http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2mgrHrBb94

This exchange involving Congolese voices is particularly relevant considering that a few days later on October 18th, The Securities and Exchange Commission hosted a panel discussion on the Congo and Conflict Minerals where no Congolese were invited to speak about the affairs of their own country.

The panel discussion at Congo in Harlem, on the other hand, offered a rich dialogue and exchange among Congolese and non-Congolese experts.

Sekombi Katondolo (producer of Blood in the Mobile and founder/director of Mutaani FM), David Aronson (freelance journalist, blogger, author of NY Times article on Conflict Minerals), Steve Hege (current member of the UN Group of Experts on the Congo), Eric Kajemba (founder and director of Observatoire Gouvernance et Paix), and Mvemba Phizo Dizolele (writer, foreign policy analyst and independent journalist) discussed the impact of the Dodd-Frank Conflict Minerals provision on the situation in the Congo.

Below is a summary of diverse views on the impact of section 1502 of Dodd-Frank:

Interview with Eric Kajemba on Conflict Minerals
By Jason Stearns

How Congress Devastated Congo
By David Aronson

Assessing the Dodd-Frank Act and its chances of success in the Democratic Republic Congo
By Dr. Claude Kabemba

Thoughts About Conflict Minerals
By Jason Stearns

Conflict Minerals in the Congo: Let’s Be Frank About Dodd-Frank
By Mvemba Dizolele

What Conflict Minerals Legislation Is Actually Accomplishing in Congo
By Sasha Lezhnev

Promoting Peace in the DRC: A Look at Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank A Year Later
by Raymond Gilpin

Digging For Victory: Mining is Congo’s best hope of prosperity but also its biggest worry
The Economist

But there have been other consequences as well, for example, with other aspects of the local economy. For example, in places like Shabunda, people relied on planes to bring them goods and merchandise – rice, sugar, and so on. Those same planes then left with minerals back to Bukavu. But now that the planes cannot transport minerals [due to the export ban and embargo] they don’t fly there with goods any more. So the impact has been huge in many areas.

Click here to read entire article!

For the first time, people of the Congo speak out about The Dodd Frank Bill that aims to stop the sale of conflict minerals into the USA.

Leaders of cooperatives representing 20,000 small scale miners and their extended community of 100,000 people, lend their support to the Dodd Frank Bill, which aims to prohibit the use of rare metals and minerals that fund conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

However, they want to caution the SEC on listening to campaign organisations, most notably Global Witness, who do not represent the ordinary people in the region effected by this piece of legislation. They request an opportunity to speak, face to face with the SEC in order to present the reality on the ground, and find a way to implement a time table with the community that will promote peace and prosperity in the eastern DRC.

Below is the letter that has been submitted by the community directly to the SEC today, March 1st. We present it to you in its unedited format.

*+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++*

Submission to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on the Regulatory Initiatives Under the Dodd-Frank Act

We, the representatives of the mining cooperatives COCABI, COMIMPA and COMIDER, the only three legal mining cooperatives in North Kivu representing 20,000 artisan miners, and with the full support of,

The Governor of North Kivu;

The national and provincial members of parliament elected in Walikale Territory;

The Administrator of Walikale Territory;

The President of the Walikale Civil society;

Various other cultural, civil and church organisations;

Would like to make the following statement to Unites States of America Securities and Exchange Commission in response to the sections on Conflict Minerals in the Dodd Frank Bill: -

1. We want to bring to your attention that we the local population in the areas that will be the most effected by your proposed legislation Dodd-Frank Bill, have not been consulted in all these times.

2. We have been suffering greatly for many years and would like to ask you to help in a constructive way to improve the lives of the local population in the region of Walikale, and the rest of the DRC and not to
punish us further.

3. We thank our Government [DRC] for the efforts made during the resent ban on mining in the three Eastern Provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema to improve the situation. We know how difficult it is for
the government and we thank the President for his courage to implement the ban and for the consultation with us and the local population and the commitments given to us to help improve the situation.

