Rights & Accountability in Development

Association Canadienne contre l'impunité (ACCI)

2010-11-19T13:40:00.000-08:00

On 8th November 2010, an association representing Congolese citizens filed a class action in a Montreal court against the Canadian company, Anvil Mining Limited. Over the past 6 years, RAID has investigated and extensively documented the events that occurred in the Kilwa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in October 2004. Patricia Feeney, RAID's Executive Director, is the President of the newly created Association canadienne contre l’impunité (ACCI – Canadian Association Against Impunity), whose members include families of the victims of the Kilwa massacre, Global Witness, Congolese and Canadian NGOs. The purpose of the Association is to help the families seek a remedy from the Superior Court in Quebec against Anvil Mining Limited, a company, that by providing transport and other logistical support to the Congolese Armed Forces, allegedly enabled soldiers to perpetrate a massacre and carry out other human rights violations against the civilian population.

The law firm McCarthy Tétrault will represent Anvil Mining Limited.

I

“Precedent for extraterritoriality - Canadian justice for Congolese victims”

2010-11-15T10:54:00.000-08:00

Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) and Global Witness are inviting the academic and human rights community to a discussion around the class action filed against Anvil Mining Limited on 8 November 2010 by relatives of victims and survivors of the Kilwa massacre. The claimants allege that the company, by providing logistical assistance, played a role in human rights abuses, including the massacre by the Congolese military of more than 70 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2004. For more information please see the press release.

Date: Thursday, 18th November 2010
Time: 4.30 pm
Location: Doughty Street Chambers, 54 Doughty Street, London, WC1N 2LS http://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/about_chambers/contact_us/location_map.cfm

The Congolese citizens are supported by RAID, Global Witness, and Canadian and Congolese NGOs in bringing the claim. The plaintiff is represented by the law firm Trudel and Johnston.

Members of the Panel will include:
Chair: Richard Hermer (Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers - to be confirmed)
Speakers: Tricia Feeney (Executive Director, RAID), Seema Joshi (Legal Advisor, Global Witness), Richard Meeran (Partner, Leigh Day and Co.) and Bruce Johnston (Partner, Trudel and Johnston)

The discussion will include a focus on the events that happened in Kilwa in October 2004 and the quest for justice. Particulars relating to the Canadian class action application will be discussed as well as the wider significance of this case and its implication for corporate accountability globally.

The discussion will be followed by a drink reception.

This event is by invitation only. As spaces are limited, please RSVP by Tuesday, 16 November to eivolunteer@globalwitness.org. If you have any queries about the event, please call Blanka Geszti on 020 7492 5846 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 020 7492 5846 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or Seema Joshi on 079 1251 7126.

RAID's Director a Panellist at NHRI Conference in Edinburgh

2010-09-24T01:11:00.000-07:00

The International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)will host a panel event on the current review of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Confirmed panellists include:

*
Roel Nieuwenkamp, Chair of the Working Party, OECD Investment Committee
*
Tricia Feeney, of RAID (Rights and Accountability in Development) and a founding member of OECD Watch
*
Dr Claire Methven O'Brien, Coordinator, ICC Working Group on Business and Human Rights
*
Speaker from UK National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines

The discussion will be chaired by Dr Jonas Christoffersen, Director of Danish Institute for Human Rights and Chair of the ICC Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

The event is organised to stimulate discussion amongst NHRIs regarding the current Guidelines review and reflect on potential roles and opportunities for NHRIs within the Guidelines framework.

The panel will take place 9 October 2010, from 1:30-3 PM in the Scottish Parliament. The panel is held as a side event to the 10th ICC Biennial International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions.

http://www.humanrightsbusiness.org/?f=news

Human Rights and Natural Resource Training in Lubumbashi

2010-09-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

During the month of August 2011 RAID ran a human rights and natural resources training programme in Lubumbashi for NGOs from different provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The three-week intensive programme was funded by the Open Society Institute for Southern Africa (OSISA). RAID's Congolese partners, Southern Africa Revenue Watch (SARW) and Action Contre l'Impunite pour les Droits Humains (ACIDH,) provided facilitators and expert speakers.

The programme took place in the Centre de Retraite, "Les Buissonets", in the Tabac quarter of Lubumbashi. The twenty-nine participants were introduced to international human rights instruments and the Congolese legal framework including the Mining Code and Forest Code. A central focus of the programme was on research methods and the participants undertook field work in selected mining sites in Katanga. Speakers included Alexis Mikanji, the head of the Centre d'évaluation d'expertise et de certification des substances minérales précieuses et semi-précieuses (Ceec, Congo's Regulatory Mining Body); Jean Pierre Muteba, a civil society representative on the Executive Committee of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI;) Maitre Georges Kapiamba, the Deputy Director of ASADHO and a leading human rights lawyer; Maitre Marc Walu of MONUSCO's human rights division; and Professor Arthur Kaniki, an environmental expert at the University of Lubumbashi. The final part of the programme was devoted to advocacy. At the end of the programme the participants presented their research findings, which will be published on OSISA's website.

