The United Nations has repeatedly accused Rwanda of exporting Congolese minerals from conflict areas as Rwandan. Rwanda’s primary mining exports, tungsten, tin and tantalum ore have over the past decade gained a name for themselves as ‘conflict minerals’. In 2009 the United Nations published a report as part of a series which started in 2001 by an international Group of Experts on the role of militia groups in mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo53. The report explains that Rwandan Hutu rebels of the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) exploit and illegally tax 3T and gold mines in the Kivu region in Congo, adjacent to Rwanda.
The Rwandan army supports, and is deeply involved in, rebel activity and the mineral trade in the Kivu region54. Congolese minerals are sent to Rwanda, where they are stored and exported abroad55. Fidele Uwizeye, explains that Rwandan legislation allows foreign minerals to be exported as ‘Rwandan origin’ if more than 30% value is addedin the country.
Read more in the following European Union Report: http://www.fairpolitics.nl/doc/Impact%20Study%20FINAL.pdf
About Author
