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| April 1, 2009 |
Democratic Republic of the Congo is the scene of the deadliest conflict globally since World War II.
There are few other conflicts in the world where the link between our consumer appetites and
mass human suffering is so direct.
Most electronic companies and consumers genuinely do not appreciate the complex chain of events
that ties widespread sexual violence in Congo with the minerals that power our cell phones, laptops,
mp3 players, video games, and digital cameras.
The general use of violence against communities includes forced
labor, torture, recruitment of child soldiers, extortion, and killings by armed groups to oppress
and control civilians. In particular, sexual violence has become a tool of war and control for
the armed groups in Congo on an immense scale. The Congo war has the highest rate of violence
against women and girls in the world, and reports indicate that hundreds of thousands
have been raped, making it the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman or girl.
Sexual violence in Congo is often fueled by militias and armies warring over “conflict minerals,”
the ores that produce tin, tungsten, and tantalum—the “3 Ts”—as well as gold. Armed groups
from Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda finance themselves through the illicit conflict mineral trade
and fight over control of mines and taxation points inside Congo.-
Consumers in the United States, Europe, and Asia are the ultimate end-users of these conflict
minerals
The principal conflict minerals are:
Tin (produced from cassiterite)—
• used inside your cell phone and all electronic products as a
solder on circuit boards. The biggest use of tin worldwide is in electronic products. Congolese
armed groups earn approximately $85 million per year from trade in tin.
Tantalum (produced from “coltan”)—
• used to store electricity in capacitors in iPods, digital cam-
eras, and cell phones. Sixty-five to 80 percent of the world’s tantalum is used in electronic prod-
ucts. Congolese armed groups earn an estimated $8 million per year from trading in tantalum.
Tungsten (produced from wolframite)—
• used to make your cell phone or Blackberry vibrate.
Tungsten is a growing source of income for armed groups in Congo, with armed groups cur-
rently earning approximately $2 million annually.
Gold—
used in jewelry and as a component in electronics. Extremely valuable and easy to smuggle,
Congolese armed groups are earning between $44 million to $88 million per year from gold.
atrocities and reap large profits with impunity.
Because we are all unconsciously part of the problem in Congo, all of us can consciously become
part of the solution. Collectively, American consumers have enormous leverage over the compa-
nies from which we purchase our electronics. We can marshal that power to press them to play a
positive role to protect and empower Congo’s women.