STOP THE USE OF COLTAN, ROUGH DIAMONDS, AND TIN ORE FOR THE FUNDING OF REBEL GROUP ATTACKS AND THE R

Since the Democratic Republic of Congo gained its independence from Belgium, the United States Foreign Policy toward the country has been devastating. From the assassination of Patrice Lumumba to the support of Mobuto Sese Seku to the support of Joseph Kabila, the United States has always done what was in their best interest despite the adverse effects to the Congolese. In this day and age, as a country and a global community, we are trying to overcome racism, discrimination, and xenophobia, and ensure the civil and human rights of all people.  For the last few decades, the United States has been one of the loudest voices arguing for the assurance of human rights and democracy for all. However, our actions have spoken louder than our voice ever could.

Over the last ten years, hundreds of thousands of women ranging from ages two years old to seventy-five years old have been raped. The rape these women are facing is not the one-on-one attacks we have become accustomed to hearing about, for the most part, these rapes consist of multiple men (sometimes more than ten) raping one woman and cutting her in various places, including her genitals. The rapists do not show discretion when it comes to pregnant women, who are raped and cut nevertheless. These women are in deep physical and psychological pain. Most of the time, these women are brutally raped in front of their families and communities. Male family members are forced to choose between raping their mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, and so forth or death after watching them being raped. After the rape, if the woman is not killed or taken and enslaved, the woman is totally shamed by being viewed by so many people as she's being violated and shunned by her community because of fear she has contracted HIV or because her rape was so violent she can no longer control her bodily functions. Often times, women have foreign objects such has broken bottles and bayonets inserted in their vagina. Some victims are even shot in their vaginas by their rapists. These women must have surgeries to repair the damage and regain the control over their bodies. According to the Human Rights Watch, an estimated 30% of rape victims are sexually tortured and mutilated during the assaults. Approximately 40% of rape victims are abducted and forced to be sex slaves, usually the younger girls around 8 to 19 years old. In the Panzi Hospital in Bukava, 30% of the rape victims had contracted HIV/AIDS and another 50% had contracted other venereal diseases, like syphilis. Because women often times do not have access to the expensive antiretroviral drugs, these assaults become automatic death sentences.

Rebel soldiers in the Congo are responsible for the mass devastation caused by the rape and mutilation of women and the destruction of entire communities. Rape has become a defining characteristic of the civil war in the Congo, along with the mutilation of the victims. Many of the victims die from massive infections incurred from the wounds procured during their rape and mutilation. Rape has proven to be a cheaper weapon than bullets. Experts say that about 60% of the combatants in the Congo are infected with HIV/AIDS. Congolese authorities have always said that the eastern Congo rebels are being supplied in men and arms by Rwanda, while the northern Congo rebels are being supplied by Uganda. The Congolese government presented documents found on rebels killed in combat that linked them to the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF). The documents included RDF identity cards and mission orders from their commanders to report to Laurent Nkunda, leader of the eastern Congo rebel group.

Democratic Republic of Congo is full of many natural resources. The resources driving these atrocities are columbite-tantalite (coltan), rough diamonds, and cassiterite (tin ore). Rebel groups are funding their occupation of eastern and northern Democratic Republic of Congo by exploiting the minerals there. They do this by smuggling the minerals into Rwanda and Uganda. Most of the minerals are smuggled through Rwanda. Rwanda currently exports five times the amount of cassiterite than it produces. This means that Rwanda had to have imported a significant amount of cassiterite, yet the importing of the cassiterite is not documented.

In the last decade, the United States has given millions of dollars to the Rwandan and Ugandan armies in military training and arms. Though armed forces of Rwanda and Uganda continue to commit serious human rights abuses, in their own countries and within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United States continues to provide millions of dollars worth of arms and training to these regimes. Of the $19.5 million in U.S. arms and training that was delivered to African armed forces, $4.8 million went to nations directly or indirectly involved in the war in the DRC, with about one-third of that total, $1.6 million, going to Uganda.

We the undersigned hereof state our demand that:

·         the United States ceases the allocation of military aid in any form, including the distribution of armaments and military training to both countries of Rwanda and Uganda,

·         sanctions are placed on columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, and rough diamonds being exported from Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo,

·         the United States of America become a member of the Kimberley Process, which is a joint governments, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds through the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), and

·         The United States urge the United Nations to declare the Democratic Republic of Congo Crisis a genocide based on the following acts:

o   Ugandan and Rwandan rebels have killed 5.4 million Congolese (Article 2, Section A of Resolution 260 (III) A),

o   Ugandan and Rwandan rebels are causing serious bodily and mental harm to the Congolese through raids, killings, rape, torture, and mutilation (Article 2, Section B of Resolution 260 (III) A), and

o   Ugandan and Rwandan rebels are deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Congolese in whole or in part (Article 2, Section C of Resolution 260 (III) A).

Thank you for your time and consideration.