(Rapaport…April 17, 2001) A United Nations appointed panel investigating the plundering of resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) urged the UN Security Council to immediately declare an embargo on the import or export of diamonds, gold, timber and minerals from or to Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.
According to the five-member panel of experts who prepared the report, five key minerals – coltan, diamonds, copper, cobalt and gold – are being exploited by top military commanders in Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda to systematically exploit Congo’s resources along with a number of private companies, individuals and international criminal cartels. The illegal exploitation includes confiscation, extraction, forced monopoly and price-fixing.
According to the experts, the theft of Congo’s natural riches is fuelling the two- and-a-half year civil war and has turned into a lucrative business venture for all the combatants. “All the belligerents in one way or another are benefiting from the conflict,” panel chairman Safiatou Ba-N’Daw, a former Ivory Coast energy minister is quoted by the Associated Press as stating at a news conference. “The only losers are the Congolese people.”
The report also notes that the Rwandan and Ugandan presidents know about the exploitation and have failed to stop it. However, the panel said it would make no specific allegations about the presidents’ involvement until further investigation.
In addition to the embargo, the panel urged the 189 UN member states to freeze the financial assets of Congo’s rebel movements and those exploiting the country’s natural resources. It also called for an immediate arms embargo on rebel groups operating in Congo.
The panel, officially known as the Expert Panel on the Illegal Exportation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in the DRC, was formed at the request of the Security Council in June 2000. The group was established by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who forwarded the report to the Security Council. Fighting in the Congo has been going on since August 1998. A 1999 cease-fire signed by most combatants was never fully implemented.
The UN Security Council is expected to discuss the report on April 20.
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