Father Vincent Machozi, an Assumptionist Catholic priest who led the fight against the extractive industries and in support of human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was assassinated on Sunday night, March 20...Machozi, 51, operated an influential website, Beni Lubero, documenting human rights abuses. He had recently posted an online article denouncing the involvement of the Congolese and Rwandan presidents in the massacres of innocent civilians. According to John L. Allen, “Machozi used the site to denounce what he saw as collusion among political elites, armed factions, and commercial interests in what he termed the ‘Balkanization’ of the region in order to exploit its natural resources, especially its rich Coltan deposits.”...Over the years, Machozi has been involved in several protests against illegal trade of coltan, a mineral ore used in electronic devices. The so call “war of coltan” in the mineral-rich eastern Congo has left millions dead and more than a million women raped, as Sojourners magazine has previously reported. Transnational corporations are able to exert extreme pressure on Congo’s weak government and economy. As a result, the country’s natural resources have become an important factor in increasing poverty and violence rather than wealth and development. The Catholic bishops in Congo (about half of the country’s population is Catholic) repeatedly have denounced three specific kinds of evil: a climate favoring genocide, outbreaks of religious fundamentalism, and a push toward “ethnic cleansing.”

Over the years, Machozi has been involved in several protests against illegal trade of coltan, a mineral ore used in electronic devices. The so call “war of coltan” in the mineral-rich eastern Congo has left millions dead and more than a million women raped, - See more at: https://sojo.net/articles/congolese-priest-fighting-coltan-mining-assassinated#sthash.sIbgTH8k.dpuf