Causecast

By MELISSA JUN ROWLEY, Contributing Writer

Deep in the jungles of the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, local African miners are whipped and beaten as they dig for coltan, gold, and cassiterite – the main source of the tin cans sold at your grocery store.

According to a report by BBC’s world affairs correspondent Mark Doyle, a group of ethnic Hutu rebels from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda, dominates the region and controls illegal mining, while mistreating and forcing workers to mine for low wages. Doyle reported that the miners make three U.S. dollars per kiloliter. This inhumane behavior is all done to fuel the multibillion dollar tin can industry.

In theory, the DRC’s cassiterite abundance should bring the people of the country great fortune and opportunity. But instead, a vicious chain of greed has brought many Congo residents pain and suffering.

Conflict over demand for natural resources in central Africa has been scathing the continent for well over a decade. In the last 10 years, more than five million people have been killed.

Many of these deaths are the result of resource-linked corruption, according to the Global Witness Foundation, which seeks to prevent violent conflict related to natural resources.

When asked about illegal mining activity, Rwandan rebel Colonel Job Rokundo denied that his faction conducted such business.

“It is the Congolese administration which is in charge of the mines in this region,” said Rokundo. “We live mainly off farming. We raise cattle and trade at local markets.”

However, Congolese villagers say the rebels do in fact run the land. A local trader says he buys from the miners, but must pay tax to the rebels before he is able to leave the scene.

“Sometimes they beat you and keep you captive,” said the trader. “They’ve got the power. All we can do is watch them use it.”

Congolese business leader Basila Milabyo conveyed that even though the export houses are aware the minerals come from illegal mines, they operate under the rebel faction’s mercy.

Milabyo pleaded, “What can we do to chase them? We suffer from their presence as well. They rape our women, and people are leaving the bush because of them, taking refuge in town. How can we get the weapons to fight them? We have none.”

The larger issue is not about how local Congolese villagers can fight the FDLR. What should be paramount with regard to central Africa is finding an urgent solution to the vast violation of human rights in the Congo. Listen to Mark Doyle’s report on the Congo.

To learn about how you can save lives and support Global Witness in investigating and lobbying against the effects of the exploitation of natural resources, visit the Global Witness donation page.

You can also become active with one of Causecast’s organizations that work to prevent human rights violations around the world. Witness wants to expand the reaches of video and online technologies so that the people in these situations can document their mistreatment and expose the world to otherwise ignored tragedies.