West has "failed to stop" Congo war profiteering from war {Independent}

[bobthedrummer]

In the past five years it is estimated that war in the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken three MILLION lives. Many multinational corporations have made huge profits from this.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=501950

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Truly disgusting

this has been going on far longer than five years.

[bobthedrummer]

2. And people laugh at the concept of a Department of Peace.

They laugh all the way to the bank at that "crazy" idea.
Three million dead Africans, who cares?
:puke:

[Just Me]

3. I care,...and I believe that, if we had a more informed public,...

,...they would care, too.

[seemslikeadream]

4. The Lost World War

The war on Iraq is not the only war in the world and it is not the only war being fought for our material benefit. Western consumers’ seemingly insatiable demand for mobile phones, laptops, games consoles and other luxury electronic goods has been fuelling violent conflict and killing millions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). By Erik Vilwar.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is possibly the most mineral rich place on earth – though this has proved a curse to the people of the Congo. The Congo holds millions of tons of diamonds, copper, cobalt, zinc, manganese, uranium (the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were built using Congolese uranium), and coltan. Coltan, a substance made up of columbium and tantalum, is a particularly valuable resource – used to make mobile phones, night vision goggles, fiber optics, and micro-capacitors.

What is Coltan
Coltan looks like black mud, but is three times heavier than iron and only slightly lighter than gold. It is found in abundance in eastern Congo and can be mined with minimal equipment. Coltan is vital to the high tech economy. Wireless electronic communication would not exist without it. The ‘mud’ is refined into tantalum – a metallic element that is both a superb conductor of electricity and extremely heat-resistant. Tantalum powder is a vital component in capacitors, for the control of the flow of current in miniature circuit boards. Capacitors made of tantalum are found inside every laptop, pager, personal digital assistant, and mobile phone.1 Tantalum is also used in the aviation and atomic energy industries. A very small group of companies in the world process coltan. These include H.C.Starck (Germany, a subsidiary ot Bayer), Cabott Inc. (US), Ningxia (China), and Ulba (Kazakhstan). The world’s biggest coltan mines are in Australia and they account for about 60% of world production. It is generally believed, however, that 80% of the world’s reserves are in Africa, with DRC accounting for 80% of the African reserves.2

http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/newsletter/issue13/issue13_part3.htm

[hang a left]

5. Just heart-breaking.

Poor poor people.

[seemslikeadream]

6. Profile: River Congo

By Mark Doyle
BBC News

The boat disaster on a tributary of the River Congo, in which over 160 people were killed, involved two of the very large ferries that ply the waterways of the region...


River rebels

It flows from the capital Kinshasa in the west, in a great arc through impenetrable jungle, to the mining city of Kisangani in the east.


Boats are the cheapest form of travel in DR Congo

The river is so strategically important that for several years, during the Congolese civil war, boats were banned from it because the authorities in Kinshasa thought it could be used by advancing rebels.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3243552.stm

[seemslikeadream]

7. Firms 'unpunished' over Congo war

By Martin Plaut
BBC regional analyst



The hunt for minerals has fuelled the conflict
A British-based development group has accused industrialised countries of failing to punish companies alleged to have profited from the DR Congo war.
The group says governments from the world's 30 richest countries failed to investigate what companies based in their countries did in the Congo.

Four years ago a UN panel named companies and individuals that had allegedly been enriched by the war.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3519002.stm

[seemslikeadream]

8. Children who are refugees from wars

Children who are refugees from wars in Rwanda & Burundi as well as the DRC