Blaming the Congress for the misery in Congo is totally nearsightedness.
" David Aronson's op-ed "How Congress Devastated Congo," misses the critical link in eastern Congo: the continuing role of the minerals trade as a fuel for violence and a major source of revenue for armed groups and military units responsible for atrocities. The Dodd-Frank legislation is the first policy initiative to start to change that equation in 15 years. Change will not come overnight, but the fact is the bill is setting into motion a series of modifications that will have lasting effects on the conflict.
The rebels and Congolese army commanders who perpetrate the conflict and the government and businesses who partner with them are the real causes of misery in eastern Congo --not Congress or human rights groups. As Delly Mawazo, then-director of CREDDHO, a leading Congolese human rights organization, told me in March, "Minerals are like a curse. They fuel war, help the economic balance in neighboring countries, and enrich elites."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sasha-lezhnev/what-conflict-minerals-le_b_922566.html?ref=fb&src=sp
Ending the world's deadliest conflict is no easy task, but a growing consensus of Congolese civil society, electronics and metals companies, investors, and governments are now taking action to do so. A chief driver of their work is the Dodd-Frank legislation on conflict minerals, which is why a coalition of 40 Congolese human rights groups called it "the leverage needed to instill and impose ethical business practices in the Great Lakes region." David Aronson's op-ed "How Congress Devastated Congo," misses the critical link in eastern Congo: the continuing role of the minerals trade as a fuel for violence and a major source of revenue for armed groups and military units responsible for atrocities. The Dodd-Frank legislation is the first policy initiative to start to change that equation in 15 years. Change will not come overnight, but the fact is the bill is setting into motion a series of modifications that will have lasting effects on the conflict.
The rebels and Congolese army commanders who perpetrate the conflict and the government and businesses who partner with them are the real causes of misery in eastern Congo --not Congress or human rights groups. As Delly Mawazo, then-director of CREDDHO, a leading Congolese human rights organization, told me in March, "Minerals are like a curse. They fuel war, help the economic balance in neighboring countries, and enrich elites."
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