HRW reports on atrocities in the north west region of DRC where local warlords and multinational companies are reaping huge sums of money from gold mining on the backs of local people who are being slaughtered, tortured and raped.
The report documents the activities of two multinationals – AngloGold Ashanti which is part of a conglomerate called Anglo American and Swiss gold refining company, Metalor Technologies. The report details how AGA "provided meaningful financial and logistical support" to the "murderous armed group the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI) helping them to access gold mining around the town of Mongbwalu in the northeastern Ituri province (HRW report: Ituri covered in Blood). Ituri is rich in petroleum, gold, ivory and diamonds and it is no coincidence that this region is the center of the bloodiest of conflicts in Africa. AGA won the mining rights to a large gold concession in 1996 but due the war did not start preparations for extraction until 2003.
Keith Harmon has written an excellent article in WW2Report detailing the activities of multinationals, presidents, the CIA and billionaire businessmen all involved in the bloodletting - (who is who) and the (web of alliance) in Ituri.
Close scrutiny comes up with a plethora of well known names and inter-connected multinationals (MNC) in Europe, the US and Canada, ex SAS, CIA and so on. George Bush Sr, Senator Howard Baker, Vernon Jordan (Clinton’s lawyer) Canada’s former prime minister, Brian Mulroney, Adnan Khashoggi. MNCs include, Barrick Gold, Anglo-American, Hertiage Oil & Gas, De Standard (Belgium) Branch Energy, Diamond Works; Israeli military agents and businessmen
The trail of "tainted" gold passes from the DRC to Uganda and then on to the gold markets of Europe. In 2003 an estimated $60 million worth of Congolese gold was exported from Uganda. One particular company, the Swiss gold refining firm, Metalor
Technologies has been buying gold in Uganda which originated in the
DRC. HRW believes that Metalor knew or should have known that the gold they were buying in Uganda originated from the conflict zone of northeastern DRC.
The company should have considered whether its own role in buying gold resources from its suppliers in Uganda was compatible with provisions on human rights and it should have actively checked its supply chain to verify that acceptable ethical standards were maintained. Through purchases of gold made from Uganda, Metalor Technologies may have contributed indirectly to providing a revenue stream for armed groups that carry out widespread human rights abuses
Following the HRW report Metalor announced on the 20th of May that it would be suspending its purchase of gold from Uganda.
The trail of gold from the Eastern Congo goes something like this. Starting in Mongbwalu town the location of several gold mines where HRW reports that in 2003/2004 some 2000 civilians were killed as a
result of conflict between the different armed groups fighting for control of the gold in the town. Panhandlers many working for one of the many armed gangs, extract small amounts of gold from the shallow and deep mines around the town. The miners then take their pieces of gold one of the many gold shops in Bunia where the gold is weighed and and bought. Once the dealer has a sufficient amount of gold he then goes on to Uganda where it is sold on to another middleman. There it is melted down into gold bars ready for sale on to Europe. (BBC World Service)
Predatory governance in the DRC: civilian impact and humanitarian response
