UN asks to stop illegal mineral trade in Eastern Congo

The UN Group of Experts on the DRC calls upon the UN Member States to hold their national companies who are directly or indirectly trading the minerals with the armed groups to account and buyers. In its latest report published on December 12th 2008, the UN Group of Experts has again exposed the link between mineral trade and the financing of war activities in Eastern DRC.

It its report, it says that all major fighting groups rely on mineral trade as an engine for their military activities. Also, it exposes the support African governments give to the military groups active in eastern Congo. The report proves the military and financial support of Rwanda to the rebel movement of ex-General Nkunda, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP).

Dutch respond
The Netherlands reacted to this report with a remarkable step. The Dutch government has suspended its financial aid to the government of Rwanda. The zeven million planned for budget support is put on hold.

Nathalie Ankersmit from Niza, Dutch member of Fatal Transactions, says; ‘The Dutch government clearly doesn’t trust the Rwandan government and rightly so. They don’t want to support a government that is deliberately supporting violence in its own region. This is a brave and intelligent signal to the other donor countries to do the same. We have heard other governments asking for more military troops or a boycott on coltan from the east. But all this is unlikely to happen due to a lack of political will from European governments. The Dutch government makes clear that the responsibility for solutions lies primarily with national governments in the Great Lakes region. And financing an army that is fighting over natural resources is clearly not contributing to peace".

Download here
The full report of the United Nations Expert Panel on the DRC