AFRICA/CONGO DR - Bishops: “Law on minerals is a sign of solidarity from the US towards the Congolese people”

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – The Congolese bishops have welcomed the American Congress' adoption of a legislation to create an honest management in the marketing of minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is what was affirmed yesterday, August 2, by Bishop Nicholas Djomo of Tshumbe, President of the Congolese Bishops' Conference, at a press conference convened to explain the Catholic Church's stance on the new U.S. law that requires American companies to disclose what procedures they will take to ensure that their products do not contain the so-called “conflict minerals,” or minerals sold on the international market by guerrilla groups that have been sowing death and destruction in eastern DRC for 15 years (see Fides 03/08/2010).
"For 10 years, the Bishops' Conference of Congo (Episcopal Conférence Nationale du Congo - CENCO) has been paying particular attention to the problem of exploitation of natural resources of the DRC," said Bishop Djomo in a statement delivered to the press. "It is mainly from the analysis of the causes of the repeated conflicts that CENC has felt obliged to speak out, to highlight the links between the exploitation of natural resources, armed conflict, violations of human rights, the displacement of entire populations, the accentuation of poverty and misery, and environmental destruction. "
"We wish to thank the American government, the House of Representatives and the Senate, for having adopted the statutory provision relating to the exploitation of DRC's natural resources, especially minerals that fuel conflicts in eastern DRC and the Great Lakes Region," writes the President of the CENCO. "This is a clear sign of solidarity on the part of the American people with the Congolese people. We also thank all those who in one way or another supported the adoption of this law - in particular, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: USCCB) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). We are also happy that our government has warmly welcomed the adoption of this law."
To ensure that this legislation will help restore peace in the DRC, Bishop Djomo says more efforts are needed in strengthening the democratic process and good governance, strengthening of the legal economy, working for peace and reconciliation, creation of a legal framework to reinvigorate the