The Congo is a land at the centre of numerous conflicts generated by the competition to exploit its rich forest and mineral resources. The mining of Coltan, an essential mineral for the hi-tech industry used in mobile phones and electronics, has not benefited local communities - on the contrary, their lands have been seized, Coltan smuggling likely provides income for the military occupation of Congo and the proceeds of mining have financed civil war, the environmental impacts are negative and citizens’ rights are seriously at risk, not to forget children’s labor is largely common. Eastern Mountain Gorilla populations are also now endangered as miners kill the gorillas for bushmeat. The Initiative by 2004 by RAID and Friends of the Earth US to render chemical North-American multinationals accountable didn’t succeed. The priest Vincent Machozi was shot dead on March 20th 2016. He was denouncing the mass killing of the Nande community, the main ethnic group in Beni-Lubero territory. This community continues decrying the on-going arbitrary killings and land dispossessions they endure. However, the multiple issues around the Coltan mining in the DR of Congo remain hard to challenge due to the political very precarious situation of the country and the persistent denial by the international community to face the problem. |