Lively Debate in Katanga About Chinese Companies in Katanga

2009-10-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

RAID’s latest report ‘Chinese Mining Companies in Katanga’ was the subject of a lively radio discussion on Radio Okapi (the local UN-run radio station) on 8 October 2009. Jean Pierre Okenda, a member of RAID’s research team, participated in a debate with H. E. Ferdinand Kambere , the Congolese Minister of Labour and Social Welfare ( l’emploi et prévoyance sociale) and the Vice President of the Employers Federation of Katanga. The Minister congratulated RAID on its report. The debate can be heard on: http://www.radiookapi.net/files/audio_file_17951.mp3

See also: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6871943.ece

And; African Mining Intelligence, 14/10/09: RAID Singles Out Chinese Firms for Criticismhttp://www.africaintelligence.com/C/modules/login/DetailArt/ LoginDetailArt.asp?rub=login&lang=ang&service=ART&context=HIS&doc_i_id=71540545

And: China Labour Net 'Survey Confirms Widespread Abuse by Chinese Mining Companies in the Congo': available at: http://www.worldlabour.org/eng/node/259

Gecamines' Botched Redundancy Scheme Subject of a Complaint to the World Bank's Inspection Panel

2009-10-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

The Inspection Panel is investigating claims by former Gecamines' staff, who were made redundant in 2003- 2004 under the Departs Volontaires Programme that the World Bank had contravened Congolese Labour laws and deprived them of their entitlements to back pay and other benefits. The Requesters, former miners from the district of Likasi in Katanga, further allege that the economic reintegration programme was poorly conceived, limited and ineffectual. As a result their standard of living has sharply declined and they have been left impoverished; their family units have been destroyed; there have been negative impacts on their children with young girls slipping into prostitution and juvenile deliquency among boys; school enrollment rates have fallen; famine and malnutrition is widespread because most families can only afford to eat one meal a day; there has also been an increase in morbidity and mortality rates due to the withdrawal of the medical care formally provided by Gecamines.

See http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTINSPECTIONPANEL/0,,contentMDK:22100547~menuPK:64129250~pagePK:64129751~piPK:64128378~theSitePK:380794~isCURL:Y,00.html

Access to Justice and Natural Resources in the Congo

2009-10-05T03:14:00.000-07:00

On 21st September 2009, RAID’s Director, Patricia Feeney, was a speaker at an event on business and human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo, held by the IBA and International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC). The event followed the release of a report, Rebuilding courts and trust, in August 2009. The debate explored the exploitation of natural resources, incidences of sexual violence, and the needs and failings of the justice system. With more than 80 participants, from NGOs, governments and private firms, the evening explored some difficult and poignant questions on the troubled state. You can listen to or watch Patricia Feeney’s contribution at:

http://www.ibanet.org/Human_Rights_Institute/Work_by_regions/Africa/Debate_DRC.aspx

RAID Event April 2008

2008-10-23T08:45:00.001-07:00

Les informations distillées au compte-gouttes et les tractations douteuses affaiblissent le processus de revisitation des contrats miniers.

2008-08-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Les informations distillées au compte-gouttes et les tractations douteuses affaiblissent le processus de revisitation des contrats miniers.

À la veille du commencement des renégociations promises des contrats miniers en République démocratique du Congo (RDC), des organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) congolaises et internationales appellent aujourd'hui le gouvernement de la RDC à rompre le silence sur cette renégociation des contrats miniers. Le gouvernement n’a fourni aucun calendrier ni critère précis concernant les négociations avec les sociétés minières. Le contenu et la publication des termes de référence, promis par le Vice-Ministre des Mines aux compagnies minières privées, demeurent nébuleux.

"La phase finale de la revisitation des contrats miniers a commencé il y a quatre mois et la société civile est tenue complètement dans l'ignorance de ce qui se passe", a déclaré Jean-Claude Katende, Président de l’organisation congolaise des droits de l'homme ASADHO. « Le gouvernement de la RDC a le devoir d'expliquer au Parlement ce qui se passe étant donné l'importance cruciale des négociations pour la vie et les aspirations du peuple congolais. »

Le manque d’informations actuel contraste avec les déclarations publiques émises presque quotidiennes de Victor Kasongo, le Vice-Ministre des Mines, lors de la Conférence minière qui s’est tenue au Cap en février dernier. Les choses ont été beaucoup plus calmes depuis le mois de mars lorsque le Ministère des Mines a annoncé que les négociations avec les sociétés minières seraient dirigées par une « task force » composée de ministres hauts placés du gouvernement. Les doutes sur l'indépendance et l'efficacité du processus se sont intensifiés à la suite de nouvelles selon lesquelles le gouvernement de la RDC aurait refusé toute offre d'assistance internationale et aurait renoncé aux propositions visant à mettre sur pied un groupe d'experts techniques et juridiques chargé de conseiller la task force.

« Tout le monde n’est pas sur un même pied d’égalité. Le gouvernement de la RDC tente de bloquer certains nouveaux contrats mais en appuie d’autres qui concernent de grandes concessions minières, comme le rachat de la mine de Kamoto par Nikanor », a déclaré Patricia Feeney, la directrice exécutive de RAID.

Dan Gertler, qui continue de renforcer l’emprise de ses compagnies sur les ressources clés du Katanga, à savoir le cuivre et le cobalt, a annoncé un accord de principe sur l’acquisition d’une participation de 25 pour cent dans Anvil Mining Limited.

Des groupes de la société civile congolaise et internationale font campagne depuis longtemps pour une renégociation équitable et complète des contrats miniers. En mars 2008, les ONG ont salué la publication du rapport de la Commission mais ont fait part de leur mécontentement face aux retards, aux procédures confuses et au black-out médiatique qui ont sapé la confiance du public dans la renégociation. Plus récemment, la Conférence épiscopale nationale du Congo (Cenco) a publiquement réaffirmé qu’elle était disposée à prendre part à la Commission de renégociation ad hoc du gouvernement.

« Dans un esprit d'équité et de responsabilité publique, le transfert des droits miniers devrait être reporté jusqu'à la conclusion du processus d’examen et de renégociation », a souligné Gavin Hayman, le Directeur de campagne de Global Witness. « Comment les Congolais savent-ils qu’ils auront un bon accord ? »

Les ONG ont exhorté le gouvernement congolais à :

- Expliquer l’évolution des négociations et comment les préoccupations d’intérêt public sont rencontrées ;
- Publier tous les contrats renégociés ;
- Confirmer les contrats qui sont annulés à la suite du processus d’examen et expliquer quand et comment l'annulation entre en vigueur ;
- Faire des efforts supplémentaires pour connaître le point de vue de la société civile et celui des populations locales touchées par des contrats spécifiques dans le cadre du processus de renégociation, compte tenu de leur participation insuffisante au processus d'examen.
- Faciliter la création d'un organe ad hoc indépendant, composé de représentants de la société civile suffisamment qualifiés, d’avocats indépendants et autres personnes, qui contrôlerait le processus de renégociation et présenterait ouvertement son point de vue et ses recommandations au gouvernement.

