(3 minutes read)
Amnesty International accuses multinationals of forced evictions, threats, intimidation, and deception against local populations at cobalt and copper mining sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Amnesty International accuses multinationals of forced evictions, threats, intimidation, and deception against local populations at cobalt and copper mining sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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In the report published recently, Amnesty and the DRC-based Initiative for Good Governance and Human Rights analyzed the human rights impact of four projects in the Kolwezi mining region, south-east of the DRC (Kolwezi Copper and Cobalt Mine, Mutoshi Mine, Metalkol RTR and Kamoa-Kakula Mine). The two organizations believe that the race to expand these mining operations has led to the forced eviction of populations from their homes and fields.
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Instead of benefiting from the growth of the mining sector, people living in the Kolwezi region are being forced to leave their homes and farmland to make way for the expansion of large-scale industrial mining projects, the report says. These evictions are often carried out by mining operators who have little regard for the rights of the populations concerned. They have little respect for national laws designed to limit forced evictions linked to the mining sector. The DRC is Africa’s largest mining producer and supplies over 70% of the world’s cobalt, a crucial metal for batteries used in electronics and electric cars.
