Fatal Transactions
With the “Fatal Transactions” campaign , several European non-governmental organizations want to publicize and prevent the financing of African conflicts through international trade in so-called conflict raw materials.
Emergence
In 1999 a study by the British research organization “global witness” brought to public awareness how international trade in raw materials finances African conflicts. The global witness study showed how the civil war in Angola at that time was financed through the international diamond trade . As a result, the non-governmental organizations, medico international in Germany, the Netherland Institute on Southern Africa (NIZA), the Belgian IPIS Institute and global witness founded the Fatal Transactions campaign in autumn 1999. While the campaign initially focused primarily on the diamond trade, it is now also working on other raw materials such as oil, tropical wood and coltan . The composition of the supporting organizations has also changed. The campaign is currently supported by the founding members medico international, NIZA and IPIS, the Netherlands Organization for International Development Cooperation (NOVIB), the Spanish NGO Intermón Oxfam, the Belgian Noord-Zuidportaal, the Broederlijkdelen organization in Belgium, and the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) carried out.
requirements
The Fatal Transactions campaign calls for the withdrawal of transnational corporations from trading in so-called conflict diamonds and other raw materials used to finance conflicts and wants companies involved in this way to be held accountable for repairing war damage and compensating victims. The campaign calls for the definition of conflict diamonds as it was established in the Kimberley Process to be expanded. In the Kimberley Accords, diamonds used by rebel groups to finance their armed struggle against regular governments are referred to as conflict diamonds. On the one hand, Fatal Transactions calls for this definition to be expanded to include diamonds that are mined under systematic human rights violations, since such diamonds can also occur in pacified areas. On the other hand, diamonds that are traded by governments that are guilty of serious human rights violations should also be included in the definition. The campaign relates directly to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and calls on companies to respect it.
Results
The Fatal Transactions campaign brought the issue to the public through public actions and lobbying. In doing so, it quickly caused unrest, especially in the diamond industry, which relies on the symbolic value of stones as a sign of eternal love. The Kimberley Process came about primarily under pressure from the campaign . In the Kimberley Agreement, the diamond industry and the diamond importing and exporting countries undertook not to trade in conflict diamonds from January 1, 2003. The Kimberley Agreement is viewed very critically by the supporting organizations of the Fatal Transactions Campaign. So it is called the "toothless tiger" because it does not include an effective surveillance mechanism. Another shortcoming is the restriction to diamonds traded by rebels (see above). Finally, the campaign criticizes the fact that the Kimberley Agreement only affects the present and the future and fails to hold corporations responsible for war damage that has already occurred. However, it is seen positively that the Kimberley Agreement increases the transparency of government action.