Les ONG ont appelé les gouvernements bailleurs de fonds et les organisations intergouvernementales à:

- Insister auprès du gouvernement de la RDC pour rendre publiques les informations sur le processus de renégociation.
- Inciter les sociétés minières à clarifier les nouveaux termes qui ont été convenus.

Signataires :

11.11.11
ACIDH
ASADHO
Broederlijk Delen
Bukavu Sud Kivu La Commission Environnement, Gouvernance des Ressources Naturelles et Droits des Peuples Autochtones/ Bureau de Coordination de la Société Civile du Sud Kivu
CENADEP Antenne du Kivu
CENADEP
CODELT
Fatal Transactions
Global Witness
Héritiers de la Justice
NDS
OCEAN
Réseau CREF
Rights and Accountability in Development
Reseau Ressources Naturelles

Pour de plus amples informations, veuillez contacter :

Jean Claude Katenge, ASADHO +243 997 032 984
Ruth Beeckmans, Broederlijk Delen +32 486 799 626
Lizzie Parsons, Global Witness +44 207 561 6365
Tricia Feeney, RAID +44 1865 515 982 and +44 779 617 8447

Notes aux éditeurs

Le 20 avril 2007, une commission interministérielle a été créée pour « examiner les contrats de partenariat et leur impact sur le recouvrement de ces entreprises et le développement national, et pour proposer, le cas échéant, les modalités de leur révision en vue de corriger les déséquilibres et les défauts. »

La Commission a examiné plus de 60 contrats miniers signés entre des entreprises privées et l'État ou des entreprises d'État. La Commission a clôturé son rapport en octobre 2007. Après un retard de plusieurs mois, le gouvernement a posté le rapport de la commission de révision des contrats miniers sur le site du Ministère des Mines en mars 2008: http://www.miningcongo.cd. Le gouvernement a également publié quelques lettres qu'il a adressées à des entreprises présentant les conclusions de l'examen relatif à leurs contrats.

Pour tout renseignement complémentaire, veuillez consulter :

- Conférence Épiscopale Nationale du Congo, « Appel à la vigilance pour sauvegarder la souveraineté et bâtir notre destinée », 10 juillet 2008
http://forumrdc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=387&Itemid=2
- ONG communiqué de presse, « Accueil favorable à la publication du rapport de revisitation des contrats miniers congolais; les renégociations se doivent d’être équitables et transparentes », 25 mars 2008.
http://forumrdc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=317&Itemid=2
- Communiqué de presse du gouvernement congolais : « DRC Ministry of Mines publishes full report of the Mining Contracts Revisitation Commission », 20 mars 2008.
- Communiqué de presse du gouvernement congolais : « Publication date announced for revisitation commission report on DRC’s mining contracts », 18 mars 2008.
- Communiqué de presse d’ONG : « L’examen des contrats miniers en RDC : filière rapide ou fausse piste ? Le gouvernement congolais doit clarifier le processus d’examen afin de restaurer la confiance », 18 février 2008.
http://forumrdc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=253&Itemid=2
- Communiqué de presse d’ONG : « Les ONG s’inquiètent du « détournement » dont fait l’objet le processus d’examen des contrats miniers en RDC », 4 février 2008.
www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/626/fr/les_ong_sinquietent_
- Communiqué de presse d’ONG : « Appel international pour la publication du rapport final de la Commission ministérielle chargée de la revisitation des contrats miniers en RDC », 7 novembre 2007.
www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/596/fr/appel_international
- Rapport de Global Witness : « Le secteur minier congolais à la croisée des chemins », 1er octobre 2007.
www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/576/fr/le_secteur_minier_congo
- « Rapport du groupe d’experts du Forum de la Société Civile sur 12 contrats miniers », août 2007.
http://forumrdc.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=45&Itemid=38
- Rights and Accountability in Development : « Key mining contracts in Katanga: the economic argument for renegotiation » (Principaux contrats miniers au Katanga : l’argument économique en faveur d’une renégociation), avril 2007.
www.raid-uk.org/docs/DRC_contracts/Economic_Argument_for_Renegotiation.pdf

Scant Information and Wheeler-Dealing Undermine Congolese Contract Review

2008-08-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

For immediate release

4 August 2008

Scant Information and Wheeler-Dealing Undermine Congolese Contract Review

On the eve of the start of the promised renegotiation of mining contracts in DR Congo, Congolese and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) today called on the DRC government to shed light on the renegotiations of mining contracts. No clear time-frame or criteria for the negotiations with mining companies have been forthcoming from the Government’s side. In particular, the contents and publication of the terms of reference, as promised to private mining companies by the Vice Minister of Mines, remain obscure.

“We’re four months into the final phase of the mining review and civil society is being kept in the dark about exactly what’s going on”, said Jean-Claude Katende, President of the Congolese human rights organisation ASADHO. “The DRC Government has a duty to fully explain to parliament what’s happening given the critical importance of the negotiations to the lives and aspirations of the Congolese people.”

The current lack of information contrasts with the almost daily public pronouncements by Victor Kasongo, the Vice Minister of Mines, during the Mining Indaba at Cape Town last February. Things have gone much quieter since March when the Ministry of Mines announced that the negotiations with mining companies would be guided by a high-level ‘task force’ composed of senior government ministers. Growing doubts about the independence and efficiency of the process have intensified amid reports that the DRC Government has refused all offers of international assistance and dropped proposals to set up a group of technical and legal experts to advise the task force.

