Congo, Democratic Republic of https://wri-irg.org/en en War profiteer profile: Alsetex https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2024/war-profiteer-profile-alsetex <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_entity_view' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_1col' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * ds-1col--node--42691.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story.html.twig * ds-1col--node-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <div data-history-node-id="42691" class="node node--type-story node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-image--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-image--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-image.html.twig * field--expert--field-image--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-image.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-image--story.html.twig * field--node--field-image.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --> <picture> <source srcset="/sites/default/files/public_files/styles/single_page_desktop/public/2024-02/15852628755_28017b7a94_k.jpg?itok=FpOiVBRq 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 992px)" type="image/jpeg"/> <source srcset="/sites/default/files/public_files/styles/single_page_mobiles_and_tablets/public/2024-02/15852628755_28017b7a94_k.jpg?itok=ZfMpqAue 1x" type="image/jpeg"/> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img src="/sites/default/files/public_files/styles/single_page_mobiles_and_tablets/public/2024-02/15852628755_28017b7a94_k.jpg?itok=ZfMpqAue" alt="Two police officers in the foreground, one armed with a large tear gas launcher" title="French police armed with a Alsetex Cougar tear gas launcher. Image: Pierre-Selim via Flickr CC2.0" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> </picture> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --> <div class="caption">French police armed with a Alsetex Cougar tear gas launcher. Image: Pierre-Selim via Flickr CC2.0</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node-post-date---custom.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--node-post-date.html.twig * field--ds.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <time > 19 Feb 2024</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--body--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--body.html.twig * field--default--body--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--body.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig * field--node--body--story.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Alsetex is a French company, owned by the Etienne Lacroix Group including various types of non-lethal munitions and crowd control equipment. Products manufactured by Alsetex include tear gas grenades, stun grenades, riot control agents, and a range of related launchers.</p> <p>According to the Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés, the company was first registered in 1973, in 2022 Alsetex had a turnover of €34m, and in 2021 had a staff of 182 people. The company does not maintain a very visible online presence, but does market their products at a number of arms fairs around the world. For example, they have been registered to attend: Milipol Paris (France), IDEX 2023 (UAE), <a href="https://armyrecognition.com/eurosatory_2014_show_daily_news_coverage_report/alsetex_presents_its_landcougar_12_and_56-mm_range_in_live_demonstration_during_eurosatory_2014.html" target="https://armyrecognition.com/eurosatory_2014_show_daily_news_coverage_report/alsetex_presents_its_landcougar_12_and_56-mm_range_in_live_demonstration_during_eurosatory_2014.html">Eurosatory </a>(France), Milipol Qatar, World Defence Show 2022 (Saudi Arabia), and Defence Services Asia (Malaysia).</p> <p>Equipment and weapons manufactured by Alsetex have been observed being used by police and security forces in a number of locations around the world, including those with significant human rights concerns, and targeting nonviolent protesters. For example, there is evidence of Alsetex weapons being used in: Senegal, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr16/2100/2015/en/" target="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr16/2100/2015/en/">Burundi</a>, Lebanon, France, <a href="https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=24292&amp;lang=en" target="https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=24292&amp;lang=en">Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bahrain</a>, <a href="https://reflets.info/articles/alsetex-maintien-de-l-ordre-partout-justice-nulle-part" target="https://reflets.info/articles/alsetex-maintien-de-l-ordre-partout-justice-nulle-part">Benin, Madagascar, Ghana, and Liberia. </a></p> <p>The company’s Cougar launchers <a href="https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-us-marine-lance-cpl-chase-m-graves-grenadier-with-spmagtf-crisis-response-129753510.html" target="https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-us-marine-lance-cpl-chase-m-graves-grenadier-with-spmagtf-crisis-response-129753510.html">have also been photographed</a> in 2014 being used in a training session by American soldiers who are part of the SPMAGTF Crisis Response – Africa.</p> <h1>Launchers</h1> <h2>Senegal</h2> <p>Among a number of other African countries, Alsetex’s Cougar launcher has been identified being used by security forces in Senegal on a number of occasions, as recently as February 2024.</p> <p>In May 2023, the French journalist Maxime Sirvins tweeted a number of images showing members of the Senegalese police holding Cougar launchers, as well as dozens of spent GM2L tear gas canisters manufactured by Alsetex in 2021.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p dir="ltr" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">On retrouve déjà le célèbre lanceur Cougar qui permet de tirer des grenades de 56mm.<br /> Il est fabriqué par la société française Alsetex 🇫🇷<a href="https://t.co/DFUe3PpN93">https://t.co/DFUe3PpN93</a> <a href="https://t.co/gfDGl2TRvK">pic.twitter.com/gfDGl2TRvK</a></p> <p>— Maxime Sirvins (@MaximeSirvins) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaximeSirvins/status/1661323319704944640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>More recently, footage shared by Al Jazeera clearly shows riot police firing canisters from a Cougar launcher at a group protesting the delay in an election in February 2024. The footage can be seen <a href="https://youtu.be/cvPV2CCpqe4?t=19" target="https://youtu.be/cvPV2CCpqe4?t=19">here</a> at 0:19 seconds.</p> <h2>Lebanon</h2> <p>Cougar launchers and tear gas grenades manufactured by Alsetex have also been identified being used by <a href="https://twitter.com/drfigtree/status/635216532293951488" target="https://twitter.com/drfigtree/status/635216532293951488">Lebanese security forces</a> against people taking part in the “You Stink” movement in 2015.</p> <h2>Vehicle-mounted</h2> <p>Cougar launchers can also be mounted on vehicles, such as the Berliet VXB-170 armoured vehicle. The VXB has been <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/france-military-vehicles-war-zones-paris-yellow-vests-1249946" target="https://www.newsweek.com/france-military-vehicles-war-zones-paris-yellow-vests-1249946">used in France</a> against the Gilets Jaunes.</p> <h1>Grenades</h1> <h2>France</h2> <p>It is perhaps unsurprising that Alsetex’s products have been widely used by the French police. There is significant evidence of the company’s equipment being widely used against social movements like the Gilets Jaunes.</p> <p>The GLI-F4 grenade contains 10g of CS gas and 26g of TNT high explosive, and have been classified as weapons of war in the French Internal Security Code. Despite this, they have been used extensively against civilians in France, with a reported <a href="https://reporterre.net/Les-gendarmes-ont-deverse-une-quantite-record-de-grenades-sur-la-Zad-de-Notre" target="https://reporterre.net/Les-gendarmes-ont-deverse-une-quantite-record-de-grenades-sur-la-Zad-de-Notre">three thousand such grenades</a> – including some expired stock – being used against the Notre-Dames-des-Landes ZAD in April 2018.</p> <p>There are a number of documented cases of GLI-F4 grenades causing life-changing injuries, including the loss of hands and limbs. The sound created by a GLI-F4 grenade exploding is around 165db, enough to cause hearing damage to those in close proximity.</p> <p>In France, the GLI-F4 has been replaced with the GM2L grenade – also manufactured by Alsetex - which doesn’t contain TNT. However, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200127174016/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/world/europe/france-tear-gas-grenades.html" target="https://web.archive.org/web/20200127174016/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/world/europe/france-tear-gas-grenades.html">critics described this</a> as a “fake gesture”.</p> <p>And there are significant concerns about the impact of its use from groups like <a href="https://lethalindisguise.org/case-studies/france/" target="https://lethalindisguise.org/case-studies/france/">Physicians for Human Rights</a>. The GM2L is still an explosive grenade with 10g of CS powder, and produces 160db at 10m.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GM2L?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GM2L</a> is an explosive grenade, with 10g of pure CS powder, and 160dB at 10m.<br /> Explosive grenades pose a risk of life changing serious injury, or death. The GM2L is not suitable for crowd control - use should immediately be suspended. Tracking? <a href="https://twitter.com/ElluinA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ElluinA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Desarmons_les?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Desarmons_les</a> <a href="https://t.co/xPAegJILSN">https://t.co/xPAegJILSN</a></p> <p>— Omega Research Foundation (@Omega_RF) <a href="https://twitter.com/Omega_RF/status/1337009493541052419?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2020</a></p></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><h2>Democratic Republic of Congo</h2> <p>Amnesty International has also <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/007/2012/en/" target="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/007/2012/en/">reported in 2012</a> that 900 GM2L grenades were exported to the Democratic Republic of Congo, alongside other equipment manufactured by Alsetex (72 56mm Cougar Multi-light grenade launchers, 80 FAR smoke grenades, 720 GENL stinger grenades, 800 BDBE 40mm low velocity kinetic defence rounds).</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-programmes-projects--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Programmes &amp; Projects</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/465" hreflang="en">Front Page</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/programme/war-profiteers" hreflang="en">War Profiteers</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/programmes/war-profiteer-companies" hreflang="en">War profiteer companies</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-countries--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-countries.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Countries</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/123" hreflang="en">France</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/206" hreflang="en">Senegal</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/202" hreflang="en">Ivory Coast</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">Congo, Democratic Republic of</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/171" hreflang="en">Bahrain</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-police-militarisation-them--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-police-militarisation-them--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-police-militarisation-them.html.twig * field--expert--field-police-militarisation-them--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-police-militarisation-them.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-police-militarisation-them--story.html.twig * field--node--field-police-militarisation-them.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-police-militarisation-them.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Police militarisation theme</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/pm-themes/who-profits" hreflang="en">Who profits?</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/pm-themes/equipment-training-and-tactics" hreflang="en">Equipment, training and tactics</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-companies--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-companies--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-companies.html.twig * field--expert--field-companies--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-companies.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-companies--story.html.twig * field--node--field-companies.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-companies.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Companies</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/504" hreflang="en">SAE Alsetex</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--comment--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--comment.html.twig * field--default--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--comment.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig x field--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--node--comment.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> <section class="comments"> <h2>Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=42691&amp;2=comment&amp;3=comment" token="Y_-tfh9oXM7EH958qGTwBgepEm1-goMfrc63KTuTHl4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> Mon, 19 Feb 2024 17:04:00 +0000 Andrew 42691 at https://wri-irg.org https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2024/war-profiteer-profile-alsetex#comments The Kwerekwere are stealing our jobs! Instead, stop the wars… https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2015/kwerekwere-are-stealing-our-jobs-instead-stop-wars <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_entity_view' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_1col' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * ds-1col--node--24530.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story.html.twig * ds-1col--node-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <div data-history-node-id="24530" class="node node--type-story node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node-post-date---custom.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--node-post-date.html.twig * field--ds.