Conflict Minerals/DRC: How a Well-Intentioned U.S. Law Left Congolese Miners Jobless

Nov 30, 2014 | Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post
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LUNTUKULU, Congo — When his father could no longer make enough money from the tin mine, when he could no longer pay for school, Bienfait Kabesha ran off and joined a militia. It offered the promise of loot and food, and soon he was firing an old rifle on the front lines of Africa’s deadliest conflict. He was 14.

But what makes Kabesha different from countless other child soldiers is this: His path to war involved not just the wrenching poverty and violence of eastern Congo but also an obscure measure passed by American lawmakers.