Security Council: United Nations
Security Council: United Nations
Original: English
Letter dated 21 May 2010 from the Chair of the Security Council
Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004)
concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo addressed to
the President of the Security Council
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II. Methodology
12. The Group commenced work on 26 February 2010, holding consultations with,
inter alia, government officials, diplomatic missions, non-governmental organizations,
mining industry representatives, ex-combatants and United Nations officials in
Kinshasa, Goma, Kigali, London, Brussels, Paris and New York.
13. During the course of its mandate to date, the Group has continued
investigations into possible sanctions violations by armed groups in the eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Pursuant to paragraph 8 of resolution 1896
(2009), the Group continues to adopt a case-study approach. The Group continued to
research the activities of the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda-Forces
combattantes Abacunguzi (FDLR-FOCA), as well as the activities of the
movement’s political leadership and members of the diaspora. The Group has also
continued to research the process of integration of the Congrès national pour la
défense du peuple (CNDP) and other Congolese armed groups into the Congolese
armed forces (Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo, FARDC).
14. The Group also began to monitor arms shipments to the Democratic Republic
of the Congo and the implementation by Member States of the targeted travel and
financial measures imposed against individuals and entities on the Committee’s
list. 1
15. Pursuant to paragraph 7 of resolution 1896 (2009), the Group conducted
consultations with officials from Member States and commercial entities involved in
the extraction, processing and shipping and purchasing of mineral resources from
the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Group also consulted with concerned
non-governmental organizations.
16. In addition, the Group continued its investigations into the linkage between the
exploitation of natural resources and the financing of illegal armed groups.
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1 www.un.org/sc/committees/1533/pdf/1533_list.pdf.
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27. Efforts by the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and MONUC
to integrate and demobilize Congolese non-State armed groups have continued,
leading to the demobilization of nearly 1,000 combatants during the first quarter of
2010. Those demobilized came from armed groups including, inter alia, Mai-Mai
Kifuafua, the Patriotes résistants congolais (PARECO) and Mai-Mai Yakutumba.
28. There has been slow progress in implementing the Agreements of 23 March
2009, in particular in connection with political integration. Nonetheless, three former
armed groups, CNDP, PARECO and the Mouvement d’union pour le développement
national, have begun a process of transformation into political parties.
29. Data collected by humanitarian agencies and provincial population movement
commissions has suggested that in February 2010 there were approximately
600,000 internally displaced persons in North Kivu. The data refers to displacement
occurring from January to December 2009, and is attributed predominantly to
military operations, or “armed attacks”. The most affected territories in North Kivu
are Lubero (53 per cent), Masisi (20 per cent), and Walikale (17 per cent). At the
same time, in 2009, approximately 500,000 people returned to their respective areas
of origin, with the territories of Lubero, Masisi and Rutshuru totalling more than
90 per cent of returns.
30. In South Kivu approximately 730,000 people remained internally displaced at
the end of 2009, with a decreasing rate of return, and with approximately
50,000 displaced from October to December 2009 due to military operations and the
reprisal attacks of FDLR.
31. In the Ituri region of Orientale Province, there was renewed displacement
during 2009, together with a very low rate of return, particularly in the southern
Irumu territory caused by the fighting between FARDC and the Front populaire pour
la justice au Congo and the Front de résistance patriotique de l’Ituri.
32. In the Haut and Bas Uélé regions of Orientale Province, there are a total of
approximately 240,000 internally displaced persons. During the last quarter of 2009,
it appears that LRA attacks have resulted in a 32 per cent increase in the number of
internally displaced persons in the area of Niangara and a 62 per cent increase in the
area of Rungu.
33. In Equateur Province, fighting in and around Dongo, in Kingu territory, during
late 2009 caused the displacement of approximately 60,000 people, while reportedly
more than 80,000 sought refuge in the Republic of the Congo, and 15,000 in the
Central African Republic.
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FDLR/RUD-Urunana
40. The Group has learned from interviews with former FDLR combatants that
recruitment and training of new combatants continues. However, operations Kimia II
and Amani Leo have disrupted FDLR communications and led to the dispersal of
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units and the armed group’s development of a more complicated command and
control system. According to information provided to the Group, the military
operations have also made it more difficult for FDLR leaders to maintain control
over economic activities, particularly mining. At the same time, the Group
understands that ongoing military operations have made it more dangerous for those
wishing to disarm and repatriate, suggesting that better coordination between
disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and resettlement or repatriation and
military efforts may be needed.
