UK Government to be Sued Over Congolese ‘Conflict Minerals’
July 30th, 2010In other news: Afghan Mineral Deposits Actually Worth $3 Trillion, Not $1 Trillion.
Via: Guardian:
Britain must answer in court claims that it is turning a blind eye to UK firms that trade in lucrative Congolese “conflict minerals”, a campaign group announced today.
The group, Global Witness, said the firms continued to buy minerals from rebel militias, prolonging a 12-year conflict. It planned to sue the government for failing to refer the firms for UN sanctions.
The move comes amid global efforts to halt the trade in rebel-controlled minerals such as tin, gold, and coltan, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where millions have died since civil war erupted in 1998.
“British companies have supported armed groups by purchasing minerals from areas under their control in the DRC,” Global Witness says in an application to the high court for a judicial review. “Despite this, the UK government has never put any of them forward for sanctions.”
It claimed that the British government was “acting unlawfully”, refusing to put forward individuals as well as firms. Some UK companies, known to have been trading in minerals sourced from the eastern DR Congo, should have been referred to the UN sanctions committee in 2008 and 2009, the campaigners said.
Gavin Hayman, campaigns director at Global Witness, said: “It is a sad day when we have to sue the UK government, but we hope this case will mark a turning point. The issues at stake have global significance for how wars are financed. These companies have profited from a brutal conflict, and should face UN sanctions – but sanctions are useless without a fair and clear government procedure for considering whether individuals or entities should be listed.”
