D.R.Congo
Implications of the USA U.S. law against conflicts of minerals in the DRC
Posted on august 24, 2010
Translated from French to English by AFJN
Source: Conférence Episcopale Nationale du Congo ( Congolese National Bishops' Conference)
- Most Reverend Auxiliary Bishop of Kinshasa
- Excellencies, Representatives of Heads of religious denominations
- Your Excellency the Representative Office of the President of the Republic
- Honorable representatives and Senators
- Your Excellency the Representative of the Prime Minister
- Excellencies the Representatives of Ministers
- Excellencies the Representatives of the Courts and Tribunals
- Distinguished guests recognized in your qualities and respective titles
- Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press
- Dear Brothers and Sisters
My name is Jennifer Poidatz, I am in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a Representative of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) . CRS has been working in DRC since 1961. Our programs focus on humanitarian assistance and development and are implemented in partnership with many diocesan and governmental structures throughout the country.
For over a year my colleagues in the United States have worked with our colleague at the Congolese National Conference of Bishops (CENCO) to support the passage before the United States of America’s Congress of Article 1502, of US public Law 111-203, which deals with mineral sources of conflict in the DRC. We are very excited about the news that the Act was finally approved by Congress and signed into law by the American President on July 21, 2010.
We appreciate in the first place the support given by CENCO and in particular the Episcopal Commission of Natural Resources. CRS hopes that the implementation of the points covered in Article 1502 will help reduce the illegal access to financial and logistical resources of armed groups in DRC. At the same time, we remain aware of the challenges associated with implementing this article.
My goal today is to talk briefly about the implications of this law in the U.S. – focusing on the specific implications for the U.S. government, businesses and American citizens. I will also describe the actions that CRS will take to ensure proper implementation of this article.
At the level of the American Government, and within a six month period following the signing of this law, the State Department (in conjunction with USAID – the US Agency for International Development) must develop a strategy to address the links between human rights violations, armed groups, extraction of minerals associated with conflicts and their commercial exploitation. We hope that the development of this strategy will strengthen collaboration between the governments of DRC, the United States and other actors - namely, neighboring countries, the international community and the Panel of United Nations experts on the DRC. The results of this collaboration should:
- ensure the establishment of a system to monitor and stop illegal trading activity surrounding the exploitation of natural resources of the DRC that help support the activities of armed groups and human rights violations in the DRC and
- support the strengthening of systems of governance and economic institutions in order to
- improve transparency in the exploitation of minerals,
- reduce the exploitation of minerals by armed groups and
- promote local and regional development
Reading Article 1502, we understand that the U.S. Government will also develop a plan to assist companies to establish the origin and chain of supply of minerals. Similarly, the U.S. Government will define punitive measures that could be taken against those found to be in violation of the SEC reporting requirements.
The State Department must publish a "Map of mineral-related conflicts" showing areas rich in minerals, roads and commercial areas under the control of armed groups in the DRC and neighboring countries. This map will be available to the public and updated every six months. American companies that are registered with United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are required to pay attention to the origin of minerals and reflect on the impact of their purchases on the people of the DRC. They will be forced to disclose whether they use minerals that are mined in conflict areas in the DRC or a neighboring country. Companies that use minerals associated with conflict in one of these countries must submit to the SEC:
- A description of their efforts to establish the origin and traceability of these minerals
- An independent audit of their report
- The description of components contained in these minerals associated with conflicts, the country and, if possible, the mine of origin, and the names of the processing sites of these minerals.
Their products can be labeled "DRC Conflict Free" if they do not contain any ore from which armed groups in DRC, or in a neighboring country could profit directly or indirect. Companies will be forced to question the "refiners" as to the origin of ores. This positive pressure should lead to decrease in demand from mines in conflict zones.
I would also note that there is another very important article in the Law 111-203. This is Article 1504. This Article requires making public any commission related to the commercial development of hydro-carbon, natural gas, oil - and minerals. This article covers the stages of exploration, extraction, processing and export. It requires that all companies must submit an annual report to the SEC. This report must provide details on all payments made to foreign governments or American government - including taxes, exploitation rights, dividends and other fees - related commercial development of natural resources. In these reports, companies must submit these details for each project or, in the case of minerals, each mine. We retain this article as essential for increased transparency related to such payments and increase the capacity to ensure that companies do not divert these funds - which are important resources for the budgets of vital services like healthcare and education.
Locally, American citizens will start to see labels on electronic and other products confirming the absence of the impact on the conflict in DRC - "DRC conflict labels". We hope that eventually there will be a better understanding of the humanitarian situation in DRC and the links between the minerals in the various products and conflict in the DRC. We hope that with increased awareness, they will think before they buy and perhaps look for the product labeled "conflict free".
Similarly, we believe that this request for transparency will enhance and increase recognition of the important work done by civil society and nonprofit organizations which continues to provide valuable investigative data on the origin of products.
For CRS in the United States, we will continue to work with other NGOs and civil society organizations to influence the definition of new regulations of the SEC. We will do our best to ensure that the regulations of the SEC keep the spirit of Article 1502 which aims to reduce the financial resources to illegal armed groups from the sale of minerals, mining and transportation of mineral resources.
In closing, let us remember that this illegal exploitation of mineral resources remains the cause of violence or direct - at least - the indirect cause of the terrible suffering of innocent people, and also
an obstacle for lasting development and the establishment of sustainable peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kinshasa, August 2, 2010
It is the Law: The US Secretary of State mandated to get involved in conflict mineral Reform in DRC
Posted on August 13, 2010
Written by Bahati Jacques
Warning! If you or your company is involved in the trading of natural resources from the relatively stable Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United States made it official that it will get involved in tracking you down. On July 21, 2010, when President Barack Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act H.R. 4173, or Public Law No: 111-203, which among other things aims to “promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system,..” it subsequently became US law (section 1502, Law No: 111-203) to fight against conflict mineral from the DRC.
This section entitled "Conflict Minerals” was an amendment inserted in this US financial reform law by Senator Sam Brownback in an effort to combat one of the reasons why armed conflict in eastern Democratic Republic Congo continues. Although it has even greater implicit implications in reforming the mining industry beyond eastern Congo, this law specifically targets the following minerals: “columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, gold, wolframite, or their derivatives; or any other mineral or its derivatives determined by the Secretary of State to be financing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country”
Congolese Political Science Professor Arrested in Rwanda
Press Review July 19, 2010
Translated and edited by Africa Faith and Justice Network
The South -Kivu governor's communication Office, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mr. Buhendwa Eluga, a political science professor and the President of the Higher Institute of Commerce (ISC) of Uvira was arrested by Rwandan authorities while he was lecturing in a school in Rwanda and taken to an unknown destination. He is the second Congolese after Idesbald Byabuze to be arrested by the Rwandan authorities. Professor Buhendwa Eluga, a native of Luvungi (Uvira), South Kivu, began his high school studies at the Mungombe Seminary (Mwenga Territory) and finished at the Alfajiri Institute (a Jesuits high school) in Bukavu in the late seventies. After attending law school in Kinshasa where he was active in the students movement, he went to Congo-Brazzaville and then to France where he got a PhD in political science. He also holds a doctorate in economics.
He is one of the Congolese intellectuals who decided to return to Congo to help improve the educational system of our country, and chose to settle in a rural part of the country where the youth need him most, so he used to say. Passionate Pan-Africanist, Professor Buhendwa Eluga is known for his involvement in bringing about peace and inter-ethnic coexistence in the Great Lakes region. As the president of the Higher Institute of Commerce of Uvira, he believed he could contribute to bringing the people of the Great Lakes together by giving lectures in universities in the region (Congo, Burundi and Rwanda).
We appeal to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to seek his immediate release. We also call on all peace-loving individuals and human rights defenders and those who fight for democracy in the Great Lakes Region, to mobilize for the release of Professor Buhendwa Eluga.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame & US Policy
Posted on August 7, 2010
As the August 9th election day approaches, fear and uneasiness continues to grow for many Rwandans. The incumbent President Paul Kagame is running for reelection and is expected to win. But, what kind of leader has he been? He has made headlines in recent months for causing trouble for his challengers ahead of elections. There have been assassinations, imprisonments, torture, and harassment of opposition party members. He continues to use an extreme and invented sense of collective guilt against the Hutu, arresting and charging many amongst them with genocide, genocide denial, genocide ideology, negationism and divisionism.Kagame’s heavy-handed leadership over recent years has also led to division within the inner circle that he brought with him into power. One of the latest victims in that circle is former Ambassador to India and his Army chief of staff, Kayumba Nyamwasa, a Tutsi who escaped an assassination plot in Rwanda in March 2010 and survived assassination on June 19th in South Africa where he is in exile and recovering from his wounds. In his book, L’histoire Secrete (published by Panama Editions, Paris, in 2005, pages 420-429), Lieutenant Abdul Joshua Ruzibiza, a former member of Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), provides first and last names of several officers of the RPF who were murdered by Kagame’s regime for various reasons, mostly to cover up his human rights abuses. Among them is Colonel Theonest Lizinde, killed in Kenya.
Page 1 of 19