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <time > 28 Apr 2015</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--body--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--body.html.twig * field--default--body--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--body.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig * field--node--body--story.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><em>Terry Crawford-Browne</em></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><em>Terry Crawford-Browne is a former international banker who became a peace activist during the 1980s. He lives in Cape Town.</em></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">Renewed xenophobic violence in South Africa has appalled the world. The violence is directed at black African refugees, not white beneficiaries of the past apartheid era, yet reminiscent of the apartheid era, the response of a bewildered government is to send the army into affected townships, rather than address the root causes of massive migrations in Africa.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">The Guardian newspaper reported in England “with every outbreak of xenophobic violence, the refrain is the same: ‘the kwerekwere (foreigners) are stealing our jobs. Shops are torched. Streets are barricaded... Mobs hound Somalis, Mozambicans, Zimbabweans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis from their homes and businesses.”<sup><a name="sdendnote1anc" href="#sdendnote1sym" id="sdendnote1anc"><sup>i</sup></a></sup></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">Millions of African refugees have literally walked to South Africa to escape wars inflicted upon their countries. These wars are compounded by political repression of dictatorships kept in office by the United States and the CIA. In 1961, the CIA orchestrated the murder of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, and kept the kleptomaniac Joseph Mobutu in power until 1997. In April 2015, under the guise of a democratic election, the US helped to reinstate Nigeria’s former military dictator, Muhammadu Buhari.<sup><a name="sdendnote2anc" href="#sdendnote2sym" id="sdendnote2anc"><sup>ii</sup></a> </sup>Despite objections from almost all African countries, the US has established a military command termed AFRICOM. It is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany because no country has allowed it to be based on the African continent. The “blow-back” consequences include huge numbers of refugees plus economic and political destabilisation of host countries.</p> <p>In South Africa, the number of Zimbabwean refugees is estimated at between one and four million people. The actual numbers are unknown, but it is possible that South Africa is hosting more refugees than any other country. Officially, the rate of unemployment in South Africa is 25% but, in reality, is about 40% and rises to 70% among young people. The kwerekwere, including huge numbers of Congolese refugees, tend to be better educated and are often self-employed. It is estimated that “only” 15% are unemployed. However, reprehensible xenophobic violence expresses misdirected and pent-up fury; in South Africa, impoverished victims of the apartheid system remain impoverished. Reflecting the government’s disastrous education, health and economic policies since 1994, the gap between rich and poor South Africans is wider than ever, and is the worst in the world. Food riots and crime driven by poverty rather than xenophobia per se have been the cause of many of the attacks on Somali shops.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><strong>Follow the money...</strong></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">The apartheid government and its army served as surrogate in southern Africa for the “first world” during the Cold War. The “frontline states” of Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and the Congo were deliberately destabilised at a cost of over one and a half million lives plus massive damage to economic infrastructure.<sup><a name="sdendnote3anc" href="#sdendnote3sym" id="sdendnote3anc"><sup>iii</sup></a></sup></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">In Congo, between five and ten million have subsequently died since 1997 in what is known as “Africa’s First World War”. The root cause of this violence is the looting of the Congo’s mineral wealth by “first world” corporations in collusion with European and North American governments.<sup><a name="sdendnote4anc" href="#sdendnote4sym" id="sdendnote4anc"><sup>iv</sup></a></sup> With former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as his friend and advisor, Rwanda’s dictator Paul Kagame has ruthlessly devastated the Congo.<sup><a name="sdendnote5anc" href="#sdendnote5sym" id="sdendnote5anc"><sup>v</sup></a></sup></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">In South Africa, almost three years have now elapsed since the August 2012 Marikana massacre at the Lonmin platinum mine, when 34 miners were murdered. The massacre exposed the incompetence and brutality of the police, but also the unconscionable greed of Lonmin’s British owners. The political complicity reaches to South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is a shareholder and non-executive director, and a rand billionaire.<sup><a name="sdendnote6anc" href="#sdendnote6sym" id="sdendnote6anc"><sup>vi</sup></a> </sup>The resulting inquiry has revealed that Lonmin was engaged in extensive transfer pricing practices via Bermuda and other British “treasure island” tax havens to avoid payment of South African taxes. Instead of annual tax of over US$200 million for the years 2006 to 2008, these ploys enabled Lonmin to reduce its tax bill to US$8 million.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">These transfer payments deliberately drained Lonmin of funds that otherwise could have been used to pay living wages to illiterate and impoverished miners, who risk their lives underground to feed their families.<sup><a name="sdendnote7anc" href="#sdendnote7sym" id="sdendnote7anc"><sup>vii</sup></a></sup> Lonmin illustrates the economic plunder throughout the African continent repeatedly highlighted by the annual UN “Africa Progress” reports, which in 2013 focused on natural resources as a potential source of future economic prosperity. Natural resources, it noted, do not cause war, but weak government, under development and violent conflict are accentuated when foreign investors abuse their power by tax evasion and money laundering.<sup><a name="sdendnote8anc" href="#sdendnote8sym" id="sdendnote8anc"><sup>viii</sup></a></sup></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">Like Lonmin, Shell’s extraction of oil from Nigeria since the 1950s has had devastating social a environmental consequences. The company has worked closely with successive Nigerian governments to suppress popular opposition to its presence. Oil has enriched a small elite and unleashed massive corruption, but the vast majority of 180 million Nigerians have been left in poverty. The activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged in 1995 for his role in exposing Shell’s crimes. Litigation was filed against Shell in US under the Alien Tort Act<sup><a name="sdendnote9anc" href="#sdendnote9sym" id="sdendnote9anc"><sup>ix</sup></a></sup> but, just days before the case went to trial in 2009, it was settled out-of-court against payment to his family of US$15 million.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">Buhari’s return to power raises the spectre of never-ending military coups, and of Nigeria reverting to a garrison state beholden to British and American banks and corporations. Will Nigeria become Africa’s next “failed state” and, if so, what will be the consequences for Europe?</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><strong>An Anglo-American obsession to control the world…</strong></p> <p>South Africa’s abhorrent migrant labour practices stem from the 19<sup>th</sup> century, but remain essentially unchanged. They can rightly be described as war profiteering. They originated with the British imperialist, Cecil Rhodes who made his fortune on South African diamonds and gold. Virtuously cloaked in the cause of world peace, Rhodes’s vision in 1877 was of the “English-speaking race so powerful and so overwhelming as to render all wars simply impossible.” In what was then deemed as the British civilising mission around the globe, Rhodes dreamt of:</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">“the extension of British rule throughout the world, the perfecting of a system of emigration from the United Kingdom and of colonisation by British subjects of all lands and especially the entire continent of Africa, the Holy Land and the valley of the Euphrates, the whole of South America, the islands of the Pacific not heretofore possessed by Great Britain, the seaboard of China and Japan, and the ultimate recovery of the United States of America as an integral part of the British Empire.”<sup><a name="sdendnote10anc" href="#sdendnote10sym" id="sdendnote10anc"><sup>x</sup></a></sup></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'entity_embed_container' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/entity_embed/templates/entity-embed-container.html.twig' --> </p><div alt="" data-embed-button="image_embed" data-entity-embed-display="image:responsive_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;responsive_image_style&quot;:&quot;body_inline_half&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="fd432e05-d334-4fab-9580-b22fcb544f38" title="Statue of Cecil Rhodes is removed from Cape Town university" class="align-left embedded-entity" data-langcode="en"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img srcset="/sites/default/files/public_files/styles/large/public/Goodbye_Cecil_John_Rhodes20_%2816481463023%29.home.jpg?itok=Gg28VnKq 1x" src="/sites/default/files/public_files/styles/large/public/Goodbye_Cecil_John_Rhodes20_%2816481463023%29.home.jpg?itok=Gg28VnKq" alt="" title="Statue of Cecil Rhodes is removed from Cape Town university" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /><!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --><!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --><!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/entity_embed/templates/entity-embed-container.html.twig' --> In pursuit of that vision, Rhodes Scholarships - established just before Rhodes died in Cape Town in 1902 - are arguably still the most prestigious, and are disproportionately allocated to Americans to anglicise them at Oxford University. Rhodes’s statue continued to occupy pride of place on the University of Cape Town campus. In March this year, students embarked on a “Rhodes Must Fall” campaign; their tactics were outrageous and smelly, but nonviolent and effective. Human faeces – shit collected from shacks inhabited by the poorest-of-the-poor – were poured over Rhodes’s statue, which within a month had symbolically 'fallen', and was removed. <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">Nonetheless, South Africa and the world still suffer the consequences of imperialist wars of which Rhodes was the personification. The City of London is often described as the most corrupt square mile anywhere on the planet Earth.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><strong>International war profiteers…</strong></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">Thousands of miles to the north of South Africa, thousands of African and Asian migrants are drowning in the Mediterranean Sea in desperate attempts to escape wars inflicted upon their countries and resultant destitution. The European Union’s “Fortress Europe” mentality treats refugees as criminals and as “the enemy.”<sup><a name="sdendnote11anc" href="#sdendnote11sym" id="sdendnote11anc"><sup>xi</sup></a></sup></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">Libya (the land of my youth) is a country in turmoil because the US, Britain and France so mindlessly launched a war in 2011 after Muammar Gaddafi demanded payment in gold for Libya’s oil exports. Only months earlier, the British and French were competing to sell more arms to Libya and negotiate new oil concessions.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">Likewise, the war against Iraq was launched in 2003 because Saddam Hussein had the audacity to demand payment for oil in euros instead of US dollars. During the 1980s - after the Iranian Revolution - Saddam dutifully served US and European interests in waging an eight year war against Iran – until the costs of their massive weapons supplies bankrupted Iraq.<sup><a name="sdendnote12anc" href="#sdendnote12sym" id="sdendnote12anc"><sup>xii</sup></a></sup></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'entity_embed_container' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/entity_embed/templates/entity-embed-container.html.twig' --> </p><div alt="" data-embed-button="image_embed" data-entity-embed-display="image:responsive_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;responsive_image_style&quot;:&quot;body_inline_half&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="26ae7a1f-c7e4-40df-92ee-c284fbd073fd" title="British Prince Charles, in Saudi Arabia the day before a huge contract was signed with BAE Systems" class="align-right embedded-entity" data-langcode="en"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img srcset="/sites/default/files/public_files/styles/large/public/alalam_635283980599225161_25f_4x3.home.jpg?itok=5Vas-YK_ 1x" src="/sites/default/files/public_files/styles/large/public/alalam_635283980599225161_25f_4x3.home.jpg?itok=5Vas-YK_" alt="" title="British Prince Charles, in Saudi Arabia the day before a huge contract was signed with BAE Systems" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /><!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --><!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --><!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/entity_embed/templates/entity-embed-container.html.twig' --> Prime Minister David Cameron and members of the British royal family repeatedly promote both arms exports and London’s banking services, ostensibly for job creation benefits.<sup><a name="sdendnote13anc" href="#sdendnote13sym" id="sdendnote13anc"><sup>xiii</sup></a></sup> The reality is that both the British arms industry and its banking industry are virtually without regulation, are highly subsidised, and scream vociferously whenever regulation is suggested. <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">When Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah died earlier this year, politicians – including Cameron and President Barack Obama -- flocked to Riyadh to pay obeisance to what is arguably the world’s most barbaric regime. The House of Saud were bandits until elevated to royalty by the British and later, after the discovery of oil, adopted by the Americans. The US, British and German governments shamelessly pander to the power of Saudi money in the most depraved of Faustian bargains.