US rules on conflict minerals have not reduced violence in Congo, watchdog says

8/10/2024 6:11

        A U.S. congressional watchdog has found no evidence that a 2012 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) conflict minerals disclosure rule has reduced violence in Democratic Republic of Congo, it said in a report on Monday.
        
        Armed groups continue to fight for control of gold mines in the east of the Central African country, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in its report.
        
        It also said the rule - which requires some companies to report on their use of tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold - has likely had no effect in neighbouring countries.
        
        "GAO found no empirical evidence that the rule has decreased the occurrence or level of violence in the eastern DRC, wheremany mines and armed groups are located," the report said.
        
        "GAO also found the rule was associated with a spread of violence, particularly around informal, small-scale gold mining sites," it said, adding that gold is the most difficult to trace, and easiest to smuggle, of the four minerals covered by the rule.