Raw materials at any price
Government in Congo ignores human rights in mining
September 12, 2023, 8:46 a.m
Raw materials from the Congo are in demand in western countries; many everyday products would not exist without them. According to a report, they are being dismantled under catastrophic conditions. People are simply relocated or mistreated – the country’s government supports the system, according to the accusation.
Human rights organizations denounce massive human rights violations in connection with mining projects by multinational companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The expansion of industrial cobalt and copper ore mines in the country has led to illegal evictions, sexual violence, arson and mistreatment a report by Amnesty International and the non-governmental organization Initiative pour la Bonne Gouvernance et les Droits Humains (IBGDH).
“The state-sponsored illegal evictions in the course of the industrial extraction of copper and cobalt ore are destroying countless lives,” said Kristina Hatas, business and human rights expert at Amnesty International in Germany.
“Many people in the Democratic Republic of Congo were cruelly exploited and mistreated in the colonial and post-colonial periods.” To this day, their rights are ignored and benefits from local mineral resources are withheld from them, she added.
Raw materials from the Democratic Republic of Congo played a central role in the energy transition, said Hatas. “But climate justice requires a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy that respects human rights.” The decarbonization of the global economy must not be carried out at the expense of local people and their rights must not be trampled on, she added. Cobalt is needed for the production of solar cells and batteries.
According to the NGOs, in Kolwezi in the Lualaba province, around 39,000 people in the Cité Gécamines district alone have been affected by the destruction of their neighborhood since a huge copper and cobalt ore open-cast mine resumed operations in 2015.