The Congo Tribunal

Keywords

artisanal mining

1.2

"Even though cruel crimes happen every day, the conscience of the world community remains untouched."

Sylvestre Bisimwa (investigator-in-charge, Bukavu / Berlin) was a lawyer in a mass rape trial committed by the Congolese army in the city of Minova. It is, at present, the only process of this kind. He acts regularly as lawyer for the International Court of Justice in Den Haag.

chairman Bukavu Berlin armed groups FDLR Mai-Mai Rebels Sheka MONUSCO United Nations DR Congo government impunity human rights mining mandate World Bank artisanal mining Dodd-Frank Act Banro MPC / Alphamin

2.4

"The current mining legislation in the DR Congo is simply the French version of what was written by the World Bank."

Vital Kamerhe (witness and expert, Bukavu / Berlin) is a well-known politician in the DR Congo and presidential candidate. He is considered one of the most severe critic of the government of Joseph Kabila, for whom he worked as political advisor.

witness Bukavu Berlin mining contracts Kabila World Bank mining mandate China artisanal mining

2.6

"The corporations have been successful in circumventing the existing laws."

Saskia Sassen (member of the jury, Berlin) sociologist, economist and one of the harshest critics of globalization. She examines the destruction of civil societies as an intrinsic necessity of globalisation.

member of the jury Berlin artisanal mining local population multinational companies mining contracts expulsion human rights

3.1

"When the government stopped mining to fight the armed groups, we became unemployed."

Stéphane Ikandi (witness, Bukavu) represents artisanal miners from Bisie and fights for the rights for artisanal miners. He discovered the mine and is the co-founder of the cooperative COMIMPA. In 2011, he had to give up his pit.

witness Bukavu artisanal mining industrial mining expulsion armed groups FARDC MPC / Alphamin mining contracts FDLR local population

3.3

"According to Congolese law, artisanal and industrial mining may not be under the same concession."

Nadine Lusi (witness, Bukavu) is the development and PR commissioner of the Canadian Alphamin Ressource Corporation. The corporation operates in the mine of Bisie.

witness Bukavu NGOs industrial mining artisanal mining MPC / Alphamin Dodd-Frank Act mining contracts DR Congo government local population multinational companies

3.6

"Eastern Congo was an Eldorado for national and international actors during the war."

Christoph Vogel (witness and expert, Berlin) researches the cooperation between transnational regulation and the local mining sector in Eastern Congo as a part of his PhD in political Geograph at the University of Zürich and at the Congo Research Group at the New York University.

witness Berlin artisanal mining Dodd-Frank Act regulation traceability commodity certification Sheka armed groups commodity smuggling

5.1

"The big companies will leave us a soil without resources."

Prince Kihangi (member of the jury, Bukavu) is a lawyer and one of the leading experts on the governance of natural resources in the Great Lakes region. He is the spokesman of the civil association of Walikale (province of North Kivu). Therefore he takes part in all negotiations between the villagers, the government and the big companies from this region. He is considered to be one of the harshest critics of the Dodd-Franck Act.

member of the jury Bukavu human rights multinational companies Banro MPC / Alphamin artisanal mining Protection of the civilian population local population industrial mining commodity certification mining contracts corruption

6.2

"If the government is corrupt, the corporations will not be able to help us with industrialization either."

member of the jury Bukavu artisanal mining local population industrial mining MPC / Alphamin multinational companies commodity certification mining contracts corruption

6.5

"The measures to improve mining have ultimately led to fraud."

Zacharie Bulakali (expert) is an expert in artisanal and industrial mining in the DR Congo. He acts as a liaison officer between the local civil society organizations and the Congolese mining authorities. He heads various research projects in the Great Lakes region.

expert Belgium Mobutu Rwanda Sominki artisanal mining Dodd-Frank Act traceability commodity certification Banro Mai-Mai Rebels

6.7

"My daily struggle takes place in the negotiations between the companies and the local population."

Gilbert Kalinda (member of the jury, Bukavu) is an attorney and deputy in Walikale. He was a member of a cooperative of regional miners until he decided to accept the mandate of the multinational company MagMinerals Potasses Congo (MPC). In his opinion, industrial extraction of raw materials is the only opportunity for the region.

member of the jury Bukavu artisanal mining local population industrial mining multinational companies MPC / Alphamin