Toward Conflict-Free Electronics

Campaigns highlighting the links between diamonds and conflict, knitwear and sweatshops and coffee and exploitative working conditions have done much to raise consumers' awareness of the hidden human cost to seemingly ordinary products.

But did you know that your cellphone, your laptop or digital camera could be fueling the world's most deadly contemporary war, the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)? For instance, a recent report found that the batteries from Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung and possibly Sony Ericsson mobile phones contain cobalt mined in the DRC.

A new coalition of NGOs, social movements and political activists have united to raise awareness of the ways in which minerals used to manufacture electronics are mined in the DRC and are funding and exacerbating the conflict. They are asking companies to sign a pledge to guarantee that their electronic products are conflict-free.

A bipartisan group of US Senators have introduced the "Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009" (S.891) that would "require annual disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission of activities involving columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, and wolframite from the Democratic Republic of Congo." It is currently in committee. Call or write to your senators and ask them to co-sponsor or support the bill.  To learn more about the bill, click here.

"Without knowing it, tens of millions of people in the United States may be putting money in the pockets of some of the worst human rights violators in the world," Senator Dick Durbin told IPS, "simply by using a cell phone or laptop computer."

The Enough Project has launched a filmmaking competition to raise awareness of conflict electronics (click here to learn more). The deadline for submissions is 1 July.

To learn more about this issue, click here. To read a previous Sustainable Good posting on conflict and minerals in the DRC, click here. You may also want to look at this interesting blog posting from Twilight Earth.

Outreach International works in the DRC at the grassroots, helping local communities identify and carry out solutions to problems of poverty and lack of livelihood; to learn more click here.

-Matthew Bolton

Comments

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For most African countries, that are still highly indebted and dependent on aid for their revenues. The continuation of the current crisis will mean increased starvation, poverty and child mortality.

[Cai]

Hey nice video. Yes you are probably right, I never realize that my cell phone is fueling the deadliest war in the world. Why is it the top electronics company never stop using those conflict minerals from the Congo, are they the only place/country who has those minerals?. Can the top electronics company can still create cellphones or any electronic products without fueling the deadliest war in the world?. This is a big challenge to all top electronics company. Just to let you know I bookmark your content. Thank's for the great info.

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[Cai the phone guy]

Great info. I never like in the first place when you said that hundreds and thousands of women was raped by the armed groups in Congo. One question though, is there a way that our cell phones will work without using those conflict minerals?. Thanks a lot.
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[Cai]

Great video. Is there any way that we could still use our cell phones, digital camera, laptops or any electronic products without using those conflict minerals?. Just to let you know that I bookmarked your content. Thanks a lot.

[Cai]

If top electronic company continue to use those conflict minerals from the Congo, it would look like they are making those armed groups strong and worse. Thanks a lot.

[Cai]

I really wanted to help raise hope in Congo and end the fighting. I feel guilty of having a cell phone. Thanks for the great video.

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[Cai]

Yes, we don't really have to fuel the deadliest war in the world. I hope a petition will be call to all the top electronics company to stop using the conflict minerals from the Congo. Thanks a lot.

[Cai]

One solution is those top electronic companies should invent cell phone batteries without using the cobalt mined in the DRC.

[Cai the phone guy]

Someone should now think of alternative ways of getting rid of cell phones and laptops. I appears we all have a vicarious liability for the deaths of all those people in the Congo. But those behind the esoteric agendas must be brought to account for this. It is diabolic.
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[Cai the phone guy]

Our cell phones and almost all other electronic equipment contain an essential element called tantalum. Tantalum is comprised of two minerals:columbite and tantalite. The combination of these two elements is known as coltan. An astonishing 80 percent of our world’s coltan is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The extraction and mining of this element has fueled vicious civil wars in the Congo since 1996. All parties involved in the mining and sale of coltan are also part of this civil war.
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[Cai]

It seems that we are very much gadget centric these days and we live and die by the gadgets we own. I totally agree that mobile phones really helped us a lot in many ways, but it is also disappointing that our gadgets we own created a war not just a war but a deadliest war. Sorry to hear that.

[Cai]

With respect to companies that are responsible for what are now being called conflict minerals, I think the international community must start looking at steps we can take to try to prevent the mineral wealth from the DRC ending up in the hands of those who fund the violence here.

[Cai]

One question though, What can consumers and investors do to help stop the flow of conflict minerals into the global market?. Thanks a lot.

[Cai]

The phrase "conflict minerals" is quickly becoming a much more familiar term as concerned consumers, organizations and politicians begin to raise public awareness of the role the mineral trade plays in fueling the violence raging in the Eastern provinces of the DR Congo.

[Cai]

Companies who rely on gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum to manufacture their products are coming under increasing public pressure to ensure the minerals they use are conflict free.

[Cai]

Unfortunately, it is not just the FDLR militia or the Congolese army who profit from this violent business of forced labor and institutionalized rape. Also profiting are the governments of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda as well as the companies that purchase and refine the metals, those that fabricate electronic devices like cell phones and laptops.

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Without knowing it, tens of millions of people in the United States may be putting money in the pockets of some of the worst human rights violators in the world.

[Cai]

The illicit exploitation of and trade in natural resources from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has directly contributed to the instability and violence that is causing undue suffering among the people of the DRC. Hoping the DRC will do more to end the conflict and to extend urgently the rule of law. I welcome the initiatives of the private sector and the international community to work with the Congolese authorities and to enhance their due diligence to ensure that supply chains do not support trade in conflict materials.

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Electronics give us the benefits are endless, of course, every coin has two sides.

[Cai]

Ending the conflict in Eastern Congo is the best way to help the Congolese people to recover from more than a decade of suffering and violence. A critical aspect of these effort is severing the link between the minerals trade and the armed groups committing atrocities in Congo.