4. This ban was very difficult and hard for us the local population, but we are very happy to see the positive effect it already had.

a. It had shown us as local mining cooperatives the benefit of working together.

b. The government have listen to many of our issues and have agreed to make many changes to protect and improve the situation of the local artisanal miners.

5. Now that our government has promised to lift the ban we are looking forward to work together with our partners to improve the lives of the local population.

6. We are aware that you plan to put an embargo in place from 1 April 2011 for all minerals that don’t have traceability.

7. We are supporting you very well in what you want to achieve and thank you for all your effort, but for us if we cannot start to work when the ban is lifted we will starve. We cannot continue to suffer any longer.
Do we now have to choose between dying by a bullet or starving to death?

8. We are also afraid that smuggling of minerals will increase – the people have to eat – and that all the positive effect of the current ban will be removed. It is important to now quickly build on the positive
effect of the ban.

9. We have been working now for three years on a solution with our international partner, Oakridge Mining Solutions to develop our area and to improve the situation of artisanal miners.

10. Through this we have created a model – Fairmining – that we will implement when the mining ban are lifted. We will be very happy to give you full detail of this model that is based on social development,
environmental development, mineral traceability and compliance and ethical and fair-trading. We are committed to work with ITRI with regards to mineral traceability for Cassiterite and Coltan and have already made preparations to extend this to the area of gold.

11. We have also formed a local Congolese mining company Kalminco (www.kalminco.com) where we the local cooperatives are the shareholders. We are planning to develop this company into a small-scale mining company and it is our vision to turn it into a large mining company owned by the local people.

12. We ask your support and help in implementing this model and to please engage with our partner and ourselves to make sure we find a solution that will last.

13. We ask you to support our efforts and to give us time to implement such a program for all areas under the control of our cooperatives.

14. We have been made aware of statements by foreign organisation, with specific reference to Global Witness and Enough Project, that we don’t agree with and we ask you to have caution when using these organisation as the primary source for legislative decisions that could effect the whole of Central Africa, without deeper consultation with the local population.

15. We want to bring to your attention that neither of these, nor any other organisations have engaged with us to any real extend and that they do not understand the reality and complexity of the situation.

16. We have been made aware of a situation where Enough Project are asking people not to buy computers because the minerals in them are from our region. We do not agree with this and are not supporting any such
actions.

17. Although it is a very difficult process for us, we believe that these problems should be resolved by legal and constitutional ways and not by uncoordinated efforts by a partially informed general public.

18. We thank you once again for all you good work and look forward to your response.

19. We would also like very much to come and present our situation in person to you.

For COMIMPAAxel Mutia, General Manager
For COMIDERKalinda Mukombo Emmanuel, President
For COCABI Idrissa Assani, Vice-president
*_Contact detail_*
*_For Cooperatives_*
Axel Mutia Mobile +243 853129865
Email axelmutia@yahoo.fr
*_For Fairmining and Oakridge Mining Solutions_*
Greg Valerio
Mobile +447973768101
Email greg@gregvalerio.com

Greg Valerio
Jeweller & Activist

I am now taking private commissions for discerning customers who demand
the finest ethically sourced materials in the world.

t. +44 (0)1243 783968
f. +44 (0)1243 783968
m. +44 (0)7973 768101
email. greg@gregvalerio.com
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In spite, of Cabot’s claims, they were identified in the 2002 United Nations report on the illegal exploitation of Congo’s natural resources as one of the companies illegally exploiting Congo’s natural wealth. See list of companies named by the United Nations here! The March/April 2002 issues of Passive Component Industry page 8 reports “African ore sales are also made directly to Cabot Corporation, tracked via IM145 shipment data from Africa to Pennsylvania, where Cabot maintains its tantalum processing plant.”

