Dutch company financing Congo civil war
Eagle Wings Resources, a joint venture of the Dutch company Chemie Pharmacie Holland and the American company Trinitech, trades in coltan, a metal which is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Coltan is used in nuclear reactor storage tanks, natural gas transport pipelines and electronics.
Civil war has been waged in the DRC since 1998. The war has so far killed 21/2 million people and caused 2 million people to evacuate the area. According to Amnesty International control of natural resources and ethnic cleansing are major motivations. Massive human rights violations have been the result. There are two groups of perpetrators- on one side are the Congolese government and its supporters. On the other side are two rebel groups, backed by Ugandan, Rwandan and Burundese troops. Part of the income earned from mining coltan goes to military groups and thus finances the civil war.
Eagle Wings Resources (EWR) trades in coltan, but states that it does little business in the DRC; Chemie Pharmacie Holland claims that the company has always taken care not to do business with warlords or with those who exploit the mineworkers. A report produced by the United Nations last year, casts serious doubts on these claims. In addition, EWR employs the Alfred Rwigema, the brother-in-law of President Kagame who, according to the UN, plays a central role in the exploitation of the natural resources of the DRC. EWR does not know the source of the coltan the company trades in nor where it was mined.
Endangered gorilla
Not local people, but neighbouring countries and foreign businesses
earn nearly all the profits. The number of prostitutes and AIDS
patients has increased, as well as drug use and crime. Many workers
have been killed in accidents while working in the unsafe
mines.
Serious environmental damage occurs in areas where coltan is mined.
Trees are used as firewood. Due to erosion heavy rainfall brings
danger from landslides. Downstream, rivers become polluted and
blocked by silt build-up.
The Kahuzi-Biega National Park is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and
one of the most important habitats of the endangered Eastern
Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri).
There are indications that more than 80 per cent of these gorillas
have now been killed because of the coltan mining in this and the
neighbouring park.
Write along with Earth Alarm and ask EWR what measures they are
taking to prevent their money from reaching military groups. The
company must also find out where their coltan comes from and ensure
that it does not trade in coltan that has been mined in culturally
or ecologically sensitive areas.
Ask for the example letter.
