Due to be released in the next few days is a report prepared by a five-member panel into the possible illegal exploitation of the wealth of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during that nation's civil war, which raged for almost five years before ending earlier this year. The panel initially investigated the activities of the Congolese themselves in regard to smuggling, slavery, and illegal exportation of various minerals. But they also considered the actions of various other nations who found themselves as participants in DRC's civil fighting. In particular, the panel was concerned about the activities of Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda.

As the work of the panel progressed, it became apparent that there were also the dirty hands of several multinational corporations and individuals involved in the plunder of DRC. The panel examined the potential complicity of Western multinational companies and individuals in the illegal exploitation of gold, diamonds, coltan, cobalt and other minerals. Among other things, they found, as have all other investigators of the situation in DRC, that rape, murder, torture and other human rights abuses were part of the scramble to exploit Congo's wealth after the civil war erupted in 1998. And in October 2002, the U.N. panel accused 85 international corporations of breaching the standards of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) through their business activities.

Even though Western governments were made aware of the allegations, no government took the step of investigating or attempting to police any of these corporations. For example, coltan is a rare mineral derived from tantalum and it is a necessary element in virtually every computer, cell phone, and nuclear reactor on the planet; its value should be readily evident and the largest deposits in the world are in DRC. Investigators learned that the process necessary to extract this product generated social effects virtually the same as slavery. And yet rather than trying to police their corporations operating in DRC, Western nations lobbied the U.N. panel hard to have those companies' names removed from the "list of shame."

According to Patricia Feeney, of the Oxford-based advocacy group Rights and Accountability in Development, "many governments overtly or covertly exerted pressure on the panel and the Security Council to exonerate their companies."

In the report to be released this week, the cases against 48 of those corporations are said to be "resolved" although there is significant concern among critics about what "resolved" means. The other 37 corporations will not be named.

Apparently, the U.N. panel had significant internal debate about naming names and, in the end, removed the sections of their report that would have brought to light the names of these alleged malefactors. The offending part of the report is being made available to the Security Council where it is expected to be debated on October 30. Unfortunately, it is probably a safe bet that most of the 37 unnamed companies are domiciled in the member nations of the Security Council, most likely in one of the five permanent members. A public airing of this laundry does not seem to be in the cards given the enormous pressure already exerted by U.N. members to exonerate the offending companies.

It is very disturbing that persistent rumors are rife at the U.N. which state that the deleted section of the report includes details on how networks of business and military figures, some with ties to the governments of Rwanda and Uganda, are continuing to export gold, diamonds and minerals illegally from eastern DRC. There are hints of connections to other national government figures as well, including the United States and Canada.

The main reason given for the withholding of this crucial section of the panel's report is fears that its release might jeopardize the peace process in Congo. DRC has embarked on a transitional government comprised of the former national government, opposition groups, and members of several rebel militia groups in an extraordinary example of cooperation against all hope.

As someone who has covered the story of Congo's civil war and the emergence from it, it is hard to imagine how placing the blame on foreign nationals and companies could jeopardize the peace. Properly attributing blame that belongs to others is more likely to support the resolve of the Congolese to make the peace work; this peace has been largely the result of the will of the Congolese themselves to put their troubles behind them.

Indeed, the Western media consistently reported, when they noticed at all, that the civil war in DRC was the result of tribalism, an African conflict by Africans themselves. That is largely fiction. Although there are tribal conflicts and the normal strains of pastoral versus farming communities in DRC, the civil war arose out of the machinations of various outside parties: Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and the numerous multinational corporations and individuals who have their fingers in the huge mineral wealth of DRC. Citizens of Germany, Canada, Britain, France, and the United States are well-known players in Congo and there is good reason to suspect that a frank and honest inquiry into what has occurred during the past five years in DRC would point fingers in some very uncomfortable directions.

It is of interest, then, that the U.N. panel also proposed monitoring who bought and sold weapons for use in the civil war in contravention of arms embargos. The result of that proposal is that the panel's mandate expires at the end of October, at the insistence of the United States. Read into that whatever you wish.

[Paul Harris is self-employed as a consultant providing businesses with the tools and expertise to reintegrate their sick or injured employees into the workplace. Canadian businesses can reach him at paul@working-solutions.ca. He has traveled extensively in what is usually known as "the Third World" and has an abiding interest in history, social justice, morality and, well, just about everything. Paul is also a freelance writer and can be reached at paul@escritoire.ca. He lives in Canada.]

Paul Harris encourages your comments: pharris@YellowTimes.org

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