“There’s no level playing field. The DRC Government attempts to block some new deals but to nod through others involving major mining concessions like Nikanor’s take-over of the Kamoto mine,” said Patricia Feeney, RAID’s Executive Director.

Dan Gertler, who continues to consolidate his companies’ hold over key copper and cobalt resources in Katanga, has announced an agreement in principal to acquire a 25 per cent stake in Anvil Mining Limited.

Congolese and international civil society groups have long campaigned for a fair and comprehensive review of mining contracts. In March 2008, NGOs welcomed the publication of the commission’s report but expressed dissatisfaction with the delays, confused procedures and news blackout which have eroded public confidence in the renegotiations. Most recently, the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) maintained their readiness to take part in the government’s ad hoc renegotiation Commission.

“In the spirit of fairness and public accountability, the transfer of mining rights should be postponed until the review and renegotiation process has been concluded”, said Gavin Hayman, Campaigns Director at Global Witness. “How do Congolese citizens know they’re getting a good deal?”

The NGOs urged the DRC government to:

- Explain the status of negotiations and how the public interest concerns are being addressed,
- Publish all the renegotiated contracts,
- Confirm which contracts are cancelled following the review process and when and how the cancellation comes into effect,
- Make additional efforts to seek out the views of civil society and those of local populations affected by specific contracts, as part of the renegotiation process, given their insufficient involvement in the review process,
- Facilitate the creation of a separate ad-hoc independent body, made up of suitably- qualified civil society representatives, independent lawyers and others, which would monitor the renegotiation process and submit open views and recommendations to the government.

The NGOs appealed to donor governments and inter-governmental organisations to:

- Urge the DRC government to make public information about the renegotiation process.
- Urge mining companies to clarify the new terms that have been agreed.

Signatories:

11.11.11
ACIDH
ASADHO
Broederlijk Delen
Bukavu Sud Kivu La Commission Environnement, Gouvernance des Ressources Naturelles et Droits des Peuples Autochtones/ Bureau de Coordination de la Société Civile du Sud Kivu
CENADEP Antenne du Kivu
CENADEP
CODELT
Fatal Transactions
Global Witness
Héritiers de la Justice
NDS
OCEAN
Réseau CREF
Rights and Accountability in Development
Reseau Ressources Naturelles

For further information, please contact:

In DRC : Jean Claude Katenge, ASADHO +243 997 032 984
In Belgium: Ruth Beeckmans, Broederlijk Delen +32 486 799 626
In UK : Lizzie Parsons, Global Witness +44 207 561 6365
In UK: Tricia Feeney, RAID +44 1865 515 982 and +44 779 617 8447

Notes for editors

On 20 April 2007, an inter-ministerial commission was set up to “examine partnership contracts and their impact on the recovery of these companies and national development, to propose, if necessary, modalities for their revision with a view to correcting any imbalances and related faults.”

The commission reviewed more than 60 mining contracts signed between private companies and the state or state-owned enterprises. The commission completed its report in October 2007. After a delay of several months, the government posted the report of the commission’s review of mining contracts on the website of the Ministry of Mines in March 2008: http://www.miningcongo.cd/. The government also published some of the letters it had sent to companies outlining the findings of the review on their particular contracts.

For further information, please see:

- National Episcopal Conference of Congo, ‘Call for vigilance to safeguard national sovereignty and build our destiny’ (in French), 10 July 2008
http://forumrdc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=387&Itemid=2
- A Fair Share, www.11.be/fairshare, www.11.be/partequitable
- NGO press release, “Publication of Congo mining contract review welcome”, 25 March 2008.
http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/634/en/publication_of_congo
- DRC Government press release, “DRC Ministry of Mines publishes full report of the Mining Contracts Revisitation Commission”, 20 March 2008.
- DRC Government press release, “Publication date announced for revisitation commission report on DRC’s mining contracts”, 18 March 2008.
- NGO press release, “Congo mining contract review: fast track or false trail?”, 18 February 2008. www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/629/en/congo_mining_contract
- NGO press release, “NGOs fear that DRC mining contract review process has been hijacked”, 4 February 2008.
www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/626/en/ngos_fear
- NGO press release, “International appeal for the publication of the final report of the ministerial commission on the review of mining contracts in the DRC”, 7 November 2007. www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/596/en/international_appeal
- Global Witness report, “The Congolese mining sector in the balance”, 1 October 2007.
www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/576/en/the_congolese_mining
- “Rapport du groupe d’experts du Forum de la Société Civile sur 12 contrats miniers”, August 2007.
forumrdc.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=45&Itemid=38
- Rights and Accountability in Development: “Key mining contracts in Katanga: the economic argument for renegotiation”, April 2007.
www.raid-uk.org/docs/DRC_contracts/Economic_Argument_for_Renegotiation.pdf

RAID's Executive Director to Address MPs on the Impact of Extractive Industries on Development

2008-06-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

An upcoming meeting hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Debt, Aid and Trade on

'Undermining Development? The Impact of Extractive Industry Policies on Development'

Tuesday 1 July 18.00

Committee Room 5, Palace of Westminster, with:

Kevin D’Souza – Associate Director and Principal Mining Engineer, Wardell Armstrong LLP

Patricia Feeney – Executive Director, Rights and Accountability in Development [RAID – UK]

Simon Gilbert – Manager External Affairs, De Beers Group

And a Representative of the Office of the Special Advisors, DFID tbc

If you wish to attend please send an RSVP to birchj@parliament.uk

'New fight for Congo's riches'

2008-06-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

Scores of lucrative mining concessions handed out by President
Joseph Kabila are in doubt after a report questioned their
legality. Will a programme of renegotiation finally allow a
beleaguered nation to exploit its huge mineral wealth? Nick
Mathiason reports

Nick Mathiason
Sunday June 29 2008
The Observer

To see this story with its related links on the guardian.co.uk
site, go to
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jun/29/mining.congo

'Demystifying the Congo' - Multimedia Presentation

2008-04-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

The presentation on YouTube is designed to provide a background to the forthcoming Frontline Congo season. It gives information on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for those not familiar with the facts and figures. Susan Schulman has generously provided the imagery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnW3ZnU3mSo

Artisanal Miners, Likasi - Washington Post Video Clip

2008-04-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/04/23/VI2008042303044.html

Scenes from the brutal conditions of an artisinal mining camp outside of Likasi, Congo. A man in sunglasses known as the negotiante, who swindles the diggers out of money for their ore and is "snake-hearted," according to them, shows his day's stash.

