Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
City activist decries mineral-linked genocide
By: Carol Sanders
Posted: 04/19/2014 1:00 AM |
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image
Evelyn Mayanja Photo Store
After the Holocaust, the world said "never again" to genocide. But it
happened again in Rwanda in 1994 and it's still happening in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, said Evelyn Mayanja.
The African-born University of Manitoba researcher says the world is
allowing mineral conflicts to claim thousands of lives after already
killing an estimated 5.4 million.
The illicit trade in minerals used in communications devices -- such
as coltan, gold, tungsten and tantalum -- is similar to the "blood
diamonds" extracted in Sierra Leone and Liberia, said Mayanja, 39. The
former development worker in Africa has lived in several countries
torn apart by conflict. She came to Winnipeg in 2011 to work on a PhD
in peace and conflict studies.
"Whenever I see a cellphone, I see more bloodshed," said Mayanja, who
owns a cellphone. "It's a necessary evil."
An urgent global response to "conflict minerals" is needed to stop the
genocide in Congo, where Mayanja has seen kids forced to work in
mines, and rape and child soldiers used as weapons of war.
It can start with something as simple as shopping more carefully for
new electronics or holding off on replacing them, she said.
"Do I need a new phone, computer and tablet every year?"
Consumers may not know where the minerals in their cellphones come
from but they can check to see if its maker has done anything to
ensure human rights are being respected at the source, she said.
Rather than having "apathy and indifference," shoppers can go online
and do some research before making purchases, she said. Mayanja
pointed to the website Raise Hope For Africa that has ranked
electronics companies on conflict minerals.
People can lobby their MPs to demand the government intervene in the
exportation of minerals extracted illegally from Congo, she said.
At least 10 Canadian mining companies are operating in the DRC, she
said. One, Anvil Mining Ltd., faced a class-action suit for allegedly
providing logistical support to the military that massacred 100
Congolese citizens in the port city of Kilwa in 2004.
The suit was filed by the Canadian Association Against Impunity, an
organization representing survivors and families of victims of the
massacre.
The Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a lower-court ruling in favour
of the coalition, saying the complaint should be heard in Congo or
Australia, where Anvil also operated. In 2012, the Supreme Court of
Canada refused to hear the appeal. As is traditional, the justices
gave no reasons for their ruling.
People have been stripping the former Belgian colony of its resources
-- and killing whoever gets in the way -- with impunity for years,
said Mayanja. A lack of leadership in the DRC and apathy in the
international community have allowed it to happen, she said.
"We need help."
Mayanja is hopeful. In 2012 she was asked to speak at schools during
the Kony phenomenon. A 30-minute video called Invisible Children
became one of the biggest viral sensations in Internet history,
briefly turning little-known African warlord Joseph Kony into a
household name among young North Americans.
"It stirred some interest," said Mayanja, who spoke to students about
the atrocities committed by Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army and
its use of child soldiers. For a time, an army of kids wrote letters,
petitioned and lobbied governments to step up efforts to catch him.
"Now it is dead," she said.
If all those young people grow up demanding devices that are free of
conflict minerals, there is hope for Congo, said Mayanja, who plans to
return to Africa to teach one day.
It all comes down to the golden rule, she said.
"If everyone imagines the children forced to work in mines and to
fight were their own, could we let the atrocities continue?"
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 19, 2014 A15
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/city-activist-decries-mineral-linked-genocide-255853211.html?device=mobile
--
SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
Google+: https://plus.google.com/110493390983174363421/posts
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9B4024D0AE764F3D
http://www.youtube.com/user/sibomanaxyz999
***Online Time:15H30-20H30, heure de Montréal.***Fuseau horaire
domestique: heure normale de la côte Est des Etats-Unis et Canada
(GMT-05:00)***
| Reply via web post | Reply to sender | Reply to group | Start a New Topic | Messages in this topic (1) |
.To post a message: RwandaLibre@yahoogroups.com; .To join: RwandaLibre-subscribe@yahoogroups.com; .To unsubscribe from this group,send an email to:
RwandaLibre-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
_____________________________________________________
More news: http://www.amakurunamateka.com ; http://www.ikangurambaga.com ; http://rwandalibre.blogspot.co.uk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-SVP, considérer environnement avant toute impression de cet e-mail ou les pièces jointes.
======
-Please consider the environment before printing this email or any attachments.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sponsors:
http://www.afriqueintimites.com; http://www.afriqueintimites.com;
http://www.eyumbina.com/; http://www.foraha.net/
-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-
Comments
Post a Comment