</p> <p>In alliance with the US and Gulf state sheikdoms, Saudi Arabia has now launched a war against the people of Yemen. The violent consequences of fundamentalist Wahhabite Islamic theology – including Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al Shabaab in Somalia and Kenya, and ISIS in the Arab world -- almost all funded by Saudis at an estimated cost of US$130 billion, are daily evident on our television screens.<sup><a name="sdendnote14anc" href="#sdendnote14sym" id="sdendnote14anc"><sup>xiv</sup></a></sup></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">Readers will recall that Blair in 2006 squelched a British Serious Fraud Office investigation into bribes paid by BAE to Saudi princes, insisting that the investigation threatened British national security. The reality is that Blair and BAE were negotiating an extension of the notoriously corrupt £43 billion Al Yamamah arms deal negotiated in 1985 between Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Saudi Prince Bandar. It transpired that BAE had paid bribes to Prince Bandar of over £1 billion with the assistance and complicity of the British Ministry of Defence, laundered through the US banking system<sup><a name="sdendnote15anc" href="#sdendnote15sym" id="sdendnote15anc"><sup>xv</sup></a></sup>. In addition, BAE gave him his own private Airbus as a birthday present.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">The Al Yamamah and subsequent Al Salam deals contain provisions which cannot be investigated or revealed in terms of Britain’s Official Secrets Act.<sup><a name="sdendnote16anc" href="#sdendnote16sym" id="sdendnote16anc"><sup>xvi</sup></a></sup> Hopefully a future Julian Assange or Edward Snowden will blow the whistle on the details? What is known is that Saudi Arabia consigns huge quantities of oil to the Bank of England, which then distributes that oil to BP and to Shell.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">In terms of these arrangements, a massive fund administered by the Bank of England has accumulated, which is estimated to amount to US$150 billion. Its purpose is threefold:</p> <ul><li> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">To guarantee British and US support for the Saudi royal family against domestic insurrection,</p> </li> <li> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">to ensure that international trade in oil is priced in US dollars, thus placing the world on a dollar standard and enabling the US to finance its unchallengeable military power, and</p> </li> <li> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">to fund covert destabilisation of resource-rich countries in Asia and Africa.</p> </li> </ul><p>When communism no longer posed a threat, the war business created a new threat in Islam. As successor to the British Empire, US imperialism engages in deliberate war-mongering to promote an era of perpetual war in the 21<sup>st</sup> century. Bizarre realities include “Charlie Wilson’s war” in Afghanistan and the false-flag American alliance with Syrian Al Qaeda operatives in failed efforts to destroy the Assad regime preparatory to a joint Saudi and Israeli war against Iran.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">The tragic consequences of US destabilisation are now evident in chaos across Asia from Bangladesh to Syria, and across Africa from Somalia to Senegal. The underlying issue remains the plunder of natural resources, especially oil. It is encouraged by obscene expenditures on armaments. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt and Iraq are expected to spend more than US$18 billion on armaments in 2015, up from US$12 billion in 2014.<sup><a name="sdendnote17anc" href="#sdendnote17sym" id="sdendnote17anc"><sup>xvii</sup></a></sup> The war business is plainly out of control.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><strong>Migration and xenophobia…</strong></p> <p>The blow-back costs of “first world” war-mongering are at last impacting even in Europe- as many as 1.6 million refugees from Syria and elsewhere are reportedly waiting in Turkey to enter Europe. To date, England has provided refuge for only 150 Syrian refugees, yet The Sun newspaper there disgracefully suggests that gunships should be deployed to sink refugee boats, and described the refugees themselves as “cockroaches.”<sup><a name="sdendnote18anc" href="#sdendnote18sym" id="sdendnote18anc"><sup>xviii</sup></a></sup> An estimated 300,000 refugees will apply for asylum in Germany during 2015 compared with 200,000 last year, and neo-Nazis are already fire-bombing refugee centres.<sup><a name="sdendnote19anc" href="#sdendnote19sym" id="sdendnote19anc"><sup>xix</sup></a></sup> That even the wealthiest country in Europe is struggling to deal with such modest numbers, it should be no surprise that the influx of millions of refugees has caused major difficulties in South Africa.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><strong>Will Africa be America’s next battleground?</strong></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">Somalia is a “failed state” as a direct consequence of the Cold War. Yet undeterred by dismal failures of US military interventions around the world since 1945, AFRICOM is making contingency plans on assumptions of an “Islamic State of Africa,” spread across the Continent. Billions of dollars have been pumped into construction of bases, weapons exports, proxy wars, assassinations, including mainly secret 674 military activities in Africa during 2014 in efforts to blunt Chinese investment and influence.<sup><a name="sdendnote20anc" href="#sdendnote20sym" id="sdendnote20anc"><sup>xx</sup></a></sup></p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA">The population of Africa is projected at one and a half billion people by 2025, about one-third of whom will be under the age of 18. Given their desperation, the risks of drowning in the Mediterranean will certainly not deter refugees from seeking a better life in Europe.</p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"> </p> <p align="LEFT" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Notes</span></p> <div id="sdendnote1"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote1sym" href="#sdendnote1anc" id="sdendnote1sym">i</a> Kate Wilkinson (2015, April 20). “South Africa’s Xenophobic Attacks: Are Migrants Really Stealing Jobs?” The Guardian.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote2"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote2sym" href="#sdendnote2anc" id="sdendnote2sym">ii</a> Thomas Gaist, (2015, Apirl 1). “Former Military Dictator Muhammadu Buhari Wins Nigerian Presidency,” Global Research.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote3"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote3sym" href="#sdendnote3anc" id="sdendnote3sym">iii</a> “South African Destabilisation: The Economic Cost of Frontline Resistance To Apartheid,” (1989), United Nations, New York.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote4"> <p><a name="sdendnote4sym" href="#sdendnote4anc" id="sdendnote4sym">iv</a> Jan Van Criegkinge, (2006, December 1). “ Congo (DRC) and War Profiteers: A Tragedy Forgotten by the Global Peace Movement,” War Profiteers News #4, London.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote5"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote5sym" href="#sdendnote5anc" id="sdendnote5sym">v</a> David Smith, (2012, October 10). Paul Kagame’s Rwanda: African Success Or Authoritarian State, The Guardian.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote6"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote6sym" href="#sdendnote6anc" id="sdendnote6sym">vi</a> “Miners Shot Down,” (2014). An 86 minute documentary film by Rehad Desai, Uhuru Productions (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg, www.minersshotdown.co.za</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote7"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote7sym" href="#sdendnote7anc" id="sdendnote7sym">vii</a> Dick Forslund (2014). “The Bermuda Connection: Profit Shifting and Unaffordability at Lonmin 1999-2012,” Alternative Information and Development Centre, Cape Town.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote8"> <p><a name="sdendnote8sym" href="#sdendnote8anc" id="sdendnote8sym">viii</a> www.africaprogressreport.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote9"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote9sym" href="#sdendnote9anc" id="sdendnote9sym">ix</a> Ed Pilkington, (2009, May 27). “14 years After Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Death, Family Points Finger At Shell In Court,” The Guardian.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote10"> <p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote10sym" href="#sdendnote10anc" id="sdendnote10sym">x</a> Steven P Meyer, (2009, January 27). “How British Imperialists Created The Fascist Jabotinsky,” Executive Intelligence Review.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote11"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote11sym" href="#sdendnote11anc" id="sdendnote11sym">xi</a> Kenan Malik, (2015, April 21). “Migrants Face Fortress Europe’s Deadly Moat,” New York Times.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote12"> <p><a name="sdendnote12sym" href="#sdendnote12anc" id="sdendnote12sym">xii</a> Kenneth R. Timmerman, (1992). “The Death Lobby: How The West Armed Iraq,” Bantam Books, London</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote13"> <p><a name="sdendnote13sym" href="#sdendnote13anc" id="sdendnote13sym">xiii</a> “Cameron Defends Arms Deals In Gulf,” (2012, November 12). Huffington Post.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote14"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote14sym" href="#sdendnote14anc" id="sdendnote14sym">xiv</a> Jon B Alterman and William McCants, (2012). “Saudi Arabia: Islamists Rising And Falling.” http://csis.org/files/publication/141215_Chapter6_Alterman_McCants_ReligiousRadicalism.pdf</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote15"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote15sym" href="#sdendnote15anc" id="sdendnote15sym">xv</a> David Leigh and Rob Evans, (2007, June 7). “BAE Accused Of Secretly Paying £1bn To Saudi Prince,” The Guardian.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote16"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote16sym" href="#sdendnote16anc" id="sdendnote16sym">xvi</a> William Simpson, (2006). The Prince: The Secret Story Of The World’s Most Intriguing Royal, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, pages 133-151.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote17"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote17sym" href="#sdendnote17anc" id="sdendnote17sym">xvii</a> Peter Beaumont, (2015, April 23). “The $18 bn Arms Race Helping To Fuel Middle East Conflict,” The Guardian.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote18"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote18sym" href="#sdendnote18anc" id="sdendnote18sym">xviii</a> Yiannis Baboulias, (2015, April 21). “Europe’s Refugee Policy Is Broken,” Al Jazeera.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote19"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote19sym" href="#sdendnote19anc" id="sdendnote19sym">xix</a> Alison Smale, (2015, April 22). “Germany’s Small Towns Feel The Cost Of Europe’s Migrant Crisis,” New York Times.</p> </div> <div id="sdendnote20"> <p lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA" xml:lang="en-ZA"><a name="sdendnote20sym" href="#sdendnote20anc" id="sdendnote20sym">xx</a> Nick Turse, (2014, April 14). “The US Military’s Battlefield Of Tomorrow,” TomDispatch.com.</p> </div> <p> </p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-programmes-projects--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Programmes &amp; Projects</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/programme/war-profiteers" hreflang="en">War Profiteers</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-countries--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-countries.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Countries</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/216" hreflang="en">United States of America</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/92" hreflang="en">United Kingdom</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/121" hreflang="en">Saudi Arabia</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/125" hreflang="en">Iraq</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/111" hreflang="en">Iran</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/230" hreflang="en">South Africa</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/164" hreflang="en">Eritrea</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">Congo, Democratic Republic of</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/86" hreflang="en">Africa</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-theme--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-theme--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-theme.html.twig * field--expert--field-theme--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-theme.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-theme--story.html.twig * field--node--field-theme.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-theme.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Theme</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/412" hreflang="en">Military bases</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/65" hreflang="en">Mercenaries</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/64" hreflang="en">International Law</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/498" hreflang="en">Extractive industry</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/63" hreflang="en">arms trade</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--comment--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--comment.html.twig * field--default--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--comment.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig x field--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--node--comment.