Across Congo, Freelance Miners Dig In Against Modern Industry

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/23/AR2008042303509.html

Washington Post Stephanie McCrummen

An estimated 2 million people across Congo are part of a brutal business known as artisanal mining, which accounts for as much as 90 percent of the country's mineral exports. It is a scrappy, outside-the-law means of making a living. The haphazard tunneling undermines the stability of the earth above, which often collapses. Every week, about 10 miners die in accidents, provincial officials said. and one increasingly at odds with the modern mining industry that the Congolese government is trying to build as the backbone of a formal economy. But artisanal mining is a fairly recent phenomenon in Congo, where miners for decades were a privileged minority in an impoverished country, enjoying something resembling a middle-class life.

The diggers usually work in groups of three, heaving out bags of ore. A three-man team can produce perhaps two 220-pound sacks of copper ore a day, a bounty quickly consumed by a slew of dubious taxes, fees and prices. After those costs, each miner ends the day with about $4, perhaps a fifth of the value of one 220-pound sack. The going rate for a decent loaf of bread is $1.50. The diggers are not the only ones suffering in such transactions. Congo is also losing out on taxes and jobs as the less-valuable raw ore is hauled out of the country before being processed into a final product worth four times as much. Yet because the artisanal system is so economically entrenched and accepted -- a billboard in the provincial capital shows a digger chatting on a cellphone -- people here say it will be difficult to uproot.

RAID participating in Congo Season 6-16th May, London

2008-04-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

The Frontline Club in London launches the Congo Season with a series of
discussions, screenings and photojournalism events starting from
6th-16th of May entitled ʻDemystifying the Congoʼ.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has witnessed one of the worldʼs worst
ongoing humanitarian crises, where as many as 5.4 million people may have died
since 1998.

The Frontline Club is organizing a series of expert panels, photojournalism
presentations and selected documentaries with speakers drawn from within
Congo, the journalistic world, the NGO community and academia. The series will
examine possible solutions for DRC, will look at the issues of conflict, gender
based violence, resources and the role of the international community.

Tue 6th May, 7.30pm - Discussion: Demystifying the Congo

Moderated by Michela Wrong – columnist and author
Marcus Bleasdale - photojournalist.
Dino Mahatani – Former Reuters correspondent, previously based in DRC, and
former west and central Africa correspondent for the Financial Times.
Jason Stearns – former senior analyst for the international crisis group for
Central Africa and author of a forthcoming book on the Congo.
Mulegwa Zihindula – spokesman for Kabila during 2002-2004. Now based in
London.

Wed 7th May, 7.30pm - Photojournalism presentation:
One Hundred Years of Darkness, by Marcus Bleasdale

Marcus Bleasdale has now spent eight years covering the brutal conflict within
the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the work was published in
his book One Hundred Years of Darkness. His work focusing on the people in
Eastern Congoʼs mining towns, where militia groups and government forces
battle on a daily basis for control of the mineral-rich areas where they can exploit
gold, coltan, cassiterite and diamonds.

Sun 11th May, 4.30pm - Screening: The Greatest Silence – Rape in
the Congo
Followed by Q&A with Sarah Hughes (UK Director of IRC) and others tbc
2

In the DRC there are tens of thousands of women who have been systematically
kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured by soldiers from both foreign militias
and the Congolese army. The world knows nothing of these women. Their stories
have never been told. They suffer and die in silence. In The Greatest Silence:
Rape in the Congo these brave women finally speak.

Mon 12th May, 7.30pm – Double Bill Screening: The UN in Congo
Followed by Q&A with James Brabazon and Aidan Hartley
(Unreported World) and James Oliver and Raphael Rowe
(Panorama)

The UN's Dirty War (Unreported World)
Unreported World travels to the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, and
uncovers evidence that UN troops are supporting Congolese government forces
even as they carry out indiscriminate attacks, sometimes against civilian targets.
Mission Impossible (BBC Panorama)
The UN polices conflicts around the world. But is it up to policing itself?
Documents leaked to a joint Panorama/BBC World Service investigation reveal
why the UN's department tasked with rooting out corruption has been called a
"combat zone" and found not fit for purpose.

Thu 15th May, 7.30pm – Discussion: Lifting the Curse
Are Congoʼs natural resources to be found at the root of the nations problems or
do they offer a key to its future development?

What role have resources played in the conflict? What role have international
corporations played? Have the NGOʼs got it right - are the numbing statistics
accurate? Where have the vast mineral profits gone?

Will the countryʼs huge deposits of precious minerals be used to rebuild the
countryʼs infrastructure or will it be business as usual?

Moderated by Richard Dowden director of the Royal African Society.
Muzong Kodi - is a research fellow at the Royal Institute for International Affairs.
Tricia Feeney - is the Executive Director for Rights & Accountability in
Development (RAID)
Aloys Tegera - is the director of the Pole Institute in Goma
Caty Clement - Sits on the UN panel of experts on resources for Congo

All Frontline Events are followed by a Q&A with the audience and are filmed and
broadcast on www.frontlineclub.com.
For more information or interview arrangements with any of the speakers please
call 0207 479 8943.

