Conflict minerals law
Conflict mineral laws include laws passed in the European Union and United States since 2010, which require companies to report the use of four specific conflict minerals.
The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has a history of conflict, where various armies, rebel groups, and outside actors have profited from mining while contributing to violence and exploitation during wars in the region. The four main end products of mining in the eastern DRC are tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold, which are extracted and passed through a variety of intermediaries before being sold to international markets. These four products, are essential in the manufacture of a variety of devices, including consumer electronics such as smartphones, tablets, and computers.
Some have identified the conflict as significantly motivated by control over resources. In response, several countries and organizations, including the United States, European Union, and OECD have designated 3TG minerals connected to conflict in the DRC as conflict minerals and legally require companies to report trade or use of conflict minerals as a way to reduce incentives for armed groups to extract and fight over the minerals.
In the United States, the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act required manufacturers to audit their supply chains and report use of conflict minerals. In 2015, a US federal appeals court struck down some aspects of the reporting requirements as a violation of corporations' freedom of speech, but left others in place.
Organizations and activists involved
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published its guidance on conflict minerals supply chain traceability in 2011. Parties involved in the development of the OECD guidance included 11 countries from the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, industry representatives, civil society organisations, and a United Nations group of DRC experts. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1952 in 2010 called for all member states to legislate on supply chain due diligence and supply chain risks.The FairPhone Foundation raises awareness of conflict minerals in the mobile industry and is a company which tries to produce a smart phone with 'fair' conditions along the supply chain. Various industry and trade associations are also monitoring developments in conflict minerals laws and traceability frameworks. Some of these represent electronics, retailers, jewelry, mining, electronics components, and general manufacturing sectors. One organization – ITRI had spearheaded efforts for the development and implementation of a "bag and tag" scheme at the mine as a key element of credible traceability. The program and related efforts were initially not likely to extend beyond the pilot phase due to a variety of implementation and funding problems that occurred. In the end, however, the device did enter the market.
In late March 2011, the UK government launched an information section on its then Foreign & Commonwealth Office website dedicated to conflict minerals. This information resource is intended to assist British companies in understanding the issues and, specifically, the US requirements.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The history of extraction in the Congo began in 1885 following the Berlin West Africa Conference, as King Leopold II of Belgium forcibly dispossessed Congolese kings of their land through invalid treaties and established rubber plantations through the use of military violence. The country was characterized by extraordinarily violent treatment of natives, including mass killings, sex crimes, and torture for not meeting quotas because exploitation of resources was the first priority to secure profits for the Belgian colonial empire. In 1908 control was transferred from Leopold II to the Belgian colonial administration, although exploitation of resources remained key to economic growth. Racism, political subjugation, and forced labor remained prevalent and helped enforce a power dynamic to ensure continued economic production.Independence movements, including the Alliance des Bakongo and the Mouvement National Congolais, gained traction in the late 1950s, both supported partly by a strong nationalist wave. Clashes between the Belgian security forces, the Force Publique, and nationalist protestors in Léopoldville on January 4, 1959, triggered events leading to the Congo being granted independence in June 1960. The execution of MNC leader Patrice Lumumba in January 1961 by CIA-backed coup leader Joseph Mobutu showed the violence experienced by those attempting to unify the new political landscape.
Continued conflicting intervention from the UN, USA, Soviets, Chinese, Belgians, and others left the Congo politically unstable without a representational government and lacking basic social services. The legacy of this instability simultaneously leaves new governments vulnerable to conflict by militia groups and unable to exercise sufficient oversight of their territory, enabling contemporary mineral conflicts. Armed conflict and mineral resource looting by the Congolese National Army and various armed rebel groups, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda and the National Congress for the Defense of the People, a proxy Rwandan militia group, has occurred throughout the late 20th century and the early 21st century. As of 2020, an estimated 113 armed groups were operating in the Kivu region, ranging from small militias to sophisticated groups with international support. Such armed groups have continued to commit severe human rights abuses, and battles, fatalities, and attacks on civilians have increased steadily from 2017 to 2021.
Extraction of the Congo's natural resources also occurs across its immediate borders. During the First Congo War and Second Congo War, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi particularly profited from the Congo's resources. These governments continue to smuggle resources out of the Congo to this day. Minerals mined in Eastern Congo pass through the hands of numerous middlemen as they are shipped out of Congo through neighboring countries such as Rwanda or Burundi, to East Asian processing plants. Because of this, the US Conflict Minerals Law applies to materials originating from the DRC as well as the nine adjoining countries: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Zambia. The profits from the sale of these minerals have financed fighting in derivative ongoing conflicts. Control of lucrative mines has also become a military objective.
As of 2024, the Congo contains an estimated $24 trillion in raw mineral deposits, making it the world's richest country measured by wealth of natural resources. The international market for critical minerals driven by the clean energy transition grew from $160bn to $320bn from 2017-2022, similarly increasing demand in the Congo for minerals including cobalt, copper, and lithium. Gold and diamonds continue to finance regional conflict due to their high value to weight ratio, and no jewellery industry standard exists for verifying gold origination as it does for diamonds. Other conflict minerals being illicitly exported from the Congo include tungsten, tin, cassiterite, and coltan. Scholar Siddharth Kara explains that similar to the slavery-for-rubber economy that contributed to the human rights abuses of the early Congo, a blood-for-cobalt economy continues to dehumanize Congolese people and is responsible for continuing conflict.
A major research report from November 2012 by the Southern Africa Resource Watch revealed that gold miners in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo were being exploited by corrupt government officials, bureaucrats and security personnel, who all demand illegal tax, fees and levies from the miners without delivering any services in return. Despite the alleged gold rush in various regions of the country, none of the population or workforce is benefiting from this highly lucrative industry.
While corruption due to weak governance is an issue, companies contributing to the economic pressure and facilitating government corruption are underlying factors. These companies include well-known brands such as Apple, Google, and Samsung, which profit from the relatively lower prices associated with corruption and illicit trade. Filings of Reasonable Country-of-Origin Inquiries to determine sources of conflict minerals decreased from 2014 to 2021, which is a concern, significantly as demand has increased. These filings also reveal a trend where companies increasingly determine the source country, but the percentage from covered countries has increased. These companies have continued to grow in part due to unethical extraction in covered countries, and enforcing corporate accountability is difficult due to international legal processes and weak governance as mentioned above.