The DR Congo has a long history of natural resource exploitation. King Leopold II of Belgium took control of the Congo as his own personal property, implementing a campaign of forced labor in order to personally profit from Congo's rubber and gold. Later, he succeeded in selling 'his' colony to the state of Belgium, which expanded his forced labor campaign in scope and cruelty. The Belgians used razor-sharp hippopotomous hide whips to keep their Congolese slaves working harder and more quickly. Belgian Congo is often cited as the cruelest colonial regime in history. Post-independence leaders, too, profited off Congo's resources at the expense of the Congolese people: starting in 1965, Mobutu Sese Seko embezzled billions of dollars for his life of luxury, bankrupting the national treasury while his people starved.
Today's war started partially as a result of ethic conflict spilling over from the 1994 Rwanda genocide. However, today four conflict minerals-- tin, tantalum (or coltan), tungsten and gold-- provide both the means and the motivation for the war to continue. According to the Enough Project, armed groups in the Congo earn approximately $180 million every year by trading tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold on the international market. They use this money to fuel their campaigns of rape, murder and forced labor. They are fighting in order to control more mines, and mining in order to fight more. The Congo is unlikely to see peace until this cycle, fueled by international demand for tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold, is broken.
Unfortunately, tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold are used in electronic products from cell phones to computers to video game systems, some of which now form an integral part of the way many people function on a daily basis. These products cannot be made without the three Ts and gold. The demand for these products is unlikely to decrease in the near future. However, the minerals are available from other sources. Canada, for example, has a mineral composition that is very similar to the DRC's. Also, not every mine within the DRC is controlled by armed groups.
Despite this availibility, no major electronics company traces any of these minerals to the source. In 2010, the United States Congress passed Resolution 4128, the Conflict Minerals Trade Act, which will set up a tracing, auditing and certification system similar to the Kimberly Process for blood diamonds. This was a major victory for the conflict-free movement. However, more needs to be done. Specifically, consumers must pressure electronics companies to follow through with producing verifiably conflict-free products. They can do this by declaring their own preference for products that are not fueling the deadliest war in the world.
|