Lord Mance will be a speaker at the RAID Event, Friday 18th April

2008-04-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

RAID is delighted to announce that Lord Mance has kindly agreed to participate in the debate on 'Business and Human Rights: Profits before People?' at the RAID Event tomorrow, Friday 18th April 2008 at the Human Rights Action Centre.

Jonathan Hugh Mance, Lord Mance, is a Law Lord.

He was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1965, became a QC in 1982,
a Recorder in 1990, a Judge of the Queen's Bench Division of the High
Court (authorised to sit in the Commercial Court) in 1993 and a Lord
Justice of Appeal in 1999. In 2005 he was appointed a Lord of Appeal in
Ordinary.

He has served as Chairman of various Banking Appeals Tribunals
(1992-93), Chairman of the Consultative Council of European Judges
(2000-3) and President of the British Insurance Law Association
(2000-02). He sits on the House of Lords Select Committee on the
European Union, and chairs its sub-committee E (Law and Institutions).
In 2006 he chaired a working party of the All Party Parliamentary Group
on the Great Lakes Region composed of representatives of NGOs and
Industry which considered the UK's implementation of the OECD process
for handling specific complaints about alleged breaches of the OECD
Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and he gave a paper on
Contemporary Issues in International Trade Law at the Commonwealth Law
Conference in Nairobi in 2007.

Human rights defenders prevented from meeting victims of Kilwa massacre

2008-04-07T05:36:00.000-07:00

Action Contre l’Impunité pour les Droits Humains (ACIDH)

Association africaine de défense des droits de l’homme (ASADHO)

Global Witness

Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID)

For Immediate Release

3 April 2008

Human rights defenders prevented from meeting victims of Kilwa massacre

Katanga governor stops activists from flying to Kilwa

ACIDH, ASADHO, Global Witness and RAID today condemned blatant tactics by government authorities in Katanga to prevent Congolese human rights defenders from pursuing their legitimate human rights work.

In the latest series of obstructions in the search for justice for the victims of the 2004 Kilwa massacre, the Governor of Katanga province, Moïse Katumbi, and the provincial Minister of Interior, Dikanga Kazadi, prohibited a group of Congolese human rights defenders from flying to Kilwa on 1 April 2008.

The Kilwa massacre – which claimed at least 73 civilian lives – was carried out in October 2004 by soldiers of the 62^nd Brigade of the Congolese Armed Forces with logistical support from the Australian/Canadian mining company, Anvil Mining. Anvil Mining has stated that its support was requisitioned and that it had no choice in the matter.

The team planning to visit Kilwa included human rights activists Georges Kapiamba, Jonas Mulamba, Serge Lukunga and Prince Kumwamba, and Paulin Ulimwengu, a spokesperson for the victims of the 2004 Kilwa massacre. They were intending to visit victims of the Kilwa massacre on behalf of Australian lawyers Slater & Gordon, who are investigating possible compensation claims in the Australian courts against Perth-based Anvil Mining for 61 of the victims.

The activists were taken by surprise when, just before their leased plane was due to take off, staff from the control tower at Lubumbashi airport informed them that they had received instructions from the intelligence services (Agence Nationale de Renseignements – ANR) that their flight to Kilwa, Dikulushi and Pweto had not received official clearance. According to airport officials, the Minister of Interior of Katanga province had issued an order requiring the group to obtain prior authorization from the Ministry before they could land in Kilwa. Yet the airline had already made two flights that day to Kilwa without being asked for prior authorization.

On 2 April 2008, the activists were informed by the head of the Lubumbashi office of MONUC (the UN peacekeeping mission) that the Governor of Katanga had refused them permission to travel to Kilwa because of alleged insecurity in the area.

Later the same day, the activists were told that the Governor had met a representative of the airline, as well as the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and told them that they should not transport the human rights team to Kilwa.

One of the activists also received a telephone call from a local administrative authority in Kilwa asking him if the team had already arrived in Kilwa and informing him that if they did not have “official documents”, there was no point in them going there.

“It is clear that all the authorities have been warned about our mission and instructed to prevent us from doing our work at all cost”, said human rights lawyer, Georges Kapiamba. “The government is in effect denying the Kilwa victims their right to receive assistance to obtain justice for the damages they suffered.”

The authorities’ attempts to prevent the activists from travelling to Kilwa is part of a well-documented pattern of obstructions and pressures by the Congolese authorities in the Kilwa case.

The latest events demonstrate an intensification of efforts by the authorities to stifle the truth; it is also the first time in this case that they have deployed such tactics to restrict the movements of human rights activists. “This reflects how desperate the authorities are to prevent the truth about the Kilwa incident from coming out. It sets a worrying precedent for independent human rights work in Congo”, said Prince Kumwamba, Executive Director of ACIDH.

ACIDH, ASADHO, Global Witness and RAID are calling on the Congolese authorities - at provincial and national level - to put an immediate end to the harassment and obstruction of human rights workers seeking to obtain justice for the victims of the grave human rights violations committed in Kilwa.

For further information, please contact:

Amigo Ngonde Funsu (ASADHO): +243 998246147, +243 815181707

Georges Kapiamba : +243 814043641, +243 998411070

Prince Kumwamba N’sapu (ACIDH) : +243 995252965, +243 997025331

Patricia Feeney (RAID) + 44 7796 178 447

Carina Tertsakian (Global Witness) +44 207 561 6372

Notes for Editors

In June 2007 the military court of Katanga acquitted nine Congolese soldiers and three expatriate employees of Anvil Mining for war crimes and complicity in war crimes committed in Kilwa. The charges included summary executions, torture, illegal detention and looting. The proceedings were widely condemned for extensive flaws and irregularities, including political interference and intimidation of witnesses. Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, criticised the conduct of the trial and the inappropriate use of a military court to try civilians.