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> <section class="comments"> <h2>Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=24530&amp;2=comment&amp;3=comment" token="Ax442zjEAiuQ3u9laJ6Bz1ixZRzPcPXC30AVnNIi-Is"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> Tue, 28 Apr 2015 15:22:54 +0000 Andrew 24530 at https://wri-irg.org https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2015/kwerekwere-are-stealing-our-jobs-instead-stop-wars#comments Corporate Watch report: The Vile Scramble for Loot: How British corporations are fuelling war in the DR Congo https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2010/corporate-watch-report-vile-scramble-loot-how-british-corporations-are-fuelling-war-dr <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_entity_view' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_1col' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * ds-1col--node--9982.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story.html.twig * ds-1col--node-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <div data-history-node-id="9982" class="node node--type-story node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node-post-date---custom.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--node-post-date.html.twig * field--ds.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <time > 21 Apr 2010</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--body--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--body.html.twig * field--default--body--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--body.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig * field--node--body--story.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Over the last 150 years, what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo has been subject to vast and destabilising resource expropriation at the hands of European capitalism since Belgian King Leopold II’s conquest in 1885. This exploitation still continues to this day. The DRC is suffering from a war, often referred to as Africa's World War, that is almost certainly the worst in the world. This war is largely the result of the exploitation of the DRC’s rich resources by foreign corporations, which fund 'warlords' from the DRC and surrounding countries and the army to give them access to cheap minerals. The war and exploitation in DR Congo, principally at the hands of the imperial powers of Europe and the United States, is the latest stage of the Maafa (African Holocaust) in DRC and, like the other stages, it is truly devastating. British companies, such as Afrimex, Anglo American, and the Amalgamated Metal Corporation and others have played an instrumental role in this exploitation.</p> <p>Full report at:<br /><a href="http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3553">http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3553</a></p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-countries--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-countries.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Countries</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/92" hreflang="en">United Kingdom</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">Congo, Democratic Republic of</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--comment--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--comment.html.twig * field--default--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--comment.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig x field--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--node--comment.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> <section class="comments"> <h2>Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=9982&amp;2=comment&amp;3=comment" token="RyIsM3l5Fjf3c7Ygc-9lvnaIM8KNBSppq8loBglHOAw"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:50:57 +0000 javier 9982 at https://wri-irg.org https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2010/corporate-watch-report-vile-scramble-loot-how-british-corporations-are-fuelling-war-dr#comments African Seeds of New Hope and Nonviolence https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2009/african-seeds-new-hope-and-nonviolence <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_entity_view' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_1col' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * ds-1col--node--9240.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story.html.twig * ds-1col--node-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <div data-history-node-id="9240" class="node node--type-story node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node-post-date---custom.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--node-post-date.html.twig * field--ds.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <time > 11 Nov 2009</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--body--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--body.html.twig * field--default--body--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--body.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig * field--node--body--story.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Echoing and heeding the call from Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda, first president of Zambia, to “redouble our efforts for justice and for a true African humanism,” the two of us, as editors and authors of Seeds of New Hope: Pan African Peace Studies for the 21st Century (2009) and the forthcoming Seeds Bearing Fruit: Pan African Peace Action, do affirm the great potential of the peoples of Africa. Kaunda’s foreword to our first volume called on scholars and activists alike to help create and sustain a society that celebrates human diversity and validates the contributions of every African (as well as Africa-loving persons and organizations), in the pressing quest for social justice, peace, and true independence. It is clear that real empowerment will only be realized when people the world over have control over their own resources and labor. In preparing for our fruit-bearing second volume (and for the WRI conference on Nonviolent Livelihood Struggles), we have come across many examples of nonviolent resistance to both militarism and to the grassroots impact of neo-liberal globalization. </p> <p> The following three situations illustrate just some of the creative movements taking root right now. These snapshots serve to shine light on some little-known but powerful initiatives:</p> <ul><li>A local Catholic priest in Angola, Padre Jacinto Pio Wacussanga—president of the radical human rights association ALSSA—has taken a leading role in defending the rights of the landless laborers against the “new” military landlords. In 2003, he and his colleagues received repeated death threats. But they are convinced of the strength of nonviolence as a means of changing society.</li> </ul><p>  <br /> WRI’s own Jan Van Criekinge has written about how the independent media, human rights organizations, and churches in Angola are helping to stabilize the peace so much desired by the great majority of the population. “The consolidation of peace,” Jan has noted, “depends primarily on how the reconstruction process addresses the profound social divisions, political alienation from the one-party state and its institutionalized corruption on all levels, and the poverty that sustained the war for so many years. The reconstruction should, in the first place, meet the needs of the millions of desperately poor people living in rural communities who, completely isolated from large urban and economic centers and confronted with the deadly consequences of widespread land mines in their daily lives, have so far seen too few tangible benefits of peace. </p> <p>“The resettlement of some four million displaced persons and war refugees continues to be a cause of some concern. But major confrontations have been avoided so far, due to the mediation of churches and other grassroots initiatives.” </p> <ul><li>More and more, local groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo understand the need to work on their own and heed the pleas of the young people who have been most affected by the wars. The Kinshasa-based Ligue des Femmes pour le Développement et l’Education à la Démocratie (LIFDED) is one such group, and their executive director, Grace Lula, is also affiliated with Pax Christi International. LIFDED’s work has centered around the training of women and youth in nonviolence, conflict resolution, human rights, and empowerment.</li> </ul><p>LIFDED and Lula introduced us to Reverend Biasima Rose Lala, leader of the Great Lakes Ecumenical Forum and coordinator of a children’s aid project that serves both Kinshasa and Goma. She reiterated the connections between economics and violence in the Congo today. “The country is not poor, but we have had bad management of resources that have not been well shared. People are frustrated and we go to war; parents are killed, children become poorer, and the vicious cycle continues.” Lala became a member of the DRC Parliament in order to help monitor the policies created and resources allocated. “On June 3, 2008, the legislature voted in a bill for the Protection of Children,” she noted. “The government is in the best position to deal with children’s issues, but we have to put the resources into education and child protection. We must fight against corruption in government, and create local projects that keep in place the long and rich tradition of African solidarity with one another. We must make people aware of being a nation and as a nation must protect what we have. Power is not a way of taking for individuals; power is a way of serving others. I am hopeful about the future. . . but it is not easy or quick to change people’s mentality.”</p> <p> Georgette Nyembo is another strong Congolese woman, a church activist who prepared election observers for the Ministry of Reconstruction. She noted that the first step in rebuilding the Congo is, as it has ever been, making clear to every child that “there is a choice between the gun he’s had and the other, nonviolent, lives which he could lead.” </p> <ul><li>One form of protest used by the women in the Niger Delta is the threat and use of nakedness. Historical accounts of female opposition show that this form of protest was common to women in eastern Nigeria. For the eastern communities, nakedness in public is considered a “serious and permanent curse” capable of causing physical, economic and political impotency among the men for whom the women disrobe. Such a threat of nakedness usually creates serious alarm among the men folk who are guilty of provoking such a threat, since such an exhibition is usually considered an extreme and weighty form of demonstration. To warrant this, women must have been pushed to their limits, and before it gets to the stage of stripping, male offenders often push for hasty negotiations in order to avoid the debilitating effects of this type of women’s protest.</li> </ul><p> Nigerian scholar Ifeoma Ngozi Malo brought us stories of how the strategic tool of nakedness “stripped” the offender of all credibility in the public and private spheres. No men, even those from outside the affected communities, ever questioned the use of nakedness—they feared it! Women have stormed the compounds of men they had grievances with, and held their offenders hostage. They refused to let the offenders leave—and danced, sang, and threatened the offender with nakedness. In some cases, they would physically sit on the offender with clothed (and sometimes unclothed) behinds. </p> <p>The threat or actual use of nakedness, Malo reports, has never been made lightly. Indeed, before any such action is undertaken, the women issue a warning to the offenders on their proposed course of action. When such threat is issued, the offenders usually request a peace meeting with the women to prevent such a course of action. This technique has been used among the local communities who have their means of survival and their environment threatened by the activities of multinational corporations like Shell, Chevron, Mobil, Texaco, and Agip. Women’s groups tend to use the method only when their oppressors have pushed them to their limits, and they see no other alternative to get their oppressors to “redress” a wrong.</p> <p> The people of Africa have the capacity and commitment necessary to question existing structures and relationships, to develop truly African voices of peace. Critical assessment of war and violence on the continent today requires all of us (Africans and those in solidarity) to be activist-students and teachers both: harvesting the seeds already planted and planting new ones along our way. </p> <p> WRI agitator and Pan Africanist elder Bill Sutherland reflected on the fact that decades past, when the continent was filled with the excitement of the end of colonialism, the seeds of the troubles to come were already present. In these new stories told during apparently difficult times we can see, according to Sutherland, the “seeds of new hope.” The world-changing peace movement that will liberate Africa must begin in every African’s backyard. We hope that these examples prove inspiring; we all must dig deep and get our hands dirty for a just peace.</p> <p>Elavie Ndura-Ouedraogo and Matt Meyer</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-programmes-projects--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Programmes &amp; Projects</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/8" hreflang="en">Nonviolence</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-countries--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-countries.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Countries</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/159" hreflang="en">Nigeria</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">Congo, Democratic Republic of</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/212" hreflang="en">Angola</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--comment--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--comment.html.twig * field--default--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--comment.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig x field--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--node--comment.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> <section class="comments"> <h2>Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=9240&amp;2=comment&amp;3=comment" token="OcCKiJ_LHzKMfFJ7HqdeuJq1p2mjxql89PR3MerLImA"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:40:20 +0000 warresisters 9240 at https://wri-irg.org https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2009/african-seeds-new-hope-and-nonviolence#comments Congo: More troops will bring more problems https://wri-irg.org/en/statemnt/congo08-en.htm <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_entity_view' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_1col' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * ds-1col--node--3851.