DRC: Amnesty International's report reveals forced evictions, threats & intimidation of local communities in cobalt-rich areas, incl. co. responses
Resumo
Data informada: 11 Set 2023
Localização: Congo (República Democrática do)
Empresas
Kamoa Kakula (joint venture between Ivanhoe, Zijn Mining and Government of Democratic Republic of Congo) - Parent CompanyProjetos
Kamoa-KakulaAfetados
Total de pessoas afetadas: Número desconhecido
Comunidade: ( Número desconhecido - Localização desconhecida - Setor desconhecido , Gender not reported )Temas
Adequate Living Standards , DeslocamentoResposta
Resposta solicitada: Sim, por Amnesty International and Initiative pour la Bonne Gouvernance et les Droits Humains (IBGDH)
Tipo de fonte: NGO
Resumo
Data informada: 11 Set 2023
Localização: Congo (República Democrática do)
Empresas
Kolwezi project (JV betweeen Zijin Mining Group (72%) and Gécamines (28%)) - Parent CompanyProjetos
KolweziAfetados
Total de pessoas afetadas: Número desconhecido
Comunidade: ( Número desconhecido - Localização desconhecida - Setor desconhecido , Gender not reported )Temas
Consulta insuficiente/inadequada , Forced Relocation , Espancamento e ViolênciaResposta
Resposta solicitada: Sim, por Amnesty International and Initiative pour la Bonne Gouvernance et les Droits Humains (IBGDH)
Tipo de fonte: NGO
Resumo
Data informada: 11 Set 2023
Localização: Congo (República Democrática do)
Empresas
Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) - Parent CompanyProjetos
Metalkol RTR ProjectAfetados
Total de pessoas afetadas: Número desconhecido
Women: ( Número desconhecido - Localização desconhecida - Setor desconhecido , Gender not reported ) , Comunidade: ( Número desconhecido - Localização desconhecida - Setor desconhecido , Gender not reported )Temas
Intimidação e Ameaças , Espancamento e Violência , Direito à terra , Consulta insuficiente/inadequada , Impactos nos meios de subsistência , Estupro e Abuso Sexual , Espancamento e Violência , State armed forcesResposta
Resposta solicitada: Sim, por Amnesty International and Initiative pour la Bonne Gouvernance et les Droits Humains (IBGDH)
Tipo de fonte: NGO
Resumo
Data informada: 11 Set 2023
Localização: Congo (República Democrática do)
Empresas
Chemaf - Parent CompanyProjetos
MutoshiAfetados
Total de pessoas afetadas: Número desconhecido
Comunidade: ( Número desconhecido - Localização desconhecida - Setor desconhecido , Gender not reported )Temas
Intimidação e Ameaças , Espancamento e Violência , Danos , Espancamento e Violência , State armed forces , Forced RelocationResposta
Resposta solicitada: Sim, por Amnesty International and Initiative pour la Bonne Gouvernance et les Droits Humains (IBGDH)
Tipo de fonte: NGO
" DRC: Powering change or business as usual?" 11 September 2023
In a report recently published, Amnesty International and the DRC-based organisation Initiative pour la Bonne Gouvernance et les Droits Humains (IBGDH), detail how the scramble by multinational companies to expand mining operations has resulted in communities being forced from their homes and farmland. “The forced evictions taking place as companies seek to expand industrial-scale copper and cobalt mining projects are wrecking lives and must stop now,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
“Amnesty International recognizes the vital function of rechargeable batteries in the transition from fossil fuels. But climate justice demands a just transition. Decarbonizing the global economy must not lead to further human rights violations.
“The people of the DRC experienced significant exploitation and abuse during the colonial and post-colonial era, and their rights are still being sacrificed as the wealth around them is stripped away.” Growing demand for so-called clean energy technologies has created a corresponding demand for certain metals, including copper, and cobalt, which is essential for making most lithium-ion batteries. These are used to power a wide range of devices including electric cars and mobile phones. The DRC has the world’s largest reserves of cobalt, and the seventh largest reserves of copper.
The average electric vehicle battery requires more than 13kg of cobalt, and a mobile phone battery about 7g. Demand for cobalt is expected to reach 222,000 tonnes by 2025, having tripled since 2010.
Donat Kambola, president of IBGDH, said: “People are being forcibly evicted, or threatened or intimidated into leaving their homes, or misled into consenting to derisory settlements. Often there was no grievance mechanism, accountability, or access to justice.”
Candy Ofime and Jean-Mobert Senga, Amnesty International researchers and co-authors of the report, said: “We found repeated breaches of legal safeguards prescribed in international human rights law and standards, and national legislation, as well as blatant disregard for the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.”