She expressed concern over the court’s conclusions that the Kilwa events were the accidental results of fighting, despite significant contrary evidence and eye witness testimony. The military court of appeal then also succumbed to political pressure and denied the victims their right to a fair appeal hearing.

ACIDH, ASADHO, Global Witness and RAID have called on the governments of South Africa and Canada to pursue investigations and possible prosecutions against their nationals named in the Congolese trial. They also believe that the Australian Federal Police should pursue its own investigation into the role of Anvil Mining and its staff in the events of October 2004. As signatories to the Rome Statute, the governments of Australia, Canada and South Africa have confirmed their commitment to prosecuting nationals who commit or are complicit in international crimes committed in foreign jurisdictions.

In February 2008, Slater & Gordon filed a preliminary application to the Western Australian Supreme Court on behalf of the victims seeking disclosure of documents. The purpose of this application is to determine the precise circumstances under which Anvil Mining provided logistical assistance to the military in Kilwa. Anvil Mining is resisting this application.

For further information, please see the report “Kilwa Trial: a Denial of Justice” (July 2007), published by ACIDH, ASADHO/Katanga, Global Witness and RAID, and press release “Military court of appeal succumbs to political interference in Kilwa trial” (December 2007), published by Global Witness and RAID, both available at www.globalwitness.org

Further documentation on the Kilwa events is also available at http://www.raid-uk.org/docs/Kilwa

Kilwa Massacre: Human Rights Acrtivists Threatened

2008-04-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

‘

PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 62/002/2008

04 April 2008

UA 89/08 Death threats/ Fear for safety

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC Georges Kapiamba (m), lawyer and human rights defender

OF CONGO (DRC) Prince Kumwamba (m), human rights defender

Other human rights defenders from the organizations Association Africaine de Défense des Droits de l’Homme - Katanga (ASADHO/Katanga) and Action Contre l’Impunité pour les Droits Humains (ACIDH)

Human rights defenders Georges Kapiamba and Prince Kumwamba have received several threats, including death threats, related to their human rights work since the evening of 3 April. Amnesty International believes that their lives, and the lives of other human rights defenders working in the same organizations, may be in danger.

The threats to Georges Kapiamba, a lawyer who works with the organization Association Africaine de Défense des Droits de l’Homme – Katanga (ASADHO/Katanga), African Association for the Defence of Human Rights, and Prince Kumwamba, Executive Director of the organization Action Contre l’Impunité pour les Droits Humains (ACIDH), Action Against Impunity for Human Rights, both based in Lubumbashi, the capital of Katanga province, have been made anonymously by telephone. Amnesty International believes that senior political figures in Katanga province may be behind the calls. During one of the telephone threats, the caller warned Georges Kapiamba, “Since you don’t want to stay quiet about the Kilwa affair and since you continue to provoke the government, we are going to destroy you so that you will no longer be able to do any harm. We’ll get you by all means possible”. (« Comme tu ne veux pas te taire sur le dossier Kilwa et que tu continues à déranger le gouvernement, tu vas être détruit afin de te mettre hors d’état de nuire. Nous allons t’atteindre par tous les moyens. ») Prince Kumwamba has also received phone calls warning him to halt his activities in relation to the same affair.

The threats appear to relate to a planned visit by Georges Kapiamba, Prince Kumwamba and other activists to the town of Kilwa in Katanga province, the scene of a massacre by government troops in October 2004. The team intended to interview a number of those injured in the massacre, and families of the victims. The visit was on behalf of an Australian legal firm pursuing possible compensation claims in the Australian courts against an Australian/Canadian mining company, Anvil Mining.

As the team prepared to fly from Lubumbashi to Kilwa, they were informed by air traffic control that permission for the flight had been denied by the ANR (Agence Nationale de Renseignements) intelligence agency and the Minister of Interior of Katanga province. The team were later informed that the Governor of Katanga had also refused them permission to travel to Kilwa.

ASADHO Katanga and ACIDH, together with two international NGOs, Global Witness and Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID), issued a joint press release on 3 April protesting against this official obstruction to the activists’ legitimate professional and human rights work. Subsequently Georges Kapiamba was interviewed by international media organizations about the incident.

These latest threats are part of a pattern of intimidation and harassment of human rights workers in relation to their work on the Kilwa massacre, although the death threat against Georges Kapiamba appears to be the most serious to date.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

At least 73 civilians, including many women and children, were killed unlawfully in and around Kilwa in October 2004 by soldiers of the 62^nd Brigade of the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC), Congolese Armed Forces. Other victims were arbitrarily arrested and subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Anvil Mining, which operates a copper and silver mine near Kilwa, provided transportation in the form of company planes and road vehicles for the army operation. Anvil Mining maintains that its equipment was requisitioned “under the force of law” by the security forces and denies any direct involvement in the killings. In June 2007, a military court in Lubumbashi acquitted 12 defendants, including military officers and three expatriate employees of Anvil Mining, of charges of war crimes and complicity in war crimes in connection with the massacre. Four of the defendants, all soldiers, were convicted of unrelated crimes. There was apparent high-level political interference in the trial, as well as intimidation of witnesses. The acquittals were widely condemned as a setback in the struggle against impunity in the DRC. An appeal against the court’s judgement was denied in December 2007.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in French, English or your own language:

- calling on the authorities to ensure that George Kapiamba, Prince Kumwamba and other ASADHO/Katanga and ACIDH activists are protected against further threats and possible attack;

- calling for a prompt, impartial and independent investigation into the threats received by Georges Kapiamba and Prince Kumwamba, and to bring to justice those responsible;

- calling on the authorities to put an immediate end to the harassment of lawyers and human rights activists seeking to obtain justice for the victims of the Kilwa massacre, and to ensure that Congolese human rights defenders are able to pursue their legitimate professional activities free from fear of intimidation and other human rights violations.

