Conflict resource

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Four common conflict minerals (clockwise from top left): coltan , cassiterite , gold , wolframite

As a conflict resource , conflict resources or in the special case of conflict minerals ( English conflict mineral for minerals, generally conflict commodity for any merchandise) denote human rights groups minerals and other natural resources that are grown in conflict or high-risk areas or promoted. In many cases, these substances are produced or broken down illegally and outside of state control, for example by rebels or militias. Systematic human rights and international law violations are accepted for the extraction of the contested materials .

definition

The Bonn International Center for Conversion , established in 1994, defines conflict minerals as follows:

Conflict resources are natural resources whose systematic exploitation and trafficking in the context of a conflict can lead to the most serious violations of human rights, violations of international humanitarian law or the implementation of international criminal law. An almost identical definition is provided by the Global Witness organization .

Problem

In the early stages of an insurgency movement , insurgents must acquire weapons and finance. By exporting easily degradable and transportable raw materials, armed groups create a financial basis for themselves in a resource-rich country without adequate state control ( failed state / weak state ). The profits are used to finance fighters and weapons, which prolongs the conflict and, if necessary, spreads it further. If the armed groups who appropriate the raw material source are primarily concerned with political goals, the conflict resource is not the cause of the conflict, but fuel. After their export, the supply chains of the raw materials run transnationally through many middlemen, which is why corporations and consumers in industrialized countries, which benefit significantly from the import of commercial goods, can only be indirectly associated with the crimes. One of the main difficulties is to obtain the necessary information about conflict raw materials in supply chains, components and products in order to effectively prevent trade in them.

Affected raw materials

In the worldwide extraction of cassiterite ( tin ore ), 50% is mined in small-scale mining, with coltan ( tantalum ore ) this is 26%, with gold over 10% and with wolframite ( tungsten ore ) over 6%. These ores are essential for the manufacture of electrical appliances , especially computers and cell phones .

Rare mineral resources are often extracted in developing countries in small-scale mining . In conflict regions, the settlements near the small extraction sites are exposed to an increased risk, as they are mostly remote. When the raw material source is occupied, there are forced taxes and forced labor, blackmail, looting and rape. There is often a high risk of mining accidents . Other problems that may arise are overexploitation and the associated environmental damage, child labor and inhumane working conditions, smuggling, violence and poverty. (see also: Resource Curse )

In the reasons for adopting Regulation (EU) 2017/821, the European Parliament states that human rights violations are widespread in resource-rich conflict or high-risk areas and that child labor, sexual violence , the disappearance of people, forced relocation and the destruction of ritual or cultural elements significant places.

Other valuable conflict raw materials include: diamonds , crude oil , precious woods , drug raw materials , and possibly also unsuspicious materials such as natural rubber , cotton or cocoa .

Affected States

Conflict diamonds from Sierra Leone and Angola moved into the focus of the global public in the 1990s. Precious stones and wood were the main source of income for the rebel groups.

The Taliban banned the cultivation of opium poppies before the Afghanistan war in 2001 , but still benefited from previously manufactured drug stocks that they exported to finance the regime. Since their fall, local militia groups, including the Taliban, have been controlling the opium trade (see also: Taliban drug trafficking ) . In Colombia, the FARC guerrillas financed their weapons through involvement in gold mining and the cocaine trade (see also FARC drug cartels ) .

The conflict regions in which the control of resources is a central element include the east of the Congo ( North Kivu , South Kivu ) and the neighboring countries ( Rwanda , Uganda and Burundi ). The Congolese government army FARDC and armed rebellious groups like the Forces Démocratiques de Liberation du Rwanda (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) fight for control of the coltan and tin mines. (see also: History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Consequences of Coltan Mining in the Congo ).

The terrorist organization IS finances itself to a large extent from the export of crude oil from the oil wells it controls.

Countermeasures

State sanctions, embargoes and agreements between the conflicting countries concerned on the one hand and the importing countries can prohibit open trade and further processing of the illegally extracted resources, even under threat of punishment for importers. This makes it necessary to certify the raw materials, whose place of origin can also be chemically traced. An example of the use of certified raw materials (in this case Eastern Congo) is the company Fairphone and, according to its own information, Intel . Companies that shy away from the effort of certification are also withdrawing completely from the affected regions. Conflict participants are persecuted and rely on smuggling to continue their business. However, the source of raw materials can be effectively concealed even without smuggling.

