Article
ENRC under fire over Congo mines
Just days after the influential Africa Progress Panel criticised some of its major deals in Congo, a human rights organisation has launched a legal complaint in relation to two of its mining concessions in the DRC. Lodged by the UK-based Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID), the complaint has been brought under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and concerns the impoverished population of Kisankala and Lenge villages, which are located on two ENRC-controlled mining concessions – Swanmines and Comide – in the Congolese province of Katanga...RAID is calling on the UK National Contact Point to assess whether there have been any breaches of the principles and standards under the OECD Guidelines, in particular the recommendations to companies to respect the human rights of those affected by their activities...In an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg, ENRC argued that all its acquisitions since its 2007 initial public offering "followed appropriate regulatory and board best practice and were cleared by a committee of non-executive directors, led by our former Executive Chairman Mehmet Dalman, alongside the professional advisers whose approvals for these transactions is mandatory." [Refers to Glencore Xstrata].