APPEALS TO:

Head of State

Son Excellence Joseph KABILA

Président de la République, Cabinet du Président de la République

Palais de la Nation, Kinshasa/Gombe, République Démocratique du Congo

E-mail: cabinet_president@yahoo.fr

Salutation: Dear President Kabila/Son Excellence Monsieur le Président

Minister of Interior

Denis Kalume Numbi

Ministre de l’Intérieur, Décentralisation et Sécurité

Ministère de l’Intérieur, Décentralisation et Sécurité

44 Avenue de Lemera, BP 7949, Kinshasa‑Gombe, République Démocratique du Congo

Salutation : Dear Minister/ Monsieur le Ministre

Justice and Human Rights

Mr Mutombo Bakafwa Nsenda

Ministre de la Justice et Droits Humains

Ministère de la Justice

228 Avenue de Lemera, BP 3137, Kinshasa-Gombe, République Démocratique du Congo

Email: min_droitshumains@yahoo.fr

Salutation: Dear Minister/Monsieur le Ministre

Governor of Katanga Province

Gouverneur Moïse Katumbi Chapwe

Gouvernorat, Province du Katanga, Lubumbashi, République Démocratique du Congo

Salutation: Dear Governor/Monsieur le Gouverneur

COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of the DRC accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 16 May 2008.

RAID Event - Biographies of Chair and Panellists

2008-04-07T03:47:00.000-07:00

BIOGRAPHIES

CHAIR

MARK LAWSON

Mark Lawson is a journalist, broadcaster and author. He is a Guardian columnist and feature writer and theatre critic for The Tablet. He is the main presenter of Front Row, BBC Radio 4's nightly arts programme, and his interview series Mark Lawson Talks To ... runs on BBC4. From 1994-1995, he presented BBC2's weekly arts discussion show under the titles Late Review, Review and Newsnight Review. He has twice been voted TV critic of the Year and has won numerous awards for arts journalism. His novels include Bloody Margaret: Three Political Fantasies (Picador, 1991), Going Out Live (Picador, 2001) and Enough Is Enough (Picador, 2005).

PANELLISTS

JEREMY P. CARVER CBE

Jeremy Carver is a Board member/Trustee of Transparency International (UK). He is also a Consultant and Head of International Law at Clifford Chance LLP in London, where he was a partner in Clifford Chance (formerly Coward Chance) since 1974. Over nearly 40 years of international law practice, he has advised and represented numerous States in relation to maritime and territorial issues, treaty interpretation and application, disputes with corporations over oil and gas and other natural resources. He has advised governments and other authorities on numerous aspects of anti-corruption policy and implementation. He has also acted as strategic adviser to Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau on its national anti-corruption strategy. Other positions include President and member of Executive Council, International Law Association; Board member/Trustee, British Institute of International and Comparative Law; Trustee, Tiri - making integrity work; Board member, International Rescue Committee and Co-chair IRC-UK; Member of Council, University of Sussex; Member of Steering Board for UK NCP for OECD guidelines for MNEs.

PATRICIA FEENEY

Patricia Feeney is the Executive Director of Rights & Accountability in Development (RAID). Previously, she worked for Amnesty International and Oxfam. She has been a consultant for UNESCO, UNDP and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. She is a research affiliate of the University of Oxford’s Department of International Development and is a member of the Advisory Board of Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. She is the author of numerous reports and a book, Accountable Aid (Oxfam Publications, Oxford 1998).

RICHARD HERMER

Richard Hermer practices in the fields of domestic and international human rights law. For the past four years he has been identified as a ‘Star of the Bar’ and is recognized as a leading human rights lawyer. Over the past few years Richard has advised a variety of individuals and international human rights groups on the legal ramifications of the ‘War on Terror’, including legal claims arising out of detention at Guantanamo Bay. His recent international cases include a claim by Colombian peasant farmers against BP for environmental damage and a group action against oil traders for wide-spread pollution in the Ivory Coast.

JOAN SMITH

Joan Smith is a columnist, novelist and critic. She is the author of Moralities, the highly praised Misogynies and five detective novels, two of which have been filmed by the BBC. She has written columns for The Independent on Sunday and The Guardian and her reviews appear in the Financial Times, The Sunday Times and The Independent. She is one of the presenters on What the Papers Say and a regular contributor to BBC radio. She is a human rights activist and was the chair of the Writers in Prison committee in the English section of International PEN.

RAID Event Central London, Friday 18 April 6:30pm

2008-04-07T03:43:00.000-07:00

‘Profits before People’:

Human rights and the Scramble for Minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – the ethical, legal and political challenges

Friday 18 April 2008, 6.30-9:30 pm

At the Human Rights Action Centre, 17- 25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA

v An evening of film, debate and music in support of RAID’s work

v Promises to be an exciting, thought-provoking and enjoyable event which will explore the role of multinational companies in the exploitation of Africa’s natural resources and its legal, political and ethical consequences

v Screening of a 30-minute, award-winning Australian documentary ‘The Kilwa Incident’ about the role of big business in a massacre in the Congo

v Mark Lawson (BBC presenter and Guardian columnist) will chair a debate with panellists: Joan Smith (writer and Independent columnist), Richard Hermer (a leading human rights lawyer),Jeremy Carver(Clifford Chance and Transparency International), and Patricia Feeney (Executive Director of RAID)

v Live music by ‘Uusikuu’: an up-and-coming Finnish Tango band, with a growing fan-base throughout Europe.

RAID is an Oxford-based not-for-profit organisation that works to promote human rights and responsible corporate behaviour, particularly in Africa. For more information visit RAID’s website: www.raid-uk.org.

Tickets £20 available at: www.wegottickets.com/event/28017 or on the door.