Global Witness names British firms dealing with Congo rebels

By Tom Parry on Jul 21, 09 07:58 AM in Congo

THE chain that links violent militia in the Congo to the pin-striped suits of the City of London is revealed in a new report today.

Campaign group Global Witness has identified two British firms as buying minerals that are funding armed groups and fuelling the bloody ongoing conflict that has already killed millions.

One is Amalgamated Metals Corporation (AMC), the parent company of THAISARCO, the world's fifth-largest tin-producing company.

THAISARCO's main supplier is Panju, based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which sells tin ore, coltan and gold from mines controlled by the main rebel group the FDLR, made up of extremists behind the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Among the main shareholders of AMC are Victor Herman Sher, Geoffrey Charles Leacroft Rowan and Giles Robbins, all of whom have appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List.

The other British firm identified by Global Witness is Afrimex, a small trading company located in Middlesex.

Campaigners claim Afrimex was found to be in breach of Office for Economic Development guidelines for buying from suppliers who made payments to rebels, but has continued trading with them.

For Global Witness, the report, called 'Faced with a gun, what can you do?', is further evidence that the British government has to clamp down on companies who deal with those involved in the DRC conflict.

It says mine ownership is carved up between the national Congolese army and the FDLR Hutu militia, who share the spoils of the trade.

Director Patrick Alley said: "The British government is the largest bilateral aid donor to the DRC and a key diplomatic player. Its failure to hold British companies to account is undermining its own efforts and allowing one of the main drivers of the conflict to continue unchecked.

"We have asked the government countless times to pay more attention to the role of minerals in fuelling the conflict, and yet it seems that they are more concerned with protecting their companies' economic interests."

Despite a recent UN-backed offensive, the FDLR has been accused of escalating its use of rape, forced labour and torture to subdue the already terrified people of the Eastern Congo jungle.

It controls access to valuable minerals like casserite and coltan, which are used to make mobile phones and computers.

Commenting on the recent increase in violence against civilians blamed on the FDLR, Marcel Stoessel, head of Oxfam in the DRC, said: "The offensive against the FDLR was supposed to bring peace to eastern Congo, but our survey shows people are living in constant fear of violent attack.

"This suffering is not inevitable. It is happening because world leaders have decided that collateral damage is an acceptable price to pay for removing the FDLR. But as the people we met can testify, that price is far too high."