But the Congolese army and rival armed groups that dispute
power over parts of eastern DRC have for decades viewed control of mines and
the minerals trade as a vital source of income. Along with the lack of
effective governance in DRC and neighbouring countries, this has led the trade
of minerals
from DRC being linked to violent conflict and serious human rights abuses.
In
an attempt to improve the sector’s governance, the regions’ governments, the
UN, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in consultation
with industry and civil society, drew up new guidelines and procedures over a
decade ago. As part of this effort, industry interests set up traceability
systems which, working alongside government validation of mines, were intended
to establish a supply of “conflict-free”, responsibly sourced minerals.
In this report, Global Witness brings together evidence of
how the most widely used of these schemes appears to facilitate the laundering
of minerals originating from mines controlled by abusive militias or that use
child labour. Furthermore, the scheme many international companies are relying
on to source responsibly, is also used to launder huge amounts of minerals that
have been smuggled and trafficked, new evidence suggests.
Our report is based on field research in over 10 mining
areas in DRC’s North and South Kivu provinces, interviews with over 90
individuals from governments, industry, civil society and academia and dozens
of videos recorded by local researchers, which Global Witness has reviewed. The
results of this work corroborated research findings conducted by other credible
organisations such as the UN and the Belgian research institute International
Peace Information Service (IPIS).