News About Congo

Forced to Flee

What would force you to flee your home?  A Flood, Tornado, Hurricane, Fire, Tsunami, or Nuclear Disaster are items on our list in the developed world.

In Congo, armed miltias are added to the list. 

 

Gov. O’Malley Signs Maryland’s Conflict Minerals Bill | Enough

On May 2, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law the Maryland State Procurement and Congo Conflict Minerals Bill, making Maryland the second state to pass such legislation.

The law addresses the link between the minerals in electronics products and the ongoing violence in eastern Congo. It requires that the state of Maryland does not conduct business with companies that fail to comply with the federal laws on conflict minerals passed in 2010 as a provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.  This provision requires publicly listed companies that use conflict minerals—defined as tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold—to disclose whether or not they source the material from the Democratic Republic of Congo or any of its neighboring countries. Further, it requires that if companies are sourcing from this region that they engage in due diligence measures to determine if their procurement is directly or indirectly financing armed conflict. 

via www.enoughproject.org

Urge them to do more for peace in Congo by complying with regulations that will be issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission. There's a Conflict Minerals Hearing May 10th - House Fin Svs - Info on links to 1504 Congressional movement

Easy to Understand; Harder to Solve

 

 

The Democratic Republic of Congo sits atop one of the world's most vast deposits of diamonds and gold; yet it is also home to the world's most deadly war. In Rape of a Nation, photojournalist Marcus Bleasdale explores the connection. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/publication/rape-of-a-nation

 

The conflicts in Eastern Congo is not hard to understand.  It's easy.  It is a conflict between armed-miltia fighting over mineral rich territory in Eastern Congo.  It's the Congolese version of street gang fighting over drug territory.

So how to we try to stop gang wars?  You cut off their sale and distribution.  That's the aim of Dodd-Frank Act.  It going to highlight when American corporations who are buying and using illegal Congolese materials.  The Act requires American corporations to identify the source of gold, coltan, and other raw minerals.  Will this work?  Maybe, but it is better than doing nothing!