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story.html.twig * ds-1col--node-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <div data-history-node-id="3851" class="node node--type-story node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node-post-date---custom.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--node-post-date.html.twig * field--ds.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <time > 04 Nov 2008</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--body--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--body.html.twig * field--default--body--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--body.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig * field--node--body--story.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p></p><p>The War Resisters' International Council meeting in Bilbao (29-31 October) was extremely concerned about the situation of war and general insecurity in eastern Congo (Kivu provinces and Ituri region), and warns against the deployment of more troops in the area.</p> <p></p><p>Since August 2008, the situation has been worsening as a result of the renewed activity of different armed militias and daily military confrontations with the FADRC (governmental armed forces) and the UN force MONUC. The suffering of the local population is extremely hard, and at least 200,000 people have been displaced. Human rights abuses are widespread, and rape is a war strategy. The MONUC, the largest and most expensive UN 'peace force', is itself contributing to the problem through its own involvement in illegal trade and its human rights abuses, including rape.</p> <p></p><p>This conflict is being fuelled and funded by the contest for control of mineral resources, as has been pointed out repeatedly by various bodies including WRI's own programme monitoring War Profiteering. This is what maintains the militias and the governmental army, and also what explains the support of President Kagame of Rwanda for the militia of General Nkunda.</p> <p></p><p>WRI, an international pacifist organisation with 82 affiliates in 43 countries, is critical of the existing role of the European Union and its members. The EU is looking for military 'solutions' that do not exist: member states are training the Congolese army, giving huge amounts of development aid (including military aid) to the Rwandese regime, and now -- with the usual 'humanitarian' rhetoric -- are contemplating sending heavily armed forces to protect European interests.</p> <p></p><p>The lesson of history is clear: sending European troops is not the way to reduce suffering in Africa.</p> <p></p><p>WRI has warned previously about the militarisation of the European Union -- a rather neglected aspect of the EU's evolution. An EU force in the Congo would not be there to address the needs of the people but rather to serve the interests of European states and businesses. What Congo needs is not more soldiers and arms, but the means to meet the needs of the population -- food, medical services, infrastructure, education. What peace requires is not military intervention, but two very different courses of action:</p> <p></p><ul><br /><li>on the one hand, public campaigns and international measures against those whose pursuit of profits causes wars and stokes conflict.</li> <p></p><li>on the other hand, attention to those inside the Congo who are working for human rights, who promote nonviolence and who seek an end of the suffering.</li><br /></ul></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-programmes-projects--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Programmes &amp; Projects</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/programmes/wri-statement" hreflang="en">WRI Statement</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/programmes/office" hreflang="en">From the office</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-countries--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-countries.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Countries</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">Congo, Democratic Republic of</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--comment--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--comment.html.twig * field--default--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--comment.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig x field--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--node--comment.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> <section class="comments"> <h2>Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=3851&amp;2=comment&amp;3=comment" token="Wo6Inb4jxZV0GCRZ_Qxzv1Gr062nSFTj64rb_Wej1Ik"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000 warresisters 3851 at https://wri-irg.org https://wri-irg.org/en/statemnt/congo08-en.htm#comments Troops 'traded gold for guns' https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2007/troops-traded-gold-guns <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_entity_view' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_1col' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * ds-1col--node--421.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story.html.twig * ds-1col--node-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <div data-history-node-id="421" class="node node--type-story node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node-post-date---custom.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--node-post-date.html.twig * field--ds.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <time > 01 Aug 2007</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--body--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--body.html.twig * field--default--body--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--body.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig * field--node--body--story.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>A contingent of Pakistani peacekeepers was accused of selling gold and guns between 2005 and 2006 to Congolese militia groups they were meant to disarm.</p> <p>The investigation, which began in early 2006, found no evidence of gun-running.</p> <p>Pakistani officials have previously denied all the accusations, describing the allegations as "baseless".</p> <p>In May the UN said it would seek to discipline anyone who had compromised peacekeeping in DR Congo by trafficking in gold or guns.</p> <p>Mr Guehenno told the BBC on 13 July: "The investigation has found no evidence of gun smuggling but it has identified an individual who seems to have facilitated gold smuggling.</p> <p>"We have shared the report with the concerned troop contributor and I'm confident they will take the required action. This issue is closed."</p> <p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6681457.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6681457.stm</a></p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-countries--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-countries.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Countries</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/253" hreflang="en">Congo Brazzaville</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">Congo, Democratic Republic of</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-theme--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-theme--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-theme.html.twig * field--expert--field-theme--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-theme.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-theme--story.html.twig * field--node--field-theme.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-theme.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Theme</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/63" hreflang="en">arms trade</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--comment--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--comment.html.twig * field--default--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--comment.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig x field--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--node--comment.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> <section class="comments"> <h2>Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=421&amp;2=comment&amp;3=comment" token="vCZass4HBzX-c-bs4a7YPtP5RbHicPR7DLHYfaPGscI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:00:00 +0000 warresisters 421 at https://wri-irg.org https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2007/troops-traded-gold-guns#comments CONGO (DRC) and War Profiteers https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2007/congo-drc-and-war-profiteers <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_entity_view' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_1col' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * ds-1col--node--3163.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story.html.twig * ds-1col--node-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <div data-history-node-id="3163" class="node node--type-story node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node-post-date---custom.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--node-post-date.html.twig * field--ds.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <time > 01 Jan 2007</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--body--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--body.html.twig * field--default--body--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--body.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig * field--node--body--story.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h3>A tragedy forgotten by the global peace movement?</h3> <p>After decades of colonialism, dictatorship and wars, on 6 December 2006, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) swore in its first fairly and freely elected president since independence from Belgium in 1960, Joseph Kabila.</p> <p>The six-year civil and international war in Congo that has killed more than four million people and displaced another two million may have "officially" ended, but the dying has certainly not. Every day in Congo, a deadly combination of conflict-related atrocities (in which rape is widely used as a weapon by all parties involved), starvation, poverty and disease kills over 1,200 people. This conflict is for sure one of the most under-reported human tragedies of our lifetime, yet it is one of the most lethal since World War II. Decades of unrelenting violence, poverty, and disease have created what the United Nations has called the greatest humanitarian challenge now facing the world.</p> <p>Congo has a long history of plunder and war profiteering. Extremely rich in cobalt, diamonds, copper, gold and other rare minerals, Congo attracted the interest of the European imperialist powers only at the end of the 19th century. At the Conference of Berlin (1884-1885) the then Belgian king Leopold II succeeded in getting recognition for his claims over this enormous territory. In his personal name, the king created the so-called "Congo Free State", in which a brutal exploitation of wild rubber, ivory and timber wood started soon. It is said that nearly half of the population of the Congo Basin disappeared between 1880 and 1920 as a direct or indirect result of this ruthless colonial plunder.</p> <p>Congo gained independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960 under president Kasavubu and the charismatic and popular prime minister Patrice Lumumba. There followed a period of great instability and foreign military intervention, including by the United Nations. The mineral-rich provinces of Katanga and South Kasai, with the active support of colonial companies and mercenaries, soon even declared their independence. In 1965 it was finally army colonel Joseph Mobutu's second coup d'etat that marked the beginning of a 32 years rule by a western-backed dictator -- he changed his own name to Mobutu Sese Seko and that of his country in Zaire. Mobutu and the elite around him plundered the nation's wealth so deeply that the corrupt system became commonly known as a "kleptocracy". This system collapsed in May 1997 when the troops of lifelong rebel Laurent-Desire Kabila, Joseph's father, helped depose the already terminally ill Mobutu.</p> <p>L-D "Mzee" Kabila could only seize power in Congo with the massive military support of Rwanda and Uganda and the use of child soldiers. On August 1998. Rwanda and Uganda backed a rebellion against L-D Kabila's weak and corrupt government - a war dubbed "Africa's First World War" because of its similarities with what happened in Europe in 1914: nearly all the neighbouring countries and many armed non-state groups from the Congo as well as from other 'internal' wars of the Africa Great Lakes region (Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan). Troops mainly from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Chad and Angola secured the Kabila regime's survival, whereas Uganda's Museveni and Rwanda's Kagame were the primary backers of the rebellion. Rwanda justified intervention in Eastern DRC by security concerns over Interahamwe rebels based in that part of the country. But there were also very important economic motivations behind Rwanda's and Uganda's actions.</p> <p>In January 2001, L-D Kabila was assassinated by his bodyguards in circumstances that remain unclear, leaving his son Joseph in power.</p> <p>The war bore destructive effects on the already very weak political structures, especially the de facto division of the country between the western and southern parts, controlled by the Kabila government and its allies, and large territories in the north and the east occupied by various rebel organisations, militias and intervening armies from the neighbouring countries. Infighting and power struggles about the control of the mineral wealth within the respective territories in the rebel held parts have resulted in a humanitarian catastrophe. Almost 90% of the war victims are civilians, mostly victims of starvation, disease and criminal violence as a result of the complete lawlessness. Rape has been widely used as a weapon in this war.</p> <p>Although a peace deal signed in 2004 under South African auspices supposedly ended the "conventional" war, fighting continues in the east of the country between rebel militia, the Congolese army and UN MONUC-forces, causing many civilian casualties.