The Congo and Conflict Minerals

Do you know what's in your cellphone? Are you aware that it contains something called conflict minerals?   Columbite and tantalite, aka coltan are rare earth ores from which which a mineral called tantalum is extracted. Tantalum is used to produce the high performance capacitors used in cellphones and some other digital electronic devices.

One of the largest nations geographically on Earth is in East Central Africa. It is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nearly as large in size as all of Europe combined, the Congo was once called the Belgian Congo.  It got that name in the 19th century when Leopold, Emperor of the European nation of Belgium, claimed the Congo, not for his nation, but for himself.

Since gaining its independence from European rule in 1960, the Congo, though nominally democratic, has been controlled by one despotic leader after another. The rule of law is mostly absent, particularly in the Eastern Congo.

The Congo is a nation rich in natural resources.  For the last two decades, it has also been a place of near constant armed conflict and genocide driven largely by the global electronics industry's demand for tantalum.  At least half of the places in the Eastern Congo where coltan is being mined are under the control of one armed group or another.  These armed groups brutalize the local people, forcing them to work in makeshift mines, where they often end up digging up the precious mineral ore using hand tools and even bare hands. 

A particularly ugly factor in the violence and brutality associated with these conflict minerals is the inter-tribal ethnic tensions that result in a high incidence of murder, rape, and exploitation.  Some estimates suggest as many as six million Congolese have been murdered over the past two decades in this ongoing war for minerals. That number is controversial, with other estimates putting the number closer to a million.   

As we begin 2013, the violence in the Congo continues.   Each of us that relies on a cellphone for everyday communication has an indirect but tangible connection to this ugliness.  Because it is happening on the other side of the world, for most of us it is 'out of sight, out of mind'.  What can we do you ask.  A good start would be to demand a certification process that requires importers of these so called conflict minerals to account for where the raw ore comes from.  Eliminating the market for illegally procured coltan would be a big step toward moderating the 'resource wars' in the Congo.

Coltan Ore

The Enough Project is one of many non-profit advocacy organizations that focus on the causes and consequences of the ongoing wars in the Congo.

Here is a link to a paper produced by The Enough Project that identifies the need for a certification process for resources designated as conflict minerals. http://www.enoughproject.org/certification

Torture by Sensory Deprivation

The first part of Naomi Klein's book, The Shock Doctrine, is about the sophisticated ways sensory deprivation is being used by intelligence establishments of the US and other governments to break the will of suspected terrorists.  Solitary confinement has long been used as a way to discipline prisoners.  Klein makes a very good case that such treatment constitutes cruel and improper punishment. 

It was recently reported that one method used against Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo is to put them in a small room, lights on 24 hours a day, no contact with outside stimulation, except for a constant, loud barrage of Sesame Street on a TV screen in the room. No clock.  total isolation except for guards who make sure the prisoner is unable to sleep.   

Once in my life, I had a brief scrape with forced isolation. It was part of an initiation ritual while in college. At night, I was put in a room, lights on, no clock, and told not to sleep. Doesn't sound much like torture does it.  Here's what I know from that experience. At least for me, isolation is mentally torturous. An extended period of that kind of treatment would be cruel and unusual punishment.

Probably, in some cases, that brand of coercion is justified.  It's not the kind of thing I would want to be the decider on.

There is a young man, an Army private named Bradley Manning, who has been accused of releasing  information classified by the government to the media through an organization called Wikileaks.  I don't know whether Manning is guilty or not. It doesn't seem, based on the kind of information that was released and who it was released to, that this is a case of someone trying to harm his country. In fact, a strong case can be made suggesting just the opposite.  In the United States of America, a person is considered innocent until proven guilty. Everything I have read indicates that Manning is being subjected to constant isolation.  I know that's cruel. As a people, we are better than that.