Minerals fund sexual violence

I was recently in Washington, DC, where the SEC – the federal financial control commission in the U.S. – was expected to publish regulations on handling so-called conflict minerals (gold, tin, tungsten, and coltan). The U.S. Congress and the Administration were the first to pass legislation on this matter when they adopted a new law on finance reform which includes a section on conflict minerals. The modes of implementation – the formulation of precise rules – fall within the mandate of the SEC. On December 23 last year, the SEC announced its initial proposal. Since then, the SEC has received approximately 26,000 comments on it. The final version of the regulatory framework was to be published by April this year. It is now December and this has not happened. In October, the SEC organized a round-table discussion for stakeholders. This says a lot about how much the industry’s lobbyists are trying to influence the design of the rules. Given the amounts of money involved, it is perhaps not surprising: according to a recent UNEP report, DRC’s mineral stocks are worth $24 trillion.

The struggle for control of the country's natural resources and minerals has fueled the conflict in DRC. By extension, the minerals have contributed to the enrichment of armed groups, who in turn used asaults and sexual violence as weapons of war. Although tracing conflict minerals is complicated, and not an exact science, there is no excuse not to try. Consumer do not want their iPods or cell phones to fund sexual violence in Africa.

What is positive is that the pressure on the SEC to publish the rules as soon as possible has mounted. By early October, twelve senators – eleven Democrats and one Republican – sent a letter to the SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, urging her get the job done. The rush is justified: once the regulations are published, companies will have one year to implement them, during which time rapes and assaults will continue.

Margot Wallström is the UN Secretary General's Special Representative on matters relating to sexual violence in conflict