Africa's Blood Diamonds and now, Blood Metals (used in making our gadgets)
May 11, 2009 05:59If you've seen the movie Blood Diamonds or read any of the news reports on how purchasing these causes the horrible loss of lives and limbs of millions of people in Africa, you would have an inkling of the cruelty of buying such diamonds. But what if these mines in Africa have been supplying us with other ores besides diamonds and we have unknowingly been supporting them?
Coltan-tantalum is an important metal that is used by tech manufacturers to make tantalum oxide and high-quality capacitors. Tantalum oxide is used to make camera lenses and inkjet printers, while high-quality capacitors are used to make mobile phones, laptop computers, and other electronic gadgets.
Now, Australian miners and other NGOs are claiming that we are getting our coltan-tantalum from the same group that tempts us with blood diamonds.
Apparently, the mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo that supplies this are under the control of various rebel groups including the Hutu militia associated with the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
From a news report in the Sydney Morning Herald:
"In the same way that the Taliban uses opium to fund its war in Afghanistan, or rebel groups in Colombia thrive off the proceeds of cocaine sales, the civil war in Congo is bankrolled by the sale of illegally mined "conflict resources" such as tantalum.
The International Rescue Committee refugee action group says the conflict has resulted in the death of over 5.4 million Congolese over the past decade".
What do you think? Is this worth our cries over? Will tech brands and their suppliers please reveal which mines their coltan-tantalum are sourced from so we can choose not to support those that result in the genocide of our humankind?
Watch this video by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for more information.
- Talkback
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(Afghanistan) I once saw a BBC report where British soldiers were being interviewed by a reporter and there was a permanent American military base just 50 meters behind the men being interviewed. The British soldiers, tanks and the American Base were all in the middle of a vast Opium field. When asked why the soldiers didn't destroy the Opium crop they replied it wasn't part of their mission and the territory they were in was run by friendly Afghan authorities. We all know how much Western Media and organizations can be trusted.........
Should "blood" diamonds and metals be used in the rest of the world...of course not but until the commerce stops and Western Corporations lose their supply of these commodities nothing will be done to stop the bloodshed in certain parts of Africa.
May 11, 2009 14:52
I agree with what montbkk said, if wastern companies are willing ignore social responsibility for carbons and metals. More blood will ensure. I definatly think there's difference in attitude for western countries when it comes to personal gain.
May 11, 2009 19:02
Oh yes, ALWAYS the fault of Western companies - give me a break! Do you know (anything) which companies make capacitors?
May 11, 2009 21:35
@swissmike: There's load of companies that makes capictors, mainly western and asian. How many Asian companies are linked with African Diamonds and Metals? I suggest you look at facts before getting hissy.
May 11, 2009 22:45
It's a sad but true thing that we're often dependent on western companies to take the lead when it comes to doing the right things.
Not that it's the fault of western companies but that the western audience tend to care more about these things and make louder noise to pressure the western companies.
May 14, 2009 07:50
I just read somewhere that Nokia does not use Blood Tantalum in making their mobile phones. Let me reseearch more and write a post on who's using and who's not.
Jun 24, 2009 13:59
About Hillary Chan
Hillary loves people and nature and enjoys blogging about using technology to better manage our planet.
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