Blood Phones and the Congo

[polly7]

By Kwei Quartey

Source: Foreign Policy in Focus

Monday, April 08, 2013

The array of names by which the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been known over the years—the Congo Free State, the Belgian Congo, and Zaire, among others—bespeaks its long history of exploitation and conflict. In the ongoing fallout from the Second Congo War alone, well over 5 million people have been killed—approximately the population of Minnesota and approaching the number of Jews killed in the Holocuast. Even now, a deadly assortment of militias, M23 and Mai Mai prominent among them, continues to fight in the eastern DRC, where reports abound of horrifying acts of murder and rape in towns such as Goma, capital of North Kivu province on the border with Rwanda.

Although most of the developed world has long been unburdened with knowledge of the violence in the DRC, the slaughter is intricately linked to electronic components carried by millions of people in the United States and Europe. The tantalum capacitor is a reliable and stable component of electronic circuitry found in smartphones, DVD players, video game systems, laptops and tablets, hearing aids, pacemakers, and jet engines. Tantalum is extracted from coltan, short for columbite-tantalite, which is a dull, black, metallic ore mined in the DRC. Artisanal and small-scale miners do the work in filthy, dangerous, and taxing conditions. At the bottom of the supply chain, these workers earn a pittance, but the mining is often their sole income source.

In Goma and other eastern Congo towns close to Rwanda, coltan and conflict go hand in hand. Revenue from the mineral trade fuels the war. A 2001 UN Panel of Inquiry stated: “Here lies the vicious circle of the war. Coltan has permitted the Rwandan army to sustain its presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

Harsh public criticism of Apple and other manufacturers for essentially selling the public “blood phones” containing the conflict mineral coltan has forced electronics companies like Nokia to take a position. Although a 2010 off-the-cuff comment by Steve Jobs calling the conflict mineral trade “a very serious problem”—but seeming to dismiss it—was less than satisfactory, the Enough Project, which has been ranking companies by how well they keep conflict minerals out of their supply chains, has since shown that Apple and three other leading companies – Intel, Motorola Solutions, and HP – have been pioneers of progress. In its 2012 corporate rankings report, Enough states that “a majority of leading consumer electronics companies have moved ahead in addressing conflict minerals in their supply chains—spurred by the conflict minerals provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and growing consumer activism, particularly on college campuses.”

Full Article: http://www.zcommunications.org/blood-phones-and-the-congo-by-kwei-quartey

[JustAnotherGen]

1. Be aware

That the key issue here is - there is no standard. And no reliable way to make DRC adhere.

Weekly Global calls take place every Wednesday (I participate for my major American Wireless employer) with all of the players involved in the supply chain - from Apple, to Best Buy, to Nokia, etc. etc.


From a US Perspective Dodd Frank calls on us to do better. But we are only as good as the inspectors and the folks who declare the country of origin AND method of origin. Tough spot.

And one more real killer in the supply chain mix - The Western Consumer. And yep - the Asian/South East Asian Consumer (think China and India). No one cares.

I could provide a dissertation at D.U. on this issue because it's one that I'm as passionate and angry about as the issue of 'slavery and the slaves' who make the devices abroad.

But you can't get a 'brand' person to back down. If they are a Samsung or an Apple they just want their latest, greatest, funkiest, coolest -

And the most liberal and progressive of people back away from their 'ideals' the minute they realize it would impact their ability to be at DU on thier latest and greatest tablet/ipad.

And the next thing that I think shows how 'weak' we are is that greek chorus that chants " But whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy can't we just get rid of cell phones and go back to land lines that's what I do and I'm superior."


Okay -Grow up! That train left the station in 1998 and it's not coming back so cope/live/change the world you live in now - not the one you lived in circa 1994.

And as for circa 1994 -did you know that even Rwanda is in on this 'game'. Yep - but we won't say boo these metals into their country and slapping a Rwanda label on it . . . because we turned our eyes away from there 19 years ago.


The best the"down stream" industry can do is not let this go.


And thanks polly7 - we need a post a day about this issue.

Have you ever watched The Story of Stuff? It's a quick snapshot of consumerism and global impact.

[polly7]

3. Thanks so much for all of this, JustAnotherGen. Very interesting and informative.

I haven't watched 'The Story of Stuff' but will definitely give it a go.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. Your welcome

I really really want the 'business' to do/be better on this.

But it's not just cell phones. See respondent below. Unless we are willing to give up ALL electronics - one is still part of the chain.

[BlueToTheBone]

2. I quit using cell phones 3 years ago

because I couldn't bear the thought of the blood dripping with each word I uttered. Sure, it's inconvenient when I'm at the store and I can't remember if we have mayo or mustard...but really. That's worth a human life? I couldn't justify it at all.

I do understand people's use of cell phones; when I traveled and had a business, I needed that phone to be in two places at once and I used it all the time. I'm prolly one of the last land line users left. lol But I do suggest not updating every time there is a new model out there.