How the Conflict Minerals Rule Failed

Aug 4, 2017 | Rick Paulas
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Between 1998 and 2007, more than 5.4 million people died in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to mass displacement, food shortages, lack of medical infrastructure, and other causes stemming from the country’s long civil war. While fewer than 10 percent of the deaths were directly attributable to violence, the rise of the country's warlord-led militias was seen as the major driver of the humanitarian crisis that befell the region. Remove them from power, and the area would stabilize. The warlords had been able to maintain their dominance through the obvious methods: obtaining massive numbers of weapons they purchased on the black market. To stop the influx of weapons, it would be necessary to cut off the money supply, much of which came from selling off valuable minerals found in the DRC's mines (estimated to be worth $24 trillion). In many cases, it was American corporations doing the buying.