</p> <p>Since the start of the transitional government in June 2003, armed groups linked to neighbouring countries and corrupt Congolese government officials have continued illicit economic exploitation in the country. A three-year investigation by a Panel of Experts, convened by the United Nations Security Council in 2000, found that sophisticated networks of high-level political, military and business persons in cahoots with various rebel groups were intentionally fuelling the conflict in order to retain their control over the country's natural resources. In a series of controversial reports, the Panel exposed the vicious cycle of resource-driven conflict that has taken hold of Congo.</p> <p>"There's a worldwide profit interest that the present plundering mechanism stays in place. There are an enormous number of people siphoning off Congo's resources. ... There's the Congo government elite, all kinds of European and North American firms, a huge number of African firms, and especially the elites from neighbouring countries. It's a very vast and complex network profiting from the war and its exploitation."</p> <p>In its October 2002 report, the Panel also accused dozens of western companies of violating a set of government-backed international standards for responsible corporate behaviour known as the "Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises". An April 2004 report by RAID (Rights &amp; Accountability in Development), examined the UN Panel's allegations against 40 companies and included additional evidence attesting to the companies' involvement in human rights violations, corruption and/or illegal resource exploitation. Most OECD governments refused to investigate the Panel's allegations and in the face of their inaction, international NGOs started to file complaints and public awareness campaigns under the name "No Blood on my Cell Phone", concerning the plunder of the very rare mineral coltan. About a dozen complaints alleging violations of the OECD "Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises" were submitted to the American, Belgian, British, and Dutch governments.</p> <p>"The government of the DRC must act promptly on the recommendations of a Congolese parliamentary investigation that uncovered illegal natural resource exploitation and profiteering from armed conflict", said a leading group of international human rights, environmental and aid organisations in July 2006.</p> <p>In June 2005 the Lutundula Commission, a special Congolese National Assembly commission led by the courageous parliamentarian Christophe Lutundula, submitted a report on its investigations into mining and other business contracts that rebels and government authorities signed between 1996 and 2003. It found that dozens of contracts are either illegal or of limited value for the development of the country and it recommends their termination or renegotiation. It further recommends judicial action against a number of senior political and corporate actors involved in these operations. "For years, Congo's politicians have struck deals that enrich themselves but provide no benefit to the Congolese public. Profits from such deals have often come at the cost of enormous suffering and loss of human lives", said the coalition of NGOs.</p> <p>The Lutundula Commission report draws attention to the ongoing illegal exploitation and recommends an immediate moratorium on the signing of new contracts until after the elections. While carrying out the investigation, some members of the commission were threatened and they found politicians, officials, and company executives unwilling to answer questions. Officials from the United Nations and the Belgian Senate, both of which had investigated natural resource extraction in the Congo between 2000 and 2003, withheld important information regarding some of the illegal deals, citing concerns over confidentiality.</p> <p>In its report, the commission corroborates the central findings of the UN Panel of Experts and other investigations, which concluded that belligerents were motivated by their desire to exploit Congo's mineral and economic wealth. Belligerents used some of their profits to finance further military operations that often involved widespread human rights abuses against civilians and violations of international humanitarian law.</p> <p>"The message of war and transition in Congo is that violence works. Without a firm response, the destructive effects of this lesson are very likely to be felt for a long time to come", explains Timothy Raeymaekers, a researcher working for the University of Ghent "Conflict Research Group". The author sees opportunities in improving the living conditions of the Congolese population by countering the systematic exploitation of Congo's resources by a small but powerful elite. They give concrete recommendations in the field of agricultural reform, the mining sector and economic integration. Plundering from illegal mining by government officials and the irregular militias has been running into billions a year. "This is money that must be used for the benefit of the Congolese people".</p> <p><i>Jan van Criekinge</i></p> <p>A longer version with sources has been published in WRI's warprofiteers-news email newsletter, available at http://wri-irg.org/pubs/warprof-0612.htm</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-programmes-projects--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Programmes &amp; Projects</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/8" hreflang="en">Nonviolence</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-countries--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-countries.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Countries</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">Congo, Democratic Republic of</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--comment--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--comment.html.twig * field--default--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--comment.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig x field--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--node--comment.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> <section class="comments"> <h2>Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=3163&amp;2=comment&amp;3=comment" token="DEGwCDrgOpD-c-LTfbN7x0w5zty9M3v8ioQaJkPvoJI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000 warresisters 3163 at https://wri-irg.org https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2007/congo-drc-and-war-profiteers#comments Campaign of the Month: No Blood in my Cell Phone https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2006/campaign-month-no-blood-my-cell-phone <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_entity_view' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_1col' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * ds-1col--node--515.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story.html.twig * ds-1col--node-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <div data-history-node-id="515" class="node node--type-story node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node-post-date---custom.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--node-post-date.html.twig * field--ds.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <time > 01 Dec 2006</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--body--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--body.html.twig * field--default--body--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--body.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig * field--node--body--story.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'entity_embed_container' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/entity_embed/templates/entity-embed-container.html.twig' --> </p><div alt="" data-embed-button="image_embed" data-entity-embed-display="image:responsive_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;responsive_image_style&quot;:&quot;body_inline_half&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b24fbeb4-68bc-48cb-b0d6-e419c4e9a284" title="" class="align-left embedded-entity" data-langcode="en"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img srcset="/sites/default/files/public_files/styles/large/public/images/jpg79ziTRH89g.thumbnail.jpg?itok=OB8qAKLm 1x" src="/sites/default/files/public_files/styles/large/public/images/jpg79ziTRH89g.thumbnail.jpg?itok=OB8qAKLm" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /><!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --><!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --><!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/entity_embed/templates/entity-embed-container.html.twig' --> <br /><p>Warring groups compete for rich resources. This includes gold, diamonds, copper, uranium, and perhaps most significantly, coltan. The DRC has 65 percent of the world’s coltan deposits. This mineral is valuable for production of electronic devices from cell phones to video game consoles.</p><br /><p>The way coltan reaches the market is very unsettling. The military, local militias and rebels are all involved in smuggling. Illicit profits fund these violent groups. Ironically, as a UN Panel of Experts pointed out, the conflict sometimes unites the warring parties by making them business partners. They use the same weapons dealers and middlemen.</p><br /><p>These middlemen buy directly from the smugglers and sell to major corporations. Thus, few profits benefit the DRC. In fact, the Congolese suffer greatly from the illegal digging. Unregulated mining damages the environment. Mine operators push people from resource rich areas. There are also reports of slave labor.</p> <p></p><p>In reaction, there is a "No blood on my cell phone!" campaign. Cell phone companies allegedly facilitate the exploitation, so people are urged not to buy cell phones made with coltan. The campaign has not stopped the mining yet, but it has increased global awareness of the issue. Now, the DRC government and foreign governments need to intervene.</p><br /><p>The Belgian air company Sabena is one of the means of transporting the mineral from Kigali (capital city of Rwanda) to Brussels, and associated to American Airlines, announced the suspension of the service, under strong pressure from the world campaign “No blood on my cell phone!” (or: “Pas de sang sur mon GSM”), exhorting people not to buy cell phones containing Coltan due to its repercussion on the prolongation of the civil war in the Congo. As a result of this campaign, the Belgian research institute International Peace Information Service (IPIS) produced a document in January 2002 <i>“Supporting the War Economy in the DRC: European Companies and the Coltan Trade,”</i> which documents the leading role played by the companies in promoting the war through their cooperation with the military and exhorting that the international consideration of the Coltan trade be given priority over its local aspects.</p><br /><p>The campaign is still working in lobbying and researching, but not so much with a public awareness campaign.</p><br /><p>The NGOs involved in this campaign are:</p> <ul><p></p><li><a href="http://www.congonline.com/">ASADHO - Katanga</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.broederlijkdelen.be/SharedPubli/WebObjects/SharedPubli.woa/wa/PDA/s?s=1000954">Broederlijk Delen</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.cenadep.net/">CENADEP</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.fataltransactions.org/intro/index.html">Fatal Transactions</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.foe.org/">Friends of the Earth - USA</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.globalwitness.org/">Global Witness</a></li><br /><li>GAERN</li><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0mm;" lang="" xml:lang="" xml:lang=""><a href="http://www.hrw.org/">Human Right Watch</a><br /></p><li><a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/">ICG</a></li> <p></p><li><a href="http://www.niza.nl/uk/">NIZA - Netherlands</a></li><br /><li>NDS</li><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0mm;" lang="" xml:lang="" xml:lang="">OCEAN<br /></p><li><a href="http://www.raid-uk.org/">RAID - UK</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/">The Rainforest Foundation</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-programmes-projects--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Programmes &amp; Projects</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/programme/war-profiteers" hreflang="en">War Profiteers</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-countries--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-countries.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Countries</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">Congo, Democratic Republic of</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--comment--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--comment.html.twig * field--default--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--comment.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig x field--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--node--comment.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> <section class="comments"> <h2>Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=515&amp;2=comment&amp;3=comment" token="zFdb00wyyMAyG0b_14nDOsCe0qR70lWU7gama6co570"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000 warresisters 515 at https://wri-irg.org https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2006/campaign-month-no-blood-my-cell-phone#comments War Profiteer of the Month: The Forrest Group https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2006/war-profiteer-month-forrest-group <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_entity_view' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_1col' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * ds-1col--node--512.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story.html.twig * ds-1col--node-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <div data-history-node-id="512" class="node node--type-story node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node-post-date---custom.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--node-post-date.html.twig * field--ds.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <time > 01 Dec 2006</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--body--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--body.html.twig * field--default--body--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--body.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig * field--node--body--story.