41. The Group has also learned from interviews with ex-combatants that the
arrests in Germany of FDLR President and Vice-President Ignace Murwanashyaka
and Straton Musoni have helped to exacerbate pre-existing rivalries and may have
increased friction between factions at the senior level within FDLR. The Group is
investigating this matter, and also whether a new organization or organizations
could be evolving from FDLR structures.
42. Interviews held by the Group with former combatants revealed that the
Rassemblement populaire rwandais (RPR), a small Tutsi faction bringing together
diaspora political dissidents and a small group of combatants, RPR-Inkeragutabara
(thought to have no more than a few dozen combatants), and RUD-Urunana leaders
decided to combine and form a new organization called the Congrès national pour la
démocratie (CND). From interviews with former combatants, the Group has
confirmed that Felicien Kanyamibwa (living in the United States of America),
executive secretary of RUD-Urunana, is the President of CND. The Group also
learned that that Yacinthe Nsengiyumva, alias John Muhindo, alias Rafiki, who was
also mentioned in the Group’s report of November 2009, is the executive Secretary
General of CND, and that General Jean-Damascene Ndibabje, alias Musare, is
commander of the military wing, still referred to as the Armée nationale (AN)-
Imboneza. Other political leaders formerly active in RUD have been changed or
replaced. AN-Imboneza has been displaced by military operations from some of its
former positions, but remains intact and in close communication with senior
political cadres, particularly with Kanyamibwa and Augustin Dukoze (living in
Canada), political spokesperson for both RUD and CND. The Group has collected
credible testimony indicating that the AN-Imboneza leadership imposes corporal
punishment for desertion, which its leadership seeks to apply to those attempting to
disarm and repatriate. Those in positions of responsibility who persuade others to
join them are charged with rebellion and are subject to receiving a death sentence.
The Group will continue investigating these and other incidents tying diaspora
political leaders to measures to prevent FDLR and RUD/CND/RPR/AN-Imboneza
combatants from laying down their weapons, in breach of paragraph 4 of resolution
1807 (2008) as well as paragraph 1 of resolution 1804 (2008).
43. The Group is aware of extensive local, regional and international support
networks providing political and material support to FDLR and RUD/CND in
violation of Security Council-imposed sanctions. The Group intends to confirm the
identities of key leaders during the course of its mandate. Credible testimonies from
various sources collected by the Group suggest that new political and military
organizations may soon emerge from the shifting alliances in the eastern Democratic
Republic of the Congo, creating renewed risk of regional political interference from
armed groups.
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44. Since 2008, the Group’s attempts to investigate suspected FDLR and RUD
leaders with the assistance of national authorities in Member States have been
complicated in some cases by those States’ laws pertaining, inter alia, to protection
of privacy and the separation of constitutional powers. Though Member States may
have been requested in Security Council resolutions to assist the Group to
investigate suspected breaches of sanctions, national privacy laws and laws
protecting individual citizens’ rights have prevented some national authorities from
replying to requests from the Group in this regard. Canadian, American and French
diplomats have all reported difficulties complying with requests for telephone logs
and banking information because of legal restrictions on what types of information
may be conveyed to the Group. The Group draws the Committee’s attention to the
inconsistency between some Member States’ national laws and their implementation
of mandatory obligations resulting from the adoption under Chapter VII of the
Charter of resolution 1896 (2009).
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55. In the first quarter of 2010, eight FARDC combatants responsible for grave
human rights violations were sentenced by the military judiciary authorities of
North Kivu, while 14 others were sentenced by South Kivu authorities. The Group
considers that such initiatives, although relatively small in scale, are a positive sign
of the authorities’ commitment to prosecuting human rights crimes committed by
State agents. Nevertheless, significant efforts are still needed to build the capacity of
the Congolese judicial authorities to ensure the development of the criminal justice
chain from investigation to sentencing and compensation of victims for human
rights abuses. Only some 50 cases have been investigated and submitted to the
Congolese judicial authorities since the beginning of Kimia II operations early in
2009, and none of the cases concerned allegations involving senior FARDC
officials. In May 2009, the Security Council brought to the attention of the
authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo a request by MONUC to
investigate five FARDC officers concerning whom MONUC had received consistent
allegations of human rights abuses. The Group understands that no significant
progress has been made by the military justice authorities of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo in prosecuting those five cases.
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(b) Identify facts and assess risk in the supply chain, by evaluating the facts
against applicable standards, including the requirement and obligation that they do
not provide indirect assistance to armed groups;
(c) Design and implement a strategy to respond to identified risks, by
establishing improvement plans with suppliers or discontinuing engagement with
them;
(d) Ensure independent third-party audits;
(e) Report on their supply chain due diligence and findings.
