Member Article

For far too long, Africa has been plagued by the demon of conflict minerals, which have played a key role in fuelling conflict and extensive human rights violations. The terrible scenes in Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remain vivid in the mind.

In the history of conflict minerals, diamonds occupy the highest spot. They are valuable, portable and easily tradeable. So-called "blood diamonds" have fuelled terrible human rights violations and the overthrow of many African governments.

To tackle the monster of conflict diamonds, southern African diamond-producing states met in Kimberley, South Africa, in 2000 to seek ways to prevent their trade.

By November 2002, negotiations between governments, the international diamond industry and civil society organisations resulted in the creation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).

KPCS, comprising 81 countries, imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as "conflict-free" and prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade.

The reality is that the war on conflict minerals was not won in Kimberley. Despite much progress and the internationalisation of KPCS, conflict diamonds continue to be traded informally.

As if this is not enough, the trade of the conflict minerals tantalum, tungsten, tin, gold and their derivatives (commonly referred to as the 3TG) remain uniformly unregulated at an international level and the injustice flowing from their illicit trade is a major security and humanitarian issue. Of particular concern is that the trade of 3TG not only provides profit for armed groups that is derived from direct participation in, control of and extortion from mineral mining, but 3TG are often mined under very poor and dangerous conditions and they underpin an extensive informal, and often illicit-market, cross-border trade.

The DRC is plagued by the issue of conflict minerals, especially 3TG. This is despite the fact that the DRC contributes a very small percentage of 3TG to the global market.

Large numbers of civilians in war-torn areas of the DRC are victims of horrific sexual violence, mutilation and sexual slavery carried out by armed groups spurred by the desire to obtain 3TG. The impact and outflows of this illicit trade have extended beyond the DRC and present a security threat and humanitarian issue to countries in the region.

Demand for 3TG is on the rise, which is no surprise because they are used in globally manufactured goods across many industries, including aerospace, appliances, automotive, electronics, jewellery, medical, and tool and dye industries. These 3TG, in turn, supply a high-value global commodities trade that provides crucial inputs for a wide variety of industries and manufacturers.

Efforts have been made to address the humanitarian crisis associated with conflict minerals in the form of investigations by the United Nations and governmental, academic and non-governmental institutions. These investigations considered the full range of factors associated with conflict mineral dynamics, including the production, commercial and profit structure of the trade-patterns of untaxed, fraudulent and otherwise illicit cross-border mineral shipments-trade routes in and out of the region. The value of these reports cannot be overstated. However, these initiatives have not led to any real move by states at an international level to rally and form a KPCS equivalent for regulation.

The United States (US) has enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires US companies to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission on their use of conflict minerals sourced from the DRC and surrounding regions. The act draws a distinction between public and private companies. Public companies must disclose their use of conflict minerals if those minerals are necessary for the functionality or production of a product to be manufactured by them or a contracted company. Private companies must provide information regarding the source and chain of custody of conflict minerals in their products to customers who are required to comply with the rule.

Despite the argued deterrent effect of the disclosure required under the act, there has been criticism that the legislation does not place a ban on or provide for a penalty for the use of conflict minerals. In addition, only companies operating in the US are legally bound to comply.

The trade of conflict minerals requires a stand, not only from the US but from the international community as a whole. On its own, the US does not possess the power to halt the trade of conflict minerals.

In 2013, the global trade of 3TG was worth in excess of ?123-billion and the European Union accounted for almost a quarter of this trade. There are no systems in place to detect the prevalence of conflict minerals and no regulatory framework to bar them.

The reality is that there has been a decline in mineral exports from the DRC and adjoining countries in past years. However, given the continued trade of conflict minerals and the associated gross human rights violations, it is essential that the international community co-operate and wage war against the illicit trade of 3TG because African nations are bleeding.