Continuing Exploitation of Congo's Resources

In November 2001, the UN published an 38-page addendum to the April report of the UN panel of experts on the illegal exploitation of natural resources and other forms of wealth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The panel "confirmed a pattern of continued exploitation carried out by numerous state and non-state actors, including rebel forces and armed groups, conducted behind various facades in order to conceal the true nature of the activities". Although the effect of the earlier panel's report and the withdrawal of Ugandan troops gave the impression that the exploitation activities had been reduced, the facts on the ground show that they are, in fact, continuing.
Uganda and Rwanda have committed thousands of troops in support of the Congolese rebels fighting President Joseph Kabila. Angola, Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic and Namibia have also deployed thousands of troops to fight alongside the government to counter the rebel advance. It was interesting to note that troops were deployed or stationed where there were rich natural resources. The UN panel concluded that the troops were used as a tool by governments to grab as much as they could of the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to the report, a wide array of interests has ensured that the war remains a self-financing and self-sustaining affair. While parties to the three-year conflict in the country may have been originally motivated by security concerns, they have remained in Congo largely for economic gain. The Congolese people are not among the beneficiaries of this activity; the exploitation of human resources by all parties to the conflict has resulted in "flagrant and systematic violations of the fundamental rights of the Congolese people", the panel reported.

Update and new reports: June 2002

Democratic Republic of the Congo overview

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