70. Payments to armed groups along mineral supply chains are illegal under the
law of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Group considers it important
that there is the full participation of Congolese State authorities in efforts to cease
those payments. The Group has to this end conducted consultations about natural
resource governance and due diligence with Government institutions at the national,
provincial and local levels, including the Prime Minister’s office and the Minister of
Mines, and intends to engage with other Government ministries over the remainder
of its mandate. In addition, the Group has held meetings with the Service
d’assistance et d’encadrement du Small-Scale Mining, a Government organization
intended to assist and empower artisanal miners. The discussions will continue and
intensify over the remainder of the Group’s mandate. Thus far, the Group has
ascertained the Government’s and the armed forces’ opposition to the militarization
of the country’s mines (see annex II), and that the Government supports the
principle that companies should take responsibility for their supply chains, not just
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo but all the way to the end-users. The
Group has learned that the Minister of Defence recently visited the Bise mining site
in North Kivu, to persuade military leaders to cease their involvement in illegal
mining or taxation of minerals. The Government has also indicated support for
efforts to boost the State capacity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to
combat minerals fraud and eliminate illegal payments from mineral supply chains to
armed groups.
71. In its report of 13 February 2008 (S/2008/43, para. 84), the Group
recommended that Congolese State institutions should be brought closer to mining
production sites in the country. Since then, MONUC has begun work in conjunction
with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on five pilot centres
de negoces, where it is intended that output from mineral deposits can be traded and
tagged in an environment free from illegal armed group taxation or interference. The
Group considers this project a useful and constructive response to the Group’s
earlier recommendation, which has the potential to boost Congolese State capacity
in the minerals sector and reduce the ability of armed groups to collect rents from
mineral supply chains.
72. The Group considers that this ability of armed groups to collect rents would be
further constrained by the carrying out of spot checks on minerals in transit by an
existing or, preferably, a specialized State agency, with international assistance.
73. The Group further considers that ongoing efforts by international agencies and
United Nations police to boost the capacity of Customs authorities and police could
be complemented by specific training to investigate and prevent mineral sector
fraud in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, such as illegal payments to armed
groups, through spot checks and other means. Such efforts could also have a
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positive impact on Congolese State capacity in the minerals sector. This in turn has
the potential to reduce the militarization of mines, and hence the ability of armed
groups to collect rents from mineral supply chains. The Group considers, however,
that the only way to ensure the sustained demilitarization of mines will be
continuing security sector reform.
74. The Group has been engaged in discussions with associations of mineral
creusers, négociants and comptoirs (diggers, buyers and dealers) in North Kivu
about natural resource governance and due diligence, and intends to deepen this
dialogue and widen it to South Kivu and other provinces during the course of the
mandate. The Group welcomes the stated commitment of those associations to play
a role in implementing effective traceability mechanisms for the minerals they work
with, which is in accordance with the requirement in paragraph 7 of resolution 1896
(2009) that importers, processing industries and consumers of mineral products take
steps to ascertain the origin of mineral products.
75. The Group is aware, however, that certain négociants and comptoirs continue
to purchase minerals from sites controlled by armed groups, and that this material is
being sold on to refineries or smelters and thence to end-users, all in violation of
United Nations sanctions. The Group is actively pursuing investigations in this
connection.
76. The Group considers traceability to be an important aspect of due diligence,
and accordingly welcomes the fact that schemes to improve the traceability of
Congolese minerals are currently being developed inter alia by the German Federal
Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, ITRI (a United Kingdom-based tin
industry association), the United States-based Electronic Industry Citizenship
Coalition (EICC) and the Service d’assistance et d’encadrement du Small-Scale
Mining. The Group has initiated discussions with these institutions, and will
continue to do so during the course of its mandate. The Group will also engage with
other mining industry associations, particularly those in the gold and jewellery
industry, to explore ways in which they also might contribute to improving the
traceability of Congolese minerals.
77. The Group has noted the ongoing efforts by the Government of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, MONUC and non-governmental organizations to identify
and map which Congolese mineral deposits are controlled by which armed groups.
The Group considers this identification and mapping to be an important exercise
with the potential to complement and inform traceability processes. Recent mapping
and identification exercises by MONUC show a continued high level of
militarization in mines across North and South Kivu, and to a lesser extent in
Katanga and Maniema. In the Kivu provinces, it appears, almost every mining
deposit is controlled by an armed group. The armed groups include regular FARDC
units, poorly integrated CNDP (and other Congolese armed group) units within
FARDC, Mai-Mai militia and FDLR.