Based on this evidence, international NGOs, Friends of the Earth (FOE) and Rights and Accountability in International Development filed a complaint against Cabot and three other American companies (OM Group, Trinitech Holdings, Eagle Wings), calling on the State Department’s National Contact Point to investigate Cabot and the other companies for possibly violating OECD guidelines and fueling the conflict in the Congo.
http://oecdwatch.org/files/raid-foe_vs-_us-companies_complaint

The October 1, 2010 UN Mapping Exercise Report said that the victims of Congo’s conflict are entitled to reparations from the multi-national corporations implicated in the conflict in the Congo. Congolese are adamant about pursuing justice for the over six million lives lost in the scramble for Congo’s minerals.

Select Excerpts:
In order to rehabilitate and decriminalize the mining industry, which according to [Aloys] Tegera, generates more than two-thirds of the revenue of North Kivu, it is necessary to, in the first place, work towards the re-establishment of the Congolese state. Any efforts by the international community to re-organize and legislate for the Congolese mining industry without taking this fundamental step into account risk failure, “unless, of course, the various lobbies have in mind a Congo without the Congolese, which would clearly be absurd.” Introduction page 3

A glaring lacuna in all these efforts is the lack of involvement of the Congolese people in seeking solutions to problems that face them in their own country, and Johnson argues that unless the Congolese people are brought “back in” all these international efforts will remain, for their originators, an exercise in creating the DRC after their own image. Introduction page 4

[Dominic] Johnson argues that because of this failure to include the Congolese people in crucial debate on ‘their’ issues, the international community has made a serious error of judgment in not recognizing that the situation in the east of the DRC goes beyond just a presumed squabble over minerals and raises fundamental questions of the structuring of state power which have to be taken into account by anyone hoping to work with the Congolese state in order to reform the Congolese mining sector. Introduction page 4

It is imperative that the various people and organizations of good will who are determined to ensure that the minerals of Kivu are ‘clean’ or conflict-free first work towards a definition of the basics necessary for the re-establishment of the Congolese state. Only when this is in place will the control of the mining industry be possible. The various initiatives will not be effective unless this basic condition is met. Aloys Tegera page 11

It is argued that important aspects of the regulatory model now emerging are partly based on an erroneous and outdated analysis of the conflict dynamics in Eastern Congo and that this is likely to weaken its effectiveness on the ground. The error consists in regarding competition around minerals as the main reason for conflicts in Eastern Congo and the establishment of government authority as the main mechanism for ending such competition and thereby the conflicts themselves. Reforms centered around strengthening the rôle of the state in Eastern Congo rather than the people will, we contend, exacerbate conflict instead of ending it, even if they succeed in curbing the excesses deriving from mineral trade. Dominic Johnson page 22

It is therefore perfectly possible, under the certification and due diligence schemes now on the table, to claim to have solved a decades-old conflict about control of a mineral-rich region and the control of the trade of its produce without addressing any of the issues involved, without resolving conflict on the ground and without contributing to peace and human security in a manner visible to the local population. Dominic Johnson page 43

However, beyond the possibility or even the impossibility of an international intervention to render the minerals of eastern DRC ‘clean’ for use, in other words conflict-free, it is important to emphasize that the criminalization of the mining industry underestimates the fact that more than two-thirds of the revenue of a province like North Kivu depends on mineral exports. Aloys Tegera page 8

Click here to find out more about the Pole Institute.

Also find here prescriptions for addressing Congo’s challenge from select Congolese groups:

Women scholars and activists
http://friendsofthecongo.org/resource-center/womens-voices.html

Elected officials
http://congofriends.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html

Congolese youth
http://conflictminerals.org/conflict-mineral-critique/

Human Rights
http://congofriends.blogspot.com/2010/06/long-live-spirit-of-floribert-chebeya.html

Remember to join us for Congo Week from October 17 – 23 as ordinary people throughout the globe join in solidarity with the people of the Congo in their quest to fulfill their enormous human and natural potential.

2. It wipes out 14 years of crimes committed against the Congolese people in which foreign governments and multinational corporations are complicit and have not been held to account.

3. It says absolutely nothing about mining companies (Banro, AngloGold Ashanti, OM Group, Freeport McMoRan are but a few examples) operating in the Congo that have either been implicated in illegally exploiting Congo’s wealth or involved in odious contracts that do not accrue to the benefit of the Congolese people.

