‘Conflict Minerals’ and the Ongoing Crisis in Congo – Transparency for Extraction & Hi -Tech Industries

What are the 'conflict minerals'? What is the relation between the Metals & Hi-Technology Industries and the crisis in DR Congo? WHO IS FUNDING THE CRISIS??? WE DO!!!

How can we pursue the agenda to end the trade in 'conflict minerals' and eventually the crisis in Congo?

Multinational Corporations from all over the world, engaged in mineral extraction, trading, smelting, refining, and end use electronics manufacturing industries: computers, laptops, MP3 - portable music players, mobiles, Smart phones, digital cameras, etc., are illicitly buying “Conflict Minerals”, namely, Coltan (which is a key mineral used in the making of cell phones and 64% of the world’s known Coltan reserves occur in the DR Congo),Tin, Tungsten, Gold, etc., oblivious of the facts that the proceeds from these activities are being utilized for funding the various militant groups, who are perpetuating conflicts, resulting in particularly sexual gender based - violence and other human rights abuses in North and South Kivu in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).

The DR Congo is rich in these minerals that make our daily use electronic gadgets work. The minerals mined in Eastern DR Congo pass through the hands of numerous middlemen, as they are shipped out of DR Congo, through neighboring countries such as Rwanda, Burundi, etc., to the various processing plants all throughout the world. There are no international mechanisms yet in place to regulate these clandestine trades, therefore allowing various armed factions, many with appalling human rights records, unfettered access to world markets, in order to generate funds.

These “conflict minerals” are one of the main drivers of a war has claimed around five and half million lives as of April 2007 with the toll mounting by 45,000 a month, according to a study by the International Rescue Committee and more than thousands of women are being raped every month in the DR Congo and is widely described as the rape capital of the world. Furthermore, the conflict areas also appear to have limited attention to poverty, food securities, health, safety and environmental protection, which may lead to additional negative legacies.

"Directly or indirectly," says Carina Tertsakian, DR Congo team leader for Global Witness, "everyone involved in this conflict is benefitting from the trade in these resources except the Congolese people who are the victims of the war." The mining conglomerates have to come under political pressure, she argues. "They aren't likely to stop what they are doing overnight because of an attack of conscience." But choking off this flow of funds is not just about putting pressure on multinational corporations but also about forcing governments in the area, through firm diplomacy and tight financial screws, to uphold protocols and peace processes in order to be in good odor to do legitimate business in the first place. Says Tertsakian, "The economic aspects have been a driving force in this war from the very beginning."

The situation in DR Congo is a good example of the so-called “natural resource curse”, with an abundance of high-value natural resources, it has slower economic growth and an armed conflict for the past few decades. The resource curse represents the pre-eminent obstacle to democracy and development in this country. There is no magic wand to resolve the problem; there are a range of measures that all nations including India – besides deputing Indian soldiers for Peace Keeping, all the nations can take to increase accountability and transparency.

In the recent past, efforts had been made to counteract similar process applying pressures externally by instituting sanctions against commodities originating from conflict zones, namely, the Kimberly Process in 2003. It is a joint governments, industry and civil society initiative to regulate the diamond market and stem the flow of so-called “blood diamonds”, which was a success story in Angola.

One of the people pushing this grassroots campaign on “conflict minerals” is Lisa Shannon (Women’s Rights Activist / Author) founded in 2006 the first national grassroots effort to raise awareness and funds for women in the DR Congo through her project Run for Congo Women. She had seen an Oprah show on DR Congo, and now she has devoted her life - making a difference for Congolese women.

The conflict minerals campaign is now a grass-roots movement and NGOs (like, Enough), are pressurizing companies, like, Apple, Intel and Research in Motion etc., using social media network like, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to keep these “conflict minerals” out of high-tech supply chains. A year ago most members of US Congress hadn't even heard of conflict minerals. These thousands of Americans wrote on US senators’ Facebook pages and requesting them to support the Brownback amendment which is currently a part of the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill 2010” that addressed 'conflict minerals' from Congo, the new blood diamonds. Special interests lobbied against the provision, arguing that it was too expensive and would unfairly undercut American business.

However, the majority of the companies that use these minerals are listed on U.S. stock exchanges, including foreign companies, so it would actually set a level playing field for industry. Moreover, U.S. regulations will help set global standards, and the audit provision would set a common standard for minerals supply and smelting companies around the world. As a result of intensive public pressure, a group of companies led by Intel and Motorola have initiated actions and now developing a process to audit origins of tantalum in supply chains. Moreover, the audit process is inexpensive: the audits will only cost one penny per product, according to the Enough Project, which says the figure originated with the industry.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Zoe McMahon, supply chain social and environmental responsibility manager at IT giant HP, revealed that a group of companies working under the banner of the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) is working on the finishing touches to a certification scheme that should help firms identify from which mines minerals and metals such as Coltan, Tin and Tantalum have been sourced.

"We are going to introduce a scheme that will audit the metal process firms and identify those that have due diligence in place that can assure customers that they have not been mined from sources involved in the conflict in the DRC, " she said. "We have tested the processes with a number of tantalum smelters and are ready to move within the next six months."

The Congressman Jim McDermott has championed the conflict minerals issue in USA, authoring the Congo Minerals Trade Act (H.R. 4128). In June, 2009, Senator Sam Brownback introduced to require electronics companies to verify and disclose their sources of Cassiterite (Tin), Wolframite (Tungten), and Coltan (Tantalum) or derivatives of these minerals; commonly used in cell phones, laptop computers and other popular electronic devices. Under the bill, U.S. Commerce Department - sanctioned auditors would audit mineral mines declaring them “conflict free or not”. These mines would be mapped to show which ones fund conflict. Furthermore, importers would have to certify whether they were importing conflict minerals – companies that do import conflict minerals will be reported to Congress by the United States Trade Representative. This bill would commit the US government to address the mineral exploitation that underpins the violence in eastern Congo. Bill requires U.S. companies to annually disclose as part of their filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) information about the source of minerals used for their products.

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 2010 includes the following major provisions for conflict minerals under Sections 1502 & 1504:

“TRANSPARENCY FOR EXTRACTION INDUSTRY

Public Disclosure: Requires public disclosure to the SEC of payments made to the U.S. and foreign governments relating to the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and minerals.

SEC Filing Disclosure: The SEC must require those engaged in the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals to include information about payments they or their subsidiaries, partners or affiliates have made to the US or a foreign government for such development in an annual report and post this information online.

Congo Conflict Minerals:

Manufacturers Disclosure: Requires those who file with the SEC and use minerals originating in the Democratic Republic of Congo in manufacturing to disclose measures taken to exercise due diligence on the source and chain of custody of the materials and the products manufactured.

Illicit Minerals Trade Strategy: Requires the State Department to submit a strategy to address the illicit minerals trade in the region and a map to address links between conflict minerals and armed groups and establish a baseline against which to judge effectiveness.

Deposit Insurance Reforms: Permanent increase in deposit insurance for banks, thrifts and credit unions to $250,000, retroactive to January 1, 2008.

Restricts US Funds for Foreign Governments: Requires the Administration to evaluate proposed loans by the IMF to a middle-income country if that country's public debt exceeds its annual Gross Domestic Product, and oppose loans unlikely to be repaid.”

The Act was passed by a bipartisan vote of 237 to 192. The legislation is now under consideration in the Senate and hopefully the stage is all set for the Senate to clear it before end of July 2010.

Legislation alone will not end the conflict in eastern DR Congo, but this bill would provide a crucial step toward the creation of a practical and enforceable means to ensure that the trade in Congolese minerals contributes to peace rather than war. This bill would also serves as a useful precedent for other countries like India to take initiatives to deliberate, discuss and legislate a similar act for Indian based companies, who may be fuelling these conflicts in eastern DR Congo. The goal should be to stem the flow of illicit minerals, promote legitimate trade, protect those living in artisanal mining communities, good governance, political stability, human rights, access to opportunity and unlocking of the economic potential of this resource-rich lands of the DR Congo and of the Great Lakes region.


The most effective way to achieve this goal would be to ensure transparency in the consumer electronics supply chain to certify products as “Conflict-Free” based on ‘Due Diligence’ study reports, which have been duly verified by an independent auditor. Furthermore, awareness programmes are conducted regularly jointly with civil societies, NGOs, etc., for the public to purchase only the “Conflict–Free” products.