News | Armed Groups
| New Law Aims to Halt Sale of Conflict Minerals | |
Heather Murdock | VOA News - April 18, 2011 | |
 | In the Congolese countryside, there is said to be $24 trillion worth of precious minerals like tantalum, tungsten, gold and tin. They are used to make everything from light bulbs to airplanes, and have long funded the conflict in the country’s tumultuous eastern provinces. |
| Plight of the Congo Is Focus of U.S. Congress Hearing | |
chrissmith.house.gov - March 8, 2011 | |
 | The tragedy and hopes for peace in the Congo was the focus of a hearing held today by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Africa, Global Health and Human Rights Subcommittee. Actor Ben Affleck testified about the work of the Eastern Congo Initiative, including his travel to the DRC. |
| Mining ban fails to end armed control of trade, says Global Witness | |
Global Witness - March 4, 2011 | |
 | The Congolese government's decision this week to lift a ban on the mining and export of minerals from the country's eastern provinces is long overdue, says Global Witness today. The campaign group questioned what has been achieved since restrictions were imposed nearly six months ago. |
| Foreign 'gold smugglers' arrested in eastern Congo | |
BBC News - February 7, 2011 | |
 | Eight foreigners - from the US, France and Nigeria - have been arrested on allegations of gold smuggling in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials say. "Millions of dollars" and 436kg of gold were seized, the local governor said. |
| UN launches patrols to head off rebel violence during holiday season | |
UN News Service - December 1, 2010 | |
 | The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has deployed troops as a preventive measure in Orientale Province ahead of the end-of-year holiday season, which has in the past seen increased attacks by illegal armed groups. |
| UN Report: CNDP, Congolese Soldiers Involved in Illegal Mining Operations | |
Congo News Agency - November 30, 2010 | |
 | A report by a group of experts monitoring UN sanctions on the Democratic Republic of Congo has implicated former CNDP soldiers, now part of the Congolese Armed Forces, in the illegal exploitation of mineral resources in eastern Congo. The report says that “units of the former Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) in FARDC have gained military control over most of the strategic areas rich in natural resources in the Kivus, presenting a challenge to their integration into FARDC.” |
| Women March against Sexual Violence in Eastern Congo | |
Congo News Agency - October 17, 2010 | |
 | First Lady Olive Lembe Kabila led a march by thousands of women through the streets of Bukavu, in eastern Congo, on Sunday. They were marching against the sexual violence – and violence in general – that has plagued the region, where rape has been used as a weapon of war by armed groups for years. |
| Rebel leader presumed responsible for mass rape arrested | |
UN News - October 5, 2010 | |
 | United Nations peacekeepers and Government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo today seized one of the rebel leaders suspected of being behind the mass rape of more than 300 civilians two months ago in the country’s east. |
| UN DR Congo Report Exposes Grave Crimes | |
Human Rights Watch - October 1, 2010 | |
 | On October 1, 2010, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published the report of its human rights mapping exercise on Congo. United Nations members should make a concerted international effort to initiate judicial investigations into grave human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo documented by the UN and bring those responsible to justice. |
| UN Defends Inaction on Mass Rapes in Eastern Congo, Government Missing in Action | |
Congo News Agency - August 26, 2010 | |
 | The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) is on the defensive since the NGO International Medical Corps revealed early this week that rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and members of a local Mai Mai militia, raped at least 154 women in North Kivu, a few kilometers from a MONUSCO base. |