From a business point of view, the principle of due diligence (roughly: due diligence and proof of due diligence) has become established to support supply chain management (management of the supply chain). According to this, supply chain due diligence essentially consists of five different steps:

  1. Establishment of effective internal company management systems
  2. Identifying risks within the supplier networks and performing risk assessments
  3. Development and implementation of conflict mineral strategies and guidelines for the identified risks
  4. Implementation of independent external audits of the due diligence activities of smelters and refineries
  5. Annual supply chain due diligence reporting

However, in practice, companies that pursue supply chain due diligence approaches have different motivations, expectations, implementation patterns and barriers.

The Bonn International Center for Conversion dedicates a resource conflict monitor to the problem. It also takes part in the international Fatal Transactions campaign.

The Kimberley Process has curbed the open trade in so-called blood diamonds from war and civil war countries since 1998.

On July 21, 2010, US President Barack Obama signed the Dodd – Frank Act , which, in addition to regulating the financial markets, also obliges companies to forego raw materials from conflict regions (Section 1502). This paragraph was incorporated into the bill by Senator Sam Brownback after a separately proposed bill was silted up in committees in April 2009. US companies that use a conflict mineral have since had to submit a separate company report on the origin, which was not previously mandatory. Pewter , coltan , wolframite and gold are considered conflict minerals within the meaning of the law . This was specifically aimed at the Congo conflict and brought the issue to the public again in the USA.

Regulation (EU) 2017/821, published in the Official Journal of the EU on May 19, 2017, creates a legal framework in the territory of the European Union to restrict the possibilities for armed groups and security forces to trade in tin, tantalum, tungsten, their ores and gold ( Union system ). The aim is to ensure transparency and security with regard to the delivery practices of Union importers and of smelters and refineries that source raw materials from conflict and high-risk areas. The EU regulation will apply from July 9, 2017, although large parts of the due diligence obligations of Union importers, their management systems and risk management obligations as well as the control mechanisms will only be complied with from January 1, 2021.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Definition of a conflict resource according to BICC ( Memento from December 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Definition of a conflict resource according to Global Witness ( Memento from November 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  3. ↑ Federal Agency for Civic Education: Resource Conflicts
  4. ↑ a b c Hannes Hofmann, Martin C. Schleper, Constantin Blome: Conflict Minerals and Supply Chain Due Diligence: An Exploratory Study of Multitier Supply Chains. In: Journal of Business Ethics. doi : 10.1007 / s10551-015-2963-z
  5. ↑ a b c German Raw Materials Agency - Background and initiatives on due diligence and certification in the supply chain of conflict minerals
  6. ↑ Elizabeth Dias, (July 24, 2009). First Blood Diamonds, Now Blood Computers? ( Memento dated December 16, 2010 on WebCite ) . Time (Time Warner). Archived from the original on December 16, 2010. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
  7. ↑ Congo's Riches, Looted by Renegade Troops ( Memento from December 16, 2010 on WebCite ) (Eng.)
  8. ↑ TV review. Congo's cursed treasure. In: Der Spiegel . No. 35 , 2008, p. 100 ( online ).
  9. ↑ Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 17, 2017 laying down obligations to meet due diligence obligations in the supply chain for Union importers of tin, tantalum, tungsten, their ores and gold from conflict and high-risk areas
  10. ↑ a b Resource Conflict Monitor of the BICC ( Memento from January 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ 'Blood diamonds' crackdown deal
  12. ↑ Aly Jiwani, Delaney Simon, Julien Barbey, Pushkar Sharma, Tory Webster: A Return to El Dorado: The Opportunities and Risks Presented by Colombian Gold Mining. Journal of International Affairs, April 26, 2013, archived from the original June 2, 2013 ; Retrieved July 31, 2013 .
  13. ↑ Global Witness Report: 'Faced with a gun, what can you do?' (PDF; 3.9 MB). Global Witness. July 21, 2009. Archived from the original on December 16, 2010. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
  14. ↑ FAZ on November 17, 2015: Terrorist Financing How oil makes the "Islamic State" rich. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  15. ↑ DIHK: Certification of mineral raw materials in the raw material supply chain ( Memento from October 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ CPUs without conflict minerals: Intel's production is not supposed to finance civil war militias
  17. ↑ Loophole in Conflict Minerals Law Creates Opportunity for Scrap Dealers (Engl.)
  18. ↑ OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas
  19. ^ New Corporate Social Responsibility Mandate Related to Conflict Materials in the New Financial Reform Bill Could Affect Many Companies ( Memento of October 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  20. ↑ Dodd – Frank Act , excerpt: The term conflict mineral means (A) columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, gold, wolframite, or their derivatives; or (B) any other mineral or its derivatives determined by the Secretary of State to be financing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country.