Home/Posts Tagged ‘Congo’
Posts Tagged ‘Congo’
Politics, Videos & Documentaries, Sep 2nd, 2010,
Many laptop computers, mobile phones and other electronic equipment used around the world contain minerals mined in conflict zones such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. Similar to the blood diamond scenario, which gained some attention from the 2006 Hollywood film of the same name, and more lately by Naomi Campbell’s well-publicized appearance in International Criminal Court in The Hague, conflict minerals fuel wars and atrocities in undemocratic countries. Rebel and militia groups are funded by the huge profits from gold, tungsten, tantalum and tin mining in the DCR, though miners receive only around $1-5 US per day. These militias…
Tags: Apple, blood, conflict, Congo, DCR, electronics, enough, laptops, militias, minerals, mobile, phones
Politics, Aug 5th, 2010,
Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been in the headlines lately for allegedly receiving ‘blood diamonds’ from former Liberian leader Charles Taylor at a 1997 celebrity dinner in South Africa, hosted by then President Nelson Mandela. Charles Taylor was reputedly paid in blood diamonds by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leone, a rebel group responsible for widespread atrocities – such as using child soldiers and hacking off victims’ limbs – during Sierra Leone’s civil war. Taylor himself currently faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, including murder, sexual slavery…
Tags: blood diamonds, Campbell, Charles, computers, conflict minerals, Congo, court, Democratic, Hague, Mandela, Naomi, Nelson, Republic, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Taylor, testimony
Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Jul 4th, 2010,
Over 230 people have been killed and 110 injured in Sange, a village in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, when an oil tanker exploded, setting the village on fire. The blast occurred late Friday evening after the tanker – en route from Tanzania –overturned and began leaking oil. The tanker had been trying to pass a bus on a dirt road in Sange. Villagers gathered around to collect some of the leaking fuel, which is a valuable commodity in the Congo. The fuel had already leaked and spread over a large portion of the village…
Tags: children, Congo, Democratic, fire, fuel, killed, Kivu, oil, Province, Republic, Sange, South, tanker, village
Nature, Wildlife & Flora, Apr 8th, 2010,
About a month ago it was reported that Congo soldiers based in Virunga National Park were suspected of poaching a number of animals, including: 7 hippos, 5 elephants, 5 antelopes, 4 baboons, 3 chimpanzees, and 2 buffalo. Those suspicions were correct. According to the commander of the army’s 15th Brigade (which is behind most of the killings), the soldiers have resorted to poaching because of the inadequacy of their food rations. On top of the poaching for food, soldiers have also developed an illegal ivory business in Nord-Kivu province, where the National Park is located. Traders purchase ivory from the…
Tags: Africa, Congo, IDPE, ivory trade, poaching, soldiers, Virunga National Park
Nature, Wildlife & Flora, Mar 9th, 2010,
It would seem some animals are not safe even in the places that are supposed to protect them. Yesterday, Bantu Lukambo of the environmental group Innovation for Development and Environmental Protection, accused Congolese soldiers of killing animals in Virunga National Park. Lukambo believes it was done in February, while the soldiers were stationed in the area to fight rebels. This particular park is home to a huge number of animals, including 200 of the world’s remaining 720 mountain gorillas. However, the animal killings have removed at least 7 hippos, 2 elephants, 2 chimpanzees and 4 baboons from their sacred homes….
Tags: animal killings, Congo, endangered species, soldiers, Virunga National Park, wildlife
Nature, Wildlife & Flora, Jan 19th, 2010,
2009 was a banner year for the confiscation of illegal ivory, with 14,000 articles made from the body parts of elephants seized – a rise of more than 2,000 pieces compared with 2007, according to an article in Sunday’s Observer. But this increase is not down to better law enforcement, but rather a growth in the grizzly trade spurned on by soaring ivory prices in East Asia, which have risen from ₤150 ($245/ €170) per kg in 2004 to a whopping ₤4,000 ($6,500/4,500€). ‘At the same time, scientists estimate that between 8% and 10% of Africa’s elephants are now being…
Tags: Africa, Asia, ban, Congo, elephants, ivory, Kenya, Observer, Tanzania
