The Democratic Republic Of The Congo (DRC) is four times the size of France, and as big as the United States east of the Mississippi river. Foreign companies are profiting from the unregulated mining and selling of the DRC vast mineral deposits such as diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt and coltan. DRC holds 80 percent of the world’s reserves of coltan, a heat-resistant mineral ore widely used in cellular phones, laptop computers, video games, jet engines, rockets, cutting tools, camera lenses, x-ray film, ink jet printers, hearing aids and many other electronic devises. The ore derives its name from a contraction of columbium-tantalite, the scientific nomenclature; because of this the DRC is the richest country in the world with the poorest people.

Foreign multi-national corporations have benefited tremendously from the exploitation of coltan in the DRC. The coltan mined by rebels and neighboring countries (Rwanda, Uganda & Burundi) is sold to these foreign corporations.

This exploitation of the DRC has fueled the human trafficking, rape, death and forced labor of innocent people on their own land, making this one of the greatest genocides/holocaust in modern history.

We have to be the voice of the voiceless. We must ask ourselves this question every time we utilize our cell phones are play a video game how many Congolese people have died so that we can have the privilege to speak on our cell phones or entertain ourselves with our video games.

Mutilated Girl from The Democratic Republic of the Congo

As Americans we are unsuspectingly contributing to the genocide in the DRC. Everyone has heard of blood diamonds but everyone cannot afford them; however we all use coltan.  According to the United Nations report multi-national companies from around the world have been buying illegal coltan and other rich minerals generated in the DRC from militant groups.

Since 1998 almost six million have died from this conflict, over two million children have been orphaned, almost seven hundred thousand women and children have been brutally raped and recent reports say that almost four thousand die a day.