Cell Phones, iPods and Rape

Granted, one doesn't often look at a cell phone or iPod and think of mass rape in Congo - but then perhaps we should.  The minerals used to make the electronic circuitry in cell phones, iPods and digital cameras often come from eastern Congo, from mines controlled by rebel groups responsible for horrific violence.

The Enough Project has recently launched a campaign focusing on Congo's Conflict Minerals: Are your electronics products fueling the deadliest war in the world?

As a recent Enough report explains:

"Congo’s protracted wars have led to incredibly wide and diverse violence against civilians by an array of armed groups...In particular, sexual violence has become a tool of war and control for the armed groups in Congo on an immense scale. The Congo war has the highest rate of violence against women and girls in the world, and reports indicate that hundreds of thousands have been raped, making it the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman or girl.

...

Sexual violence in Congo is often fueled by militias and armies warring over 'conflict minerals,' the ores that produce tin, tungsten, and tantalum—the “3 Ts”—as well as gold. Armed groups from Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda finance themselves through the illicit conflict mineral trade and fight over control of mines and taxation points inside Congo."

We can all of us do something about this.

Enough - in conjunction with other organizations - is calling on electronics companies to sign a pledge that they will trace the supply chain and verify that they are not helping finance armed groups or military units in Congo.

We can take action by urging electronics companies to sign this pledge.

For more information on Congo's conflict minerals, see here.