Senior African Officials, Multinationals Implicated In Exploitation

Monday, October 21, 2002

Foreign corporations, senior African officials and criminal networks are plundering the rich natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a new 59-page report prepared for the U.N. Security Council by a U.N.-appointed independent panel.

Despite the recent withdrawal of most foreign forces, the exploitation of Congo's resources continues, the report says, with "elite networks" and criminal groups tied to the military forces of Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe benefiting from "micro-conflicts" in the D.R.C.

"The elite networks derive financial benefit through a variety of criminal activities, including theft, embezzlement, diversion of public funds, undervaluation of goods, smuggling, false invoicing, nonpayment of taxes, kickback to public officials and bribery," the panel said, noting that such pillaging is responsible for much of the death and malnutrition in eastern D.R.C.

The panel calls for financial restrictions to be levied on 54 individuals and 29 companies it said are involved in the plunder, including four Belgian diamond companies and the Belgian company George Forrest, which is partnered with the U.S.-based OM Group (Evelyn Leopold, Reuters/News24, Oct. 21).  The individuals named include Rwandan army Chief of Staff James Kabarebe, Congolese Minister of the Presidency Augustin Katumba Mwanke, Ugandan army Chief of Staff James Kaziniand Zimbabwean Parliament Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa, BBC Online reports (Oct. 21).

The report also accuses 85 South African, European and U.S. multinational corporations -- includingAnglo American, Barclays Bank, Bayer, De Beers and Cabot Corporation -- of violating theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development's ethical guidelines on conflict zones.

Accusing the Tutsi-led government of Rwanda of collaborating with its sworn enemy, the Hutu Interahamwe, in the D.R.C.'s plunder, the report says that the exploitation of the D.R.C.'s resources garnered $320 million for the Rwandan military in 1999.  Meanwhile, Congolese and Zimbabwean political, military and commercial interests are accused of transferring $5 billion in assets from the D.R.C.'s state-owned mining sector to private companies "with no compensation or benefit for the state treasury." 

The report also cites notorious diamond smuggler and arms trader Victor Bout of being behind one network involved in the plunder, noting that his diamond exports to Belgium from the United Arab Emirates -- a country with no diamond resources of its own -- increased from $4.2 million in 1998 to $150 million in 2001 (Leopold, Reuters/News24).

RCD Retake Uvira; U.N., Regional Leaders Warn Of Renewed War

Rwandan-backed Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie rebels have retaken the strategic port town of Uvira from pro-government Mayi-Mayi militia forces, leaving scores of civilians and soldiers dead, Reuters reports.  Mayi-Mayi forces took the town last week, prompting Rwanda to warn that it saw the movement of what it called "genocidal forces" toward its border as a serious threat to both Rwanda and the D.R.C. peace process.

Renewed fighting in eastern D.R.C. following the withdrawal of foreign troops and the move by armed groups to exploit the power vacuum in the east has threatened to throw the country back into full-scale civil war (Reuters/Washington Post, Oct. 20).

Late last week, the U.N. Security Council issued a statement calling on all armed groups in Congo to end fighting "immediately and without preconditions" and condemning actions it said were undermining the peace process.  The statement specifically condemned the Mayi-Mayi attack on Uvira and the buildup of military forces around Bukavu (U.N. release, Oct. 18).

The leaders of Rwanda and Uganda have also voiced concern about the situation in eastern D.R.C., theNew Vision reports.  Following a U.K.-brokered meeting between the two last week in London, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwandan President Paul Kagame said recent fighting in Bukavu and Uvira threatened the implementation of the Lusaka peace accords (Felix Osike, New Vision/allAfrica.com, Oct. 19)