Africa Action: Activism for Africa Since 1953
Congo Campaign: Resources for the People
Where is the Congo?
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is located in central Africa and is part of the Great Lakes Region, which includes Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Kenya. It is the third-largest country on the continent and has been unstable for decades.
Why is the Congo important economically?
The DRC has mineral resources of almost every element on the periodic table. It contains an estimated 64%-80% of the world’s reserves of coltan, a mineral that is central to the functioning of cell phones, jet engines, automobile airbags and suspension brakes, lap top computers, video games, DVD players, cameras, ink jet printers, and many other electronic devices. The DRC has 34% of the world’s reserve of cobalt, a mineral used in aerospace and military industries as well as batteries. Copper, niobium, gold, diamonds, tin, manganese, wolframite, iron, silver, zinc, bauxite, pyrochlore, molybdenum, germanium, uranium, and many other minerals are also found in the Congo. Electronics manufacturers and multinational mining companies continue to profit off of resource exploitation in the DRC.
Why is the Congo important environmentally?
The Congo has unique ecosystems and rivers, including the second largest rainforest in the world. This rainforest and the Amazon rainforest are often recognized as the earth’s two lungs, and are therefore vital in the fight against global warming and climate change. Unfortunately, it has become a victim of corporate mining and logging interests. Emissions from deforestation account for 25% of all global carbon dioxide emissions resulting from human activities. The logging concessions that have been granted in DRC often fail to adequately compensate the people and communities whose land is destroyed by unsustainable logging practices and their environmental consequences.
Why haven’t the Congolese people benefited from all this wealth?
Dating back to 1885, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has a history of brutal repression and violence against civilians for the purpose of exploiting its natural resources. That year, King Leopold II of Belgium took control of the Congo territory and declared the land his private property, ironically naming it the Congo Free State. In the Free State, colonists brutalized the local population using forced labor to extract rubber used in the growing market for rubber tires. The sale of rubber made a fortune for Leopold. Standard practice during this period was to cut off the limbs of the local population as a means of enforcing rubber quotas. During the period of 1885–1908, half of the Congolese population died as a consequence of exploitation and disease an estimated 10 to 15 million people.
Leopold’s exploitative legacy continues to this day. Congolese liberation leader Patrice Lumumba was assassinated with U.S. backing and the U.S.-funded dictator Mobutu Sese Seko soon provided the necessary support for the ongoing exploitation of the Congo. The end of the Cold War allowed neighboring countries like Uganda and Rwanda to aggressively pursue its economic interests and in time they were joined by several other countries like China, Russia, India, and Pakistan. The U.S. then looked to secure its economic access and began to substantially increase its military presence and policies throughout Africa. The Congo remains an unregulated paradise for profiteers and their military complements to whom the future and welfare of the Congolese people is largely irrelevant. An estimated 5.4 million people have died as a consequence of the war and conflict since 1996, and some estimate that approximately 500,000 Congolese die each year as a result of sustained conflict. History continues to repeat itself in the Congo.
What is Africa Action doing about it?
Africa Action’ s Congo Campaign: Resources for the People is designed to educate and advocate for peace, justice, and resource sovereignty in the Congo with a focus on water, wood, and minerals. Specifically, the goals of our campaign are:Public education around the conflict in the Congo and the prevalence of conflict minerals in American and European consumer products to help people understand the connections between the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today and their everyday lives;
Where is the Congo?
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is located in central Africa and is part of the Great Lakes Region, which includes Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Kenya. It is the third-largest country on the continent and has been unstable for decades.
Why is the Congo important economically?
The DRC has mineral resources of almost every element on the periodic table. It contains an estimated 64%-80% of the world’s reserves of coltan, a mineral that is central to the functioning of cell phones, jet engines, automobile airbags and suspension brakes, lap top computers, video games, DVD players, cameras, ink jet printers, and many other electronic devices. The DRC has 34% of the world’s reserve of cobalt, a mineral used in aerospace and military industries as well as batteries. Copper, niobium, gold, diamonds, tin, manganese, wolframite, iron, silver, zinc, bauxite, pyrochlore, molybdenum, germanium, uranium, and many other minerals are also found in the Congo. Electronics manufacturers and multinational mining companies continue to profit off of resource exploitation in the DRC.
Why is the Congo important environmentally?
The Congo has unique ecosystems and rivers, including the second largest rainforest in the world. This rainforest and the Amazon rainforest are often recognized as the earth’s two lungs, and are therefore vital in the fight against global warming and climate change. Unfortunately, it has become a victim of corporate mining and logging interests. Emissions from deforestation account for 25% of all global carbon dioxide emissions resulting from human activities. The logging concessions that have been granted in DRC often fail to adequately compensate the people and communities whose land is destroyed by unsustainable logging practices and their environmental consequences.
Why haven’t the Congolese people benefited from all this wealth?
Dating back to 1885, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has a history of brutal repression and violence against civilians for the purpose of exploiting its natural resources. That year, King Leopold II of Belgium took control of the Congo territory and declared the land his private property, ironically naming it the Congo Free State. In the Free State, colonists brutalized the local population using forced labor to extract rubber used in the growing market for rubber tires. The sale of rubber made a fortune for Leopold. Standard practice during this period was to cut off the limbs of the local population as a means of enforcing rubber quotas. During the period of 1885–1908, half of the Congolese population died as a consequence of exploitation and disease an estimated 10 to 15 million people.
Leopold’s exploitative legacy continues to this day. Congolese liberation leader Patrice Lumumba was assassinated with U.S. backing and the U.S.-funded dictator Mobutu Sese Seko soon provided the necessary support for the ongoing exploitation of the Congo. The end of the Cold War allowed neighboring countries like Uganda and Rwanda to aggressively pursue its economic interests and in time they were joined by several other countries like China, Russia, India, and Pakistan. The U.S. then looked to secure its economic access and began to substantially increase its military presence and policies throughout Africa. The Congo remains an unregulated paradise for profiteers and their military complements to whom the future and welfare of the Congolese people is largely irrelevant. An estimated 5.4 million people have died as a consequence of the war and conflict since 1996, and some estimate that approximately 500,000 Congolese die each year as a result of sustained conflict. History continues to repeat itself in the Congo.
What is Africa Action doing about it?
Africa Action’ s Congo Campaign: Resources for the People is designed to educate and advocate for peace, justice, and resource sovereignty in the Congo with a focus on water, wood, and minerals. Specifically, the goals of our campaign are:Public education around the conflict in the Congo and the prevalence of conflict minerals in American and European consumer products to help people understand the connections between the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today and their everyday lives;
- Supporting Congo community activism and civil society protest of the social and environmental consequences of the building of the proposed Grand Inga Dam; and
- Supporting Congolese community-led rainforest conservation efforts, and supporting land use programs that allow more people to own and make productive tracts of land;
- The implementation of the already passed but since underfunded and non-implemented DRC Relief, Security and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006 introduced in Congress by then Senator Barack Obama; and signed into law in 2006, Public Law no. 109-456:
