minerals from the warring parties. Many mining areas in eastern DRC are controlled by rebels and the national army, who violently exploit civilians to retain access to valuable minerals, including cassiterite (tin ore), coltan and gold. Cassiterite and coltan are used to make mobile phones, computers and other electronics, among other things.”

Interestingly, the report suggests a peaceful coexistence between the Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo [FARDC] and the Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda [FDLR] in the mineral rich areas. As FARDC is the Congolese army and the FDLR is an armed group comprised mainly of Rwandese Hutu combatants with alleged involvement in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the two groups would be seen to be natural adversaries. On the contrary, Global Witness quotes a human rights activist in Bukavu as saying, “[The FARDC and the FDLR] don’t attack each other. Where both are present, they share the spoils and both extort from the population.” Further, they quote a Congolese researcher as saying that “The FARDC have to go through FDLR areas. They negotiate with each other. They agree not to attack each other. They respect each other’s zones. They each administer their own zones and collect ‘taxes’

Full Report here

One of the Researchers for Global Witness’ report, Carina Tertsakian, talks to the BBC here.