U.S. Senate Takes On Congo Conflict Minerals

This report on CNN provides a good overview of the conflict mineral situation and various responses to it, including the bill (S.3058) co-sponsored by Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) currently in committee.



Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo.

AMD "Congo" Decision An Outrage

The recent decision by AMD to name a new computer chip "Congo" has to go down in marketing history as one of the cruelest decisions ever made. Here's the letter I sent in response:

June 8, 2009

Mr. Dirk Meyer
Chief Executive Officer
AMD Corporation
PO Box 3453
Sunnyvale, CA 94088-3453

Dear Mr. Meyer:

Your company's recent decision to name a new microchip "Congo" is astoundingly heartless and ill-informed. Did you really mean to link your product to the world's worst humanitarian crisis?

Nearly six million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998 and the death toll continues to mount as fighting over the country's mineral resources continues. Currently, more than a million Congolese have been driven from their homes and farms by the fighting in the Eastern provinces. It is estimated that 250,000 women have been brutally raped and mutilated by armed groups seeking to control communities where mines are located.

Among the prizes that fuel this conflict are gold, tungsten, coltan, and cassiterite. Coltan, as you know, is a source of tantalum, a mineral used in the manufacture of capacitors widely used in many electronics including ultra-thin laptops like the ones destined to be powered by your "Congo" chips. Tin, a key material in the production of many electronic components, comes from cassiterite. Both ores are mined under horrific conditions in the DRC from deposits controlled by various militias and rebel groups. The Enough Project estimates that these groups generate some $144 million from the illicit trade in these and other minerals. Those profits buy weapons that have killed millions of people and threaten to destroy the nation known as "Congo."

While your new chip may not include these minerals, connecting the product to the conflict is an incredibly bad idea. Your statement of corporate responsibility reads in part:

"Our success in business is built on a core value of respect for people. From our employees around the world, to our customers and partners, to the families who live in the communities where we operate - people come first and foremost."

On behalf of the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, I urge you to fulfill that promise and change this product name. I also call on you to commit to policing your supply chain to ensure that your company's purchases do not contribute to the abuse and deaths of innocent people.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Dave Donelson
Author of Heart of Diamonds

If you'd like to email this message (or your own) to AMD, feel free: Investor.Relations@amd.com

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo.

Fighting Illicit Congo Mineral Industry

Journalist Rima Abdelkader wrote a well-informed piece about the role of illicit minerals in fueling the conflict in Congo. I added these comments to her article on the Huffington Post:

While demanding that electronics manufacturers take responsibility for their supply chain is a commendable approach, there are other culprits whose actions contribute more directly to the atrocities in eastern Congo. One is Rwanda, which exports coltan even though it has no known mines within its borders. Paul Kagame's government says it is working on source accreditation that will show where it gets the mineral and provide the type of supply chain audit demanded by the Enough Project and others (as is the DRC), but so far the promises are mere words.

Another pressure point are business interests within the DRC itself. Not every villain in this story is a western multinational conglomerate--much of the illicit revenue from cassiterite, gold, and coltan flows right to Congolese individuals who back the rogue militias (and even units of the FARDC) who control many of the mines.

Then there are the leaders of the FDLR, the remnants of the Hutu Interahamwe vilified for their role in ongoing conflict in the Kivus. Those criminals live a life of ease in Germany, France, and Belgium enjoying the profits from the mines their troops control in the Congo.

As attorney and activist Joseph Mbangu pointed out, the fight against violence in the DRC is one that must be fought on many fronts.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo.