Conflict Minerals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Matt Brown, mbrown@enoughproject.org, 202-468-2925

WASHINGTON – The International Contact Group on the Great Lakes of Africa meeting in The Hague is an opportunity to address political, diplomatic, security and development issues in Congo, the Enough Project said in a new report.

The body, consisting of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the European Union, and the United Nations, will likely focus the meeting on security reform and civilian protection in eastern Congo, the continued irregularities in the Congolese political process, continued reform in the conflict minerals sector, and armed groups and regional dynamics.

The Enough Project recommends that the group pressure the Congolese government to arrest rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda and implement security sector reform. The group should also call for the disbanding of the Congolese National Election Commission and enact accountability measures for electoral fraud.

“With the recent rebellion of ICC-indicted war criminal Bosco Ntaganda in eastern Congo, and renewed questions about the involvement of Rwanda in de-stabilizing Congolese security for power and profit, The Hague seems like a fitting place for the International Contact Group to meet,” said Aaron Hall Enough Project associate director of research. “Prosperity starts with peace, and coordinated efforts to ensure that Congo is able to deliver justice to war criminals like Ntaganda and his men should be a paramount objective for the group, not only as a matter of setting global precedent, but for all those Congolese who are currently suffering and have suffered in the past from unnecessary conflict in the region.”

On the conflict mineral issue, the group should work with the U.S. Government to use the burgeoning Public Private Alliance to begin a multilateral negotiation process on an internationally agreed upon certification scheme.

"The focus on Ntaganda has also left a security vacuum in eastern Congo, which has led to a resurgence of the deadly FDLR militia and the recent killings of over 200 civilians," said Enough Project Senior Policy Analyst Sasha Lezhnev. "The US and European Special Envoys should immediately launch a mediation initiative between the Congo and Rwanda to devise a plan to deal with the FDLR's increased strength, including possible military advisors and a more robust defection strategy."

The Enough Project also urged the group to weigh in on the Lord’s Resistance Army conflict. The group should engage vigorously with governments in and outside the Great Lakes region and the A.U. to secure more capable troops to apprehend the LRA’s senior leadership and protect civilians, while deploying a sufficient number of soldiers to cover the vast area affected by the LRA.

Read the Enough Project’s recommendations for the International Contact Group.

Contact:
Global Witness: Jana Morgan at 703 795 8542 or jmorgan@globalwitness.org
Corinna Gilfillan at 202 725 8705 or cgilfillan@globalwitness.org
Enough Project: Matt Brown at 202 468 2925 or mbrown@enoughproject.org

WASHINGTON – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) needs to issue regulations to tackle the trade in minerals fuelling conflict and human rights abuses in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a group of non-profits, investors and companies said today. A provision directing the SEC to publish rules on conflict minerals by April 2011 was passed as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The law includes a disclosure requirement that calls on companies to determine whether their products contain conflict minerals by carrying out supply chain due diligence and to report this to the SEC. For over a decade, rebel groups and senior commanders of the Congolese national army have made millions of dollars through the illegal control of mines and trading routes, while inflicting appalling human rights abuses on the local population, including gender-based violence such as rape and sexual slavery.

“The passage of the Dodd-Frank Act has led to positive developments in eastern Congo to demilitarize mining areas,” said Corinna Gilfillan of Global Witness. “The Congolese government recently adopted a law requiring all mining and mineral trading companies operating in the DRC to carry out due diligence measures. The long delays in the rule-making process threaten to reverse this progress and undermine efforts to develop a clean minerals trade.”

Amol Mehra of the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable, said: “Armed groups and factions of the Congolese army continue to profit from the minerals trade at the expense of the civilian population. The SEC must come out with rules now to tackle this deadly trade and to provide consumers and investors with important information about companies’ efforts to take responsibility for their supply chains and sourcing practices,”

Industry groups are also spearheading due diligence programs across the global supply chain to comply with Dodd-Frank and further delays in the rules risks slowing this momentum.

“A few industry leaders are ahead of the pack basing their actions on the rules as originally proposed. Unfortunately, most companies have been reluctant to move ahead given the uncertainty of the final wording which will dictate the compliance requirements. This is an unfortunate situation and demonstrates the need for the SEC to act swiftly and issue the final rules.” said Dr. Daniel Persico of KEMET Electronics Corporation.

“Leading companies are moving forward with preparation based on the proposed rules. However, uncertainty about compliance requirements will only continue to grow until finalized regulations are issued,” said Tim Mohin of Advanced Micro Devices.

“We support the timely release of this rule as this issue is too important to delay action,” said Gary Niekerk of Intel.

“Congress has a responsibility to act to ensure that the SEC issues timely rules on conflict minerals. Congress passed the conflict mineral provision to address a humanitarian crisis, and until the SEC issues rules, Congressional intent will continue to be compromised” said Darren Fenwick, Senior Manger of Government Affairs for the Enough Project.

Companies, investors and NGOs believe that getting the rules out is an important step forward in breaking the link between conflict and minerals and that all stakeholders must work together to address the dire humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC.

It is important for the SEC to release strong rules now to ensure all affected companies bring the requisite pressure to bear to incentivize responsible sourcing from the region.

"Investors will benefit by gaining confidence that companies they own-- or may own-- are moving rapidly to ensure that their supply chains and products are free of conflict minerals", said Bennett Freeman, SVP-Sustainability Research and Policy at Calvert Investments. "Investors and consumers alike need to know that companies are undertaking appropriate due diligence to diminish this risk," Freeman added.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Matt Brown, mbrown@enoughproject.org,202-468-2925

WASHINGTON – Congo should heed growing international pressure and arrest wanted war criminal Bosco Ntaganda, the Enough Project said in a new paper. The U.S. government and other donor nations should support and pressure Congo to arrest Ntaganda and other senior commanders, according to the paper.

"Bosco Ntaganda’s mutiny provides an important opportunity for the government of Congo and international actors to take positive steps toward peace and reform in eastern Congo," said Aaron Hall, Enough Project associate director of research. "This turn of events presents the possibility that, finally, the interconnected issues of democratization, security sector reform, justice sector reform, and mineral sector reform could be addressed in conjunction with each other."

Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes including recruitment of child soldiers, was until recently living with impunity in Goma, DRC, as a general in the Congolese army. Last month, Ntaganda defected and launched a rebellion against the government from his stronghold in eastern DRC. This action created the ideal conditions for the Congolese government to arrest Ntaganda, according to the Enough Project report, “Taking the Terminator: Congo’s Golden Opportunity to Deliver a Warlord to Justice.”

The report recommends that the international community supports and pressures the governments of Congo and Rwanda to arrest Ntaganda and the senior commanders, urges the establishment of the Specialized Mixed-Courts system which has been provided for by the government to try war crimes in Congo, pressures the government of Congo to implement security sector reform, and asserts to the governments of Congo and Rwanda that Ntaganda is bad for business by saying that companies will not invest in minerals from rebel-held territories.

Read the Enough Project report: “Taking the Terminator:Congo’s Golden Opportunity to Deliver a Warlord to Justice.”