Some good news regarding the Congo, finally. Earlier this year, the long neo colonialist tendencies of exploiting the Congolese people for their resources has begun to come to an end. In June of this year, the Enough Project, an anti-genocide campaign group, says Congolese warlords have lost their grip on most of the countrys mines and lucrative conflict minerals. The turning point was a US law introduced in 2010, that required companies to determine the origin of minerals used in products. Brought in under the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act, it required any company that might be using conflict minerals to register with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and publish its supply chain. The firms, presumably aware of the public relations implications of being linked to murderous warlords and child labour, have generally complied. Now, for the first time in Congos history, there is a validation process to evaluate mines as conflict-free, and 112 out of 155 mines surveyed passed as clean. Intel is producing the worlds first fully conflict-free product that contains clean Congolese minerals, the report says, while Apple has validated its tantalum supply chain as conflict-free. This is spurring other companies to accelerate their reform efforts. This is demonstrative of the power that people can have when they speak out against neocolonialism and atrocity, even if those they are speaking to are amoral corporations and immoral governments. For those who are unaware, the two Congolese Civil Wars, 1997-1999 and 1998-2003 with huge areas of continuing war ending only in 2014, are responsible for the death of more than 5.4 million people. During this time, the neocolonialist corporations purchased minerals from the various warlords in control of the mines. The roots of these conflicts and the failed state of the Congo itself, lead all the way back to 1966 when the United States fought a proxy war against the Soviet Union, with the US, UK, and Dutch even being complicit in the assassination the Democratically elected President of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, and installing dictator Mobutu Sese Seka, who ruled the Congo for thirty years. Anyhow, through the pressure of public relations and people speaking out has played a role, perhaps briefly, but nonetheless played a role in bringing some peace to the Congo. The companies that benefitted from blood minerals decided to save their reputations, or at least benefit from the peace that was being established there. Under public pressure, the UN suspended aid to Rwanda and M23, the last of the contesting forces in the Congo, didnt receive the funding that it relied on from Rwanda, and announced an end to its rebellion. I guess the western powers already had in place who they backed, and it must be beneficial to business. I cannot reiterate enough that peace was made by public pressure. War was made by soldiers. theguardian/world/2014/jun/11/congo-mines-no-longer-grip-warlords-militias-report-enough-project
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 04:31:42 +0000