4. It takes none of the prescriptions that have been offered by Congolese women, youth, politicians or business groups over the years into account.

5. It offers no evidence whatsoever that certification and auditing of the extraction of minerals from Eastern Congo will end the conflict.

A few simple questions to Ponder:

1. Rwanda is a top buyer of Congo’s conflict minerals according to Bloomberg News (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=a1p3C4mCsY2o&pid=20601087) and Uganda is building a refinery ostensibly to refine conflict minerals from Congo (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8662680.stm ) but the US has said or done nothing about their allies. The US continues to give both countries aid, military equipment and training. And shockingly Conflict Minerals advocates are silent about a main buyer of conflict tin. Why demonstrations in front of apple store but none in front of the Rwandan Embassy?

2. According to Dow Jones news Rwanda stands to make $200 million in 2010 from Tin, Tantalum & Tungsten, none of which it has large quantities but rather secure these conflict minerals from the Congo. Yet, the conflict minerals advocates are deadly silent. Why?

3. If US allies Rwanda and Uganda triggered the conflict with two invasions 1996 & 1998 and they either have international arrest warrants for their leaders as is the case with Rwanda’s leaders or international ruling against them as is the case with Uganda where the International Court of Justice ruled in 2005 Uganda owes Congo $10 billion in reparations, why is the State Department not saying or doing anything about this? There is law on the US books PL 109 – 456 Sec. 5 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-2125) calls on US to withhold aid from countries that destabilize the Congo yet no action is being taken.

4. Finally, atrocious crimes have been committed over the last 14 years where an estimated 6 million people have died. The United Nations via four studies (http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/resource-center/reports-a-studies.html) have implicated over 100 companies a number of which is American but yet the State Department Contact Point has refused to act on recommendations from the United Nations. Companies such as AngloGold Ashanti (the largest investor is American John Paulson of Paulson & Co. – http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ajab_txy3yJM&pos=4) and Banro corporation stand to reap billions from the region of the most vicious violence against Congolese civilian. And the outcry from conflict minerals advocates? NONE!!!

In light of the above facts, conflict minerals efforts appear to be an awkward attempt to cover for US allies and US corporations (See previous Huff Post article by Congolese youths: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kambale-musavuli/conflict-minerals-a-cover_b_391506.html)

What should be done to end the conflict?

1. US should fully implement it’s own law, PL 109-456, especially section 105.

2. US should pressure its allies Rwanda and Uganda to stop the destabilization and looting of the Congo

3. US should hold its corporations accountable, especially its mining companies

4. US should engage in Congo differently by prioritizing diplomatic and political approach over a military approach. Read more about prescriptions http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/resource-center/policy-a-issue-briefs.html

Last update: 5:44 a.m. EST Jan. 5, 2009
Jan 05, 2009 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) — DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Rwanda’s mining sector output grew 20% in 2008 from the year earlier due
to increased export volumes of tungsten, cassiterite and coltan, the
country’s three leading minerals, the country’s Investment and Export
Promotion Agency said Monday.

By the end of October 2008, mineral export revenues increased to $89
million compared with $71.5 million for the whole of 2007.

“Although the mining sector is still largely artisan, based on the
export figures as of October, the revenues will hit more than $100
million in 2008,” IEPA said, adding that the mining sector is poised to
overtake coffee, tea and tourism as the country’s top revenue earner By
2010.

In 2007, mineral exports accounted for 40% of the country’s total export
revenue earnings, IEPA said. However, the report didn’t state the
quantities of minerals exported.

Rwanda now aims to increase annual mineral export revenues to $200
million by 2010 by attracting higher investment, modernizing mining
methods and expanding exploration. As a long term-measure, the country
also expects to attract more investments in mineral processing.

Rwanda has no large-scale mining industry and aid agencies say a large
part of the minerals are smuggled into the country from Congo’s
mineral-rich North Kivu province which has strong social and economic
links with the tiny.

-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires