Congo’s Conflict Minerals Solutions

Congo’s Conflict MineralsSolutions

/Congohttp://www.iwantonly.com/watch/104242/

Enough Projecthttp://www.enoughproject.org/conflictminerals101

Conflict mineralshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQIsLqkuATY

Conflict Minerals• refers to natural resources that are exploited

and traded through conflict situations • This exploitation helps finance human rights

abuses or other such violations• Companies can obtain licenses to extract

metals, minerals or other raw materials from a country at war or in conflict from militias or warlords who have no legal claim to that resource

Conflict Minerals• they may have helped those militias with

logistics to fight other armies or militias• paid them for unregulated materials that

may have been mined or worked by essentially slave labour

• used militias to slaughter or displace the rightful owners to the resource making it available for exploitation; or other such abuses.

Fighting in Congo

What do you think are possible solutions?

U.S.July 2010 bill passed by the US senate requiring US-listed giants such as Hewlett-Packard and Apple to declare whether they source from Congo or its neighbours and to comply with future guidelinesCompany'shttp://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/content/conflict-minerals-company-rankings

U.S.

Solutions• Pillage law the theft of resources during conflict is

considered a war crime in all modern international criminal courts and a large number of domestic criminal systems.

• Companies who profit from trade in conflict minerals could be charged with war crimes.

• They will likely take more adequate steps to ensure the source of their materials were not involved with human right violations

Supply Chain From Congo to Consumption

Benefits• Benefits investment and trade in the

long term.• Makes it more difficult and expensive

for armed groups to exploit mineral resources illegally.

• At the same time it makes it easier for the legitimate resource owners to sell the resources through legitimate channels.

Benefits• Revenues & taxes can be used for

education, social welfare, health care national security

• Helps put an end to murder, rape and enslaving of innocent people

Criticisms• Impoverish communities dependent on

trade through loss of jobs and income• Could deter businesses from operating or

even investing in DRC• Profits from mining represents 2/3 of

revenue of North Kivu this could lead to an increase in poverty, hunger, disease…