78. The Group has received information from credible national and international
sources indicating a continued high level of illegal taxes being levied by State
agencies and both State and non-State armed groups at various stages of mineral
supply chains in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly in the east. The
information shows that taxes are levied inter alia at mine sites, roadblocks, airstrips,
airports, and borders. The Group is actively investigating these issues and will
continue to do so during the rest of the mandate.
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79. The Group considers that the continued collection by armed groups of illegal
taxes at various stages of mineral supply chains in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo demonstrates that, while measures to improve traceability are a necessary
component of due diligence for importers, processing industries and consumers of
the country’s mineral products, these measures are not sufficient. This is because
mineral traceability processes do not monitor and thus do not reveal the collection
of illegal taxes by armed groups.
80. Additional research is required to monitor and reveal the illegal tax collection
of mineral supply chains by armed groups, and the Group is of the view that it
should be a due diligence requirement of upstream participants in supply chains of
minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from comptoirs to traders and
processing industries, that they conduct or commission this research. The research
should seek to answer whether or which armed groups are directly or indirectly
involved in the trading, transport or taxing of minerals, and whether and which
armed groups are benefiting in any way from the trading, transportation or taxing of
minerals being carried out by other parties.
81. The answers and information yielded by this research should then be evaluated
against the requirement of resolution 1896 (2009) that companies should not provide
indirect support for armed groups. In the Group’s view, any possible inconsistencies
between a factual circumstance and the resolution’s requirement regarding armed
groups should be considered as creating the risk of falling under the scope of
paragraph 4 of resolution 1857 (2008).
82. The Group further recommends that it should be a due diligence requirement
of the downstream supply chain, from processors to end-users and consumers of
mineral products from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that they require and
evaluate information supplied to them by upstream supply chain participants about
the origins of Congolese minerals and the payments made to armed groups, which
those participants have obtained as part of their due diligence obligations. In this
way, importers, processing industries and consumers of the country’s mineral
products will be informed about what illegal taxes are being paid and to which
armed groups. This information should then be evaluated against the requirement of
resolution 1896 (2009) that companies should not provide indirect support for armed
groups. Possible inconsistencies between a factual circumstance and the resolution’s
requirement regarding armed groups should be considered a risk.
83. The Group is of the view that due diligence requirements related to Congolese
minerals should apply not just to importers, processors and consumers but also to
the financial institutions with which they work. Financial institutions are already
recommended by the Financial Action Task Force to conduct ongoing due diligence
on their business relationships, to ensure that the transactions being conducted are
consistent with the institutions’ knowledge of the customer, their business and risk
profile, including where necessary, the source of funds. The Group considers that
financial institutions should seek to verify that importers, processors and consumers
of Congolese mineral products with which they are associated are not providing
indirect support to armed groups. The Group will be investigating during the
remainder of its mandate the extent to which financial institutions are already doing
this, and exploring with them ways in which they might continue and strengthen
their efforts.
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84. The Group has begun, and intends to continue, its investigations into the
shareholdings of the mineral comptoirs of the eastern Democratic Republic of the
Congo and regional States, to establish which persons and entities provide them
with financing. The Group further intends to explore what due diligence obligations
might pertain to the shareholders.
85. A number of individuals and entities have been subject to an assets freeze and
travel ban by the Committee since 1 November 2005. The Group intends during the
course of its mandate to investigate to what extent illegal taxes levied on Congolese
minerals materially benefit those individuals and entities, in violation of the
sanctions. The Group will also explore ways with importers, processors and
consumers of Congolese mineral products how they might design strategies to
minimize the risk that their activities are indirectly benefiting sanctioned individuals
and entities.
86. The Group has initiated a process of discussion with neighbouring States
concerning their role in, and contribution to, improved natural resource governance
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but has not yet had the opportunity to
visit the States to take the discussion further. The Group will continue this process
during the remainder of the mandate. In accordance with paragraph 14 of resolution
1896 (2009), the Group intends to engage with regional States on what measures
they can take to ensure that importers, processing industries and consumers of
Congolese mineral products under their jurisdiction exercise due diligence on their
suppliers and on the origin of the minerals they purchase. To this end, the Group
reminds Member States, particularly those in the Great Lakes region, of the
recommendation of the Security Council in paragraph 17 of resolution 1896 (2009),
by which the Council recommended that Member States regularly publish full
import and export statistics for gold, cassiterite, coltan and wolframite.