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'entity_embed_container' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/entity_embed/templates/entity-embed-container.html.twig' --> </p><div alt="" data-embed-button="image_embed" data-entity-embed-display="image:responsive_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;responsive_image_style&quot;:&quot;body_inline_full&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="76ad43ac-4588-48b9-9893-1343e57716ee" title="" class="align-left embedded-entity" data-langcode="en"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img srcset="/system/files/styles/max_1300x1300/private/images/jpg58zDoMAlx0.jpg?itok=mk8MdLB1 1x" src="/system/files/styles/max_1300x1300/private/images/jpg58zDoMAlx0.jpg?itok=mk8MdLB1" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /><!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --><!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --><!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/entity_embed/templates/entity-embed-container.html.twig' --> <br /><p>There are many corporations profiteering in DRC; the mining industry is one of the most involved in the destabilization of the country.Following there is a list of some of these corporations, and from all of them we will highlight one: The Forrest Group</p><br /><p>The Forrest Group has the longest history of exploiting the Congo, gaining its first mining concessions before the Congo declared independence from the Belgians. The group, which includes the Ohio-based OM Group, has numerous concessions in Katanga (Shaba). Chairperson George Forrest is the former chair of the Congo’s state-owned mining firm Gecamines, and owner of the New Lachaussee, which is a Belgian leading manufacturer of cartridge casings, grenades, light weapons and cannon launchers. His empire also includes munitions/arms factories in Kenya and Tanzania.</p> <p></p><p>Until 1990 the government enterprise Gecamines, which owns all the mining rights in Katanga, was the government's money-spinner, providing at least one third of the government's income. The secret of this high profitability was that the ore was refined on a large scale in Congo itself, up to purity of 98%. This has changed dramatically for example nowadays Gecamines only produces 20.000 ton of copper while in 1985 it was 470.000 ton.</p><br /><p>Over the last 10 years art of Gecamines have gradually been privatized through joint ventures in which Gecamines contributed its mining rights and the private partners put up the money.</p><br /><p>In February, 2004, a contract was signed between Gecamines and British Virgin Islands - baed Kinross Forrest Limited, creating the Kamoto Join Venture and assigning 75% ownership to Kinross Forrest (based on a $200 million investment) and 25% to Gecamines. Georges Forrest International Afrique S.PRL owns 40% of Kinross Forrest, Kinross Forrest is now being taken over by Katanga Mining Limited, and what a surprise!, one of the board directors is George A. Forrest.</p><br /><p>Forrest owns the main mining contracts in the province of Katanga, which is overflowing with raw materials and has always made the largest contribution to the national treasury.</p><br /><p>Tricia Feeney from the UK-based NGO Raid said : "Forrest ensures that he is the only serious contractor in Katanga. Through his social network which he has built up during the last thirty years he has no need for clear rules, on the contrary. His competitive advantage is that he can function in an environment without clear directives."</p><br /><p>During the colonial times it was mainly the Belgians who profited from the soil of now DRC, during the Mobutu era it was <i>le president-fondateur</i> who stoled the money from the treasury. Will the rich subsoil finally provide a sound basis for rebuilding the country? The answer depends mainly on what will happen in the province of Katanga ,a province controlled by George Forrest.</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.forrestgroup.com">http://www.forrestgroup.com</a>/</p> <p></p><h3>List of other mining corporation profiteering in the DRC</h3><br /><ul><br /><li><a href="http://www.anglogold.com/">Anglo Gold Anshanti</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.metalor.com/">Metalor Technologies</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.banro.com/">Banro Corporation</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.goldfields.co.za">Goldfields</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.anvil.com.au">Anvil Mining</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.first-quantum.com">First Quantum Minerals</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.am-min.com">Adastra</a></li> <p></p><li><a href="http://www.metorexgroup.com">Metorex</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.motogoldmines.com">Moto Mines</a></li><br /></ul><p></p><h3>Other corporations in the DRC</h3><br /><h4><b>Bechtel in DRC</b></h4><br /><p>Bechtel was interested in winning business in the mineral-rich Congo and established an early and friendly relationship with the rebel leader Larent Kabila in 1997, before he took control of the whole country. Bechtel went one step further than many of its Western competitors involved in the Congo by supplying high-tech intelligence and offering to draw up a master development plan and inventory of the country's mineral resources free of charge. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company compiled, "the most complete mineralogical and geographical data of the DRC ever assembled, information worth a fortune to any prospective mining or oil firm." The company also commissioned and paid for NASA satellite studies of the country to develop detailed maps of the DRC's mineral potential." Robert Stewart, an executive representing Bechtel International Inc. became a trusted advisor to the Congolese leader, traveling the country with Kabila.</p><br /><p>Coincidentally, one year after Bechtel initially expressed interest in mapping the mineral date in the DRC, coltan was discovered in the eastern region. This mineral is used in cell phones, computers and high tech devices. Since the discovery of the mineral, rebel groups in the Congo have made hundreds of millions of dollars on the illicit sale of coltan to the US, Europe and Asia.</p><br /><p>Bechtel, a US aerospace &amp; construction company, provided satellite maps of reconnaissance photos of Mobutu’s troops for the ADFL invasion of Congo in 1996. The Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), led by Paul Kagame, the current Rwandan President graduate of the U.S. Army officers school at Fort Leavenworth, used Bechtel’s NASA maps to locate Rwandan Hutu civilians that fled the cataclysm in Rwanda in 1994. An estimated 800,000 refugees were hunted down and killed in the Congo’s forests. Bechtel’s friends in high places include former Secretary of State George Shultz (Board of Directors), former Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger (Bechtel Counsel) and retired USMC general Jack Sheehan (Senior Vice President), who is also a member of the Defense Policy Board at the Pentagon. Riley P. Bechtel is on the Board of J.P. Morgan. Bechtel’s Nexant Company is the prime contractor on the Uganda-Kenya pipeline project, believed to ultimately facilitate petroleum transport out of the Semliki Basin of Lake Albert.</p> <p></p><p><a href="http://www.bechtel.com/">http://www.bechtel.com/</a></p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-programmes-projects--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Programmes &amp; Projects</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/programme/war-profiteers" hreflang="en">War Profiteers</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-countries--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-countries.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Countries</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">Congo, Democratic Republic of</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-theme--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-theme--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-theme.html.twig * field--expert--field-theme--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-theme.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-theme--story.html.twig * field--node--field-theme.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-theme.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Theme</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/63" hreflang="en">arms trade</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-companies--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-companies--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-companies.html.twig * field--expert--field-companies--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-companies.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-companies--story.html.twig * field--node--field-companies.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-companies.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Companies</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/346" hreflang="en">Bechtel Corporation</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/363" hreflang="en">Gecamines</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/364" hreflang="en">New Lachaussee</a></span> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/357" hreflang="en">the Forrest Group</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--comment--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--comment.html.twig * field--default--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--comment.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig x field--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--node--comment.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> <section class="comments"> <h2>Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=512&amp;2=comment&amp;3=comment" token="-NDEQDn68Z85fkg9dxOSfXkA2xJLc6XKqSWx93D5MlQ"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000 warresisters 512 at https://wri-irg.org https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2006/war-profiteer-month-forrest-group#comments CONGO (DRC) and War Profiteers: a tragedy forgotten by the global peace movement? https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2006/congo-drc-and-war-profiteers-tragedy-forgotten-global-peace-movement <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_entity_view' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'ds_1col' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * ds-1col--node--509.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node-story.html.twig * ds-1col--node-rss.html.twig * ds-1col--node.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig x ds-1col.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <div data-history-node-id="509" class="node node--type-story node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node-post-date---custom.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--node-post-date.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date--story.html.twig * field--node--node-post-date.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--node-post-date.html.twig * field--ds.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <time > 01 Dec 2006</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--body--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--body.html.twig * field--default--body--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--body.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig * field--node--body--story.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'entity_embed_container' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/entity_embed/templates/entity-embed-container.html.twig' --> </p><div alt="" data-embed-button="image_embed" data-entity-embed-display="image:responsive_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;responsive_image_style&quot;:&quot;body_inline_half&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7d16548d-ddf6-4d85-a720-3c0a6ec23f9b" title="" class="align-left embedded-entity" data-langcode="en"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'responsive_image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img srcset="/sites/default/files/public_files/styles/large/public/images/jpgnvcpacq9P0.thumbnail.jpg?itok=RBzDSO3_ 1x" src="/sites/default/files/public_files/styles/large/public/images/jpgnvcpacq9P0.thumbnail.jpg?itok=RBzDSO3_" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /><!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --><!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image.html.twig' --><!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/responsive_image/templates/responsive-image-formatter.html.twig' --></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/entity_embed/templates/entity-embed-container.html.twig' --> <br /><p><b>By Jan Van Criekinge</b></p> <p></p><p>After decades of colonialism, dictatorship and wars, on Wednesday, 6 December 2006, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) swore in its first fair and freely elected president since independence from Belgium in 1960. "<i>This moment marks the beginning of a new era that must bring well-being and development to Congo's people</i>", said president Joseph Kabila (35) at his inauguration ceremony outside the presidential palace in the capital city Kinshasa. Kabila won the run-off presidential elections on 29 October 2006 with 58 percent of the votes, compared with about 42 percent for former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba. Although the new president has been accused of continuing a trend of corruption and ignoring human rights violations and other abuses by his new ‘republican’ FARDC-army, Kabila, is widely praised in Congo and abroad for bringing in a peace plan that finally ended the 1996-2002 period of wars.</p><br /><p>The six-year civil and international war in Congo that has killed more than four million people and displaced another two million may have ‘officially’ ended, but the dying has certainly not. Every day in Congo, a deadly combination of conflict-related atrocities (in which rape is widely used as a weapon by all parties involved), starvation, poverty and disease kills over 1,200 people. This conflict is for sure one of the most under-reported human tragedies of our lifetime, yet it is one of the most lethal since World War II.</p><br /><p>Decades of unrelenting violence, poverty, and disease have created what the United Nations has called the greatest humanitarian challenge now facing the world. Also it seems that the global peace movement has greatly neglected this bloody, but also very complex war, in which so many groups, countries and war profiteers are involved.