87. The Group will also engage with traders and processors of Congolese minerals
in regional States, working to ensure that there is full consistency in their due
diligence requirements vis-à-vis those of traders and processors in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. The Group has received credible information indicating that
some purchasers in regional States continue to purchase Congolese minerals, despite
knowing that illegal taxes have been levied on them by armed groups, thus falling
under the scope of paragraph 4 (g) of resolution 1857 (2008) in violation of the
sanctions regime. The Group will investigate these matters further during the course
of its mandate.
88. The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region is an important forum
for regional States to coordinate their policies regarding natural resource
governance, and for mutual cooperation. The Group welcomes the recent agreement
by the Conference secretariat to institute a regional mineral resource traceability
system, and has initiated dialogue with the secretariat concerning due diligence and
natural resource governance, which will continue during the course of its mandate.
89. As stated above, after identifying facts and assessing risks, the next stage in
due diligence, in the view of the Group, is for importers, processors and consumers
of Congolese minerals to design and implement a strategy to respond to identified
risks, by establishing improvement plans with suppliers or discontinuing engagement
with them.
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90. Resolution 1896 (2009) particularly targets foreign armed groups such as
FDLR-FOCA and, in this regard, it is the Group’s view that where importers,
processing industries and consumers of minerals from the Democratic Republic of
the Congo learn through their due diligence efforts that minerals have come from
sites controlled by these groups, or have subsequently been taxed by such groups,
they should take steps immediately to cease purchasing, processing or consuming
those minerals. The Group considers that the same approach of discontinuing
engagement should apply to all Congolese armed groups which remain outside the
integration process.
91. The Group is currently considering what appropriate responses should be taken
by importers, processing industries and consumers when their due diligence efforts
show that their minerals come from those deposits, and/or have been illegally taxed
by FARDC and armed groups in the process of integration into FARDC. These
responses may range from establishing improvement plans with suppliers to
discontinuing engagement with them.
92. The Group is of the view that the third component of due diligence must be
independent third party audit. Without independent, external verification of the due
diligence procedures of importers, processing industries and consumers of
Congolese minerals, there will be no way of knowing whether they have conducted
due diligence. This would erode public confidence in the process, leading to
continuing reputational risk for importers, processing industries and consumers of
Congolese minerals that have taken appropriate due diligence measures, and
continuing impunity for those that have not taken appropriate measures.
93. A credible audit mechanism would also, in the Group’s view, assist Member
States in implementing the call made by the Council in paragraph 14 of resolution
1896 (2009) that they take measures to ensure that importers, processing industries
and consumers of Congolese mineral products under their jurisdiction exercise due
diligence on their suppliers and on the origin of the minerals they purchase.
94. The Group is therefore actively considering various possible audit mechanisms
for the inspection and assessment of the due diligence practices of importers,
processing industries and consumers of Congolese mineral products, including the
ISO 19011: 2002 guidelines of the International Organization for Standardization,
with a view to making a recommendation to the Council in this regard.
95. The final component of due diligence is reporting obligations. The Group is
considering appropriate reporting requirements for importers, processors and
consumers of Congolese minerals and will convey its recommendations to the
Committee in its final report.
96. The Group has conducted discussions with several Member States about what
they consider the consequences should be for importers, processors and consumers
of Congolese mineral products that are found not to have conducted sufficient due
diligence, and/or are found to be indirectly supporting armed groups through their
activities. The Group is awaiting responses from those Member States in this regard,
and intends to continue the discussions over the remainder of its mandate.
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from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and will investigate this further
during the course of its mandate. The Group will seek to establish whether other
parties which trade in these products and other natural resources previously
identified in Group reports are, by doing so, indirectly supporting armed groups in
violation of resolution 1896 (2009).
VIII. Recommendations
98. The Group of Experts makes the following recommendations:
1. The Group recommends that the sanctions Committee consider issuing a
public statement clarifying that the scope of the sanctions regime on the Democratic
Republic of the Congo does not include any prohibition of export of minerals from
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or any formal mechanism to certify the
origin of such minerals. This may help to limit fraudulent attempts to sell fake
“clearance” certificates.
2. The Group reiterates its previous recommendation that Member States,
particularly those in the Great Lakes region, regularly publish full import and export
statistics for gold, cassiterite, coltan and wolframite, and explore ways to improve
their data-capturing in this matter.
3. The Group recommends that measures are taken to ensure that
development of the centres de negoces mechanism continues, regardless of the
possible drawdown of MONUC and the reconfiguration of the Mission’s mandate.
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Annex I
Information to be included in notifications by exporting States
to the sanctions Committee regarding provision of military
equipment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo *
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Annex II
Letter dated 22 March 2010 from FARDC Major General
Dieudonné Amuli Bahigwa, addressed to the Acting Eastern
Coordinator of MONUC
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