</p><br /><p>Congo has a long history of plunder and war profiteering. Extremely rich in cobalt, diamonds, copper, gold and other rare minerals, Congo attracted the interest of the European imperialist powers only at the end of the 19th century. At the Conference of Berlin (1884-1885) the then Belgian king Leopold II succeeded in getting recognition for his claims over this enormous territory, right in the heart of the continent. In his personal name, the king created the so-called ‘Congo Free State’, in which a brutal exploitation of wild rubber, ivory and timber wood started soon. It is said that nearly the half of the population of the Congo Bassin disappeared between 1880 and 1920 as a direct or indirect result of this ruthless colonial plunder.</p> <p></p><p>Congo gained independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960 under president Kasavubu and the charismatic and popular prime minister Patrice Lumumba. There followed a period of great instability and foreign military intervention, including by the United Nations. The mineral-rich provinces of Katanga and South Kasai, with the active support of colonial companies and mercenaries, soon even declared their independence. In 1965 it was finally army colonel Joseph Mobutu’s second coup d’etat that marked the beginning of a 32 years rule by a western-backed dictator - he changed his own name to Mobutu Sese Seko and that of his country in Zaire. Mobutu and the elite around him plundered the nation's wealth so deeply that the corrupt system became commonly known as a ‘kleptocracy’. This system collapsed in May 1997 when the troops of lifelong rebel Laurent-Désiré Kabila, Joseph’s father, helped depose the already terminally ill Mobutu.</p><br /><p>L-D ‘Mzee’ Kabila could only seize power in Congo with the massive military support of Rwanda and Uganda and the use of child soldiers. On August 1998. Rwanda and Uganda backed a rebellion against L-D Kabila's weak and corrupt government - a war dubbed “Africa's First World War” because of its similarities with what happened in Europe in 1914: nearly all the neighbouring countries and many armed non-state groups from the Congo as well as from other 'internal' was of the Africa Great Lakes region (Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan). Troops mainly from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Chad and Angola secured the Kabila regime’s survival, whereas Uganda’s Museveni and Rwanda’s Kagame were the primary backers of the rebellion. Rwanda justified intervention in Eastern DRC by security concerns over Interahamwe rebels based in that part of the country. But there were also very important economic motivations behind Rwanda’s and Uganda’s actions.</p> <p></p><p>In January 2001, L-D Kabila was assassinated by his bodyguards in circumstances that remain unclear, leaving his son Joseph in power.</p><br /><p>The war bore destructive effects on the already very weak political structures, especially the de facto division of the country between the western and southern parts, controlled by the Kabila government and its allies, and large territories in the north and the east occupied by various rebel organisations, militias and intervening armies from the neighbouring countries. Infighting and power struggles about the control of the mineral wealth within the respective territories in the rebel held parts have resulted in a humanitarian catastrophe. Almost 90% of the war victims are civilians, mostly victims of starvation, disease and criminal violence as a result of the complete lawlessness. Rape has been widely used as a weapon in this war.</p><br /><p>Although a peace deal signed in 2004 under South African auspices supposedly ended the ‘conventional’ war, fighting continues in the east of the country between rebel militia, the Congolese army and UN MONUC-forces (1), causing many civilian casualties. But despite the fact that the death toll of the crisis in Congo dwarfs that of Darfur or the December 2004 tsunami, the conflict still rages on virtually unnoticed by the mainstream media or the general public.</p><br /><p>Since the start of the transitional government in June 2003, armed groups linked to neighbouring countries and corrupt Congolese government officials have continued illicit economic exploitation in the country. A three-year investigation by a Panel of Experts, convened by the United Nations Security Council in 2000, found that sophisticated networks of high-level political, military and business persons in cahoots with various rebel groups were intentionally fuelling the conflict in order to retain their control over the country’s natural resources. In a series of controversial reports, the Panel exposed the vicious cycle of resource-driven conflict that has taken hold of Congo.</p><br /><p><i>“There's a worldwide profit interest that the present plundering mechanism stays in place. There are an enormous number of people siphoning off Congo's resources. It's all laid out in reports every one can read on the Internet. There's the Congo government elite, all kinds of European and North American firms, a huge number of African firms, and especially the elites from neighbouring countries. It's a very vast and complex network profiting from the war and its exploitation.”</i></p><br /><p>In its October 2002 report, the Panel also accused dozens of western companies of violating a set of government-backed international standards for responsible corporate behaviour known as the ‘Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises’. The Panel felt it was necessary to bring to light the companies’ role in perpetuating the conflict. An April 2004 report by RAID (Rights &amp; Accountability in Development), <i>"Unanswered Questions: Companies, conflict and the Democratic Republic of Congo"</i>(2), examined the UN Panel’s allegations against 40 companies and included additional evidence attesting to the companies' involvement in human rights violations, corruption and/or illegal resource exploitation. Most OECD governments refused to investigate the Panel’s allegations and in the face of their inaction, international NGOs started to file complaints and public awareness campaigns under the name ‘No Blood on my Cell Phone’, concerning the plunder of the very rare mineral coltan (3). About a dozen complaints alleging violations of the OECD ‘Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises’ were submitted to the American, Belgian, British, and Dutch governments (4).</p> <p></p><p>“<i>The government of the DRC must act promptly on the recommendations of a Congolese parliamentary investigation that uncovered illegal natural resource exploitation and profiteering from armed conflict”</i>, said a leading group of international human rights, environmental and aid organisations in July 2006 (5).</p><br /><p>In June 2005 the Lutundula Commission, a special Congolese National Assembly commission led by the courageous parliamentarian Christophe Lutundula, submitted a report on its investigations into mining and other business contracts that rebels and government authorities signed between 1996 and 2003. The report found that dozens of contracts are either illegal or of limited value for the development of the country and it recommends their termination or renegotiation. It further recommends judicial action against a number of senior political and corporate actors involved in these operations. Discussion of the commission’s report by the National Assembly has already been postponed twice and due to a heavy parliamentary agenda, risks being further delayed. “<i>For years, Congo’s politicians have struck deals that enrich themselves but provide no benefit to the Congolese public. Profits from such deals have often come at the cost of enormous suffering and loss of human lives”</i>, said the coalition of NGOs.</p><br /><p>The Lutundula Commission report draws attention to the ongoing illegal exploitation and recommends an immediate moratorium on the signing of new contracts until after the elections. While carrying out the investigation, some members of the commission were threatened and they found politicians, officials, and company executives unwilling to answer questions. Officials from the United Nations and the Belgian Senate, both of which had investigated natural resource extraction in the Congo between 2000 and 2003, withheld important information regarding some of the illegal deals, citing concerns over confidentiality.</p><br /><p>In its report, the commission corroborates the central findings of the UN Panel of Experts and other investigations, which concluded that belligerents were motivated by their desire to exploit Congo’s mineral and economic wealth. Belligerents used some of their profits to finance further military operations that often involved widespread human rights abuses against civilians and violations of international humanitarian law.</p><br /><p><i>“The message of war and transition in Congo is that violence works. Without a firm response, the destructive effects of this lesson are very likely to be felt for a long time to come</i>”, explains Timothy Raeymaekers, a researcher working for the University of Ghent ‘Conflict Research Group’. The author see opportunities in improving the living conditions of the Congolese population by countering the systematic exploitation of Congo’s resources by a small but powerful elite. They give concrete recommendations in the field of agricultural reform, the mining sector and economic integration. Plundering from illegal mining by government officials and the irregular militias has been running into billions a year. <i>"This is money that must be used for the benefit of the Congolese people"</i> (6).</p> <h3>Notes:</h3> <p></p><p class="endnote">(1)MONUC: the French abbreviation of United Nations Mission in Congo. 17,500 UN troops are today deployed in Congo. There are also many civilians working for MONUC in Congo. It’s the largest and most expensive UN operation ever.</p><br /><p class="endnote">(2) <a href="http://www.raid-uk.org/docs/UN_panel_DRC/unanswered_Questions_ES.pdf">http://www.raid-uk.org/docs/UN_panel_DRC/unanswered_Questions_ES.pdf</a></p><br /><p class="endnote">(3) Coltan is the abbreviated name for columbo-tantalite, a rare metallic ore mainly used in mobile phone technology and laptop computers. Congo has 80 percent of the world's coltan, a strategic resource.<br /><br /> "The consumer may say 'yes, I do like using my mobile phone and playstation, but I don't particularly want to be complicit in child soldiers being used as slave labour in mines where the metals inside come from, and the plundering of Congo's resources”, said the campaign ‘No Blood on my Cell Phone’.</p><br /><p class="endnote">(4) The group of international and Congolese human rights, environmental and aid organisations (NGOs) includes:</p> <p></p><ul><br /><li class="endnote">Association Africaine de Droit de l'Homme (ASADHO-Katanga)</li><br /><li class="endnote">Broederlijk Delen /11.11.11 (Belgium)</li><br /><li class="endnote">Centre National D'Appui Au Developpement et à la Participation Populaire (CENADEP)</li><br /><li class="endnote">Fatal Transactions</li><br /><li class="endnote">Friends of the Earth-USA</li><br /><li class="endnote">Global Witness</li><br /><li class="endnote">Groupe d'Appui Aux Exploitants des Ressources Naturelles (GAERN)</li> <p></p><li class="endnote">Human Rights Watch</li><br /><li class="endnote">International Crisis Group (Brussels - ICG)</li><br /><li class="endnote">Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (NiZA - Netherlands)</li><br /><li class="endnote">Nouvelle Dynamique Syndicale (NDS)</li><br /><li class="endnote">Organisation Concertée des Ecologistes et Amis de la Nature (OCEAN)</li><br /><li class="endnote">Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID - UK)</li><br /><li class="endnote">The Rainforest Foundation (UK)</li><br /></ul><br /><p class="endnote">(5) Links between ongoing violent conflict in the Great Lakes region and the exploitation of natural resources including gold, diamonds, timber, ivory and coltan are well-documented in a series of United Nations Security Council Expert Panel Reports published between 2001 and 2003, as well as the June 2004 report by Global Witness, ‘Same Old Story’ as by many reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.</p> <p></p><p class="endnote">(6) Conflict Research Group (University of Ghent), ‘Conflict and social transformation in Eastern Congo’, Gent, 2005. This study presents a strong plea for the inclusion of local dynamics and local NGOs in the current transition process in Congo.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-programmes-projects--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects--story.html.twig * field--node--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-programmes-projects.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Programmes &amp; Projects</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/programme/war-profiteers" hreflang="en">War Profiteers</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--field-countries--rss.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--story.html.twig * field--expert--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--expert--story.html.twig * field--expert--field-countries.html.twig * field--expert.html.twig * field--ds-field-expert.html.twig * field--node--field-countries--story.html.twig * field--node--field-countries.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--field-countries.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <div class="field--label tags--label field-label-above">Countries</div> <div class="wri-main--tags"> <span class="rel-tag" > <a href="/en/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">Congo, Democratic Republic of</a></span> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-field-expert.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--comment--rss.html.twig * field--default--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--node--story.html.twig * field--default--node--comment.html.twig * field--default--comment--story.html.twig * field--default--story.html.twig * field--default--comment.html.twig * field--default.html.twig * field--theme-ds-field-default.html.twig x field--node--comment--story.html.twig * field--node--comment.html.twig * field--node--story.html.twig * field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> <section class="comments"> <h2>Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=509&amp;2=comment&amp;3=comment" token="MbGnYrv3dofMUQlwN5Ovl2LjIg7LUvjlVlWXStvxXQQ"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/wri_main/templates/field/field--node--comment--story.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-1col.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/ds/templates/ds-entity-view.html.twig' --> Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000 warresisters 509 at https://wri-irg.org https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2006/congo-drc-and-war-profiteers-tragedy-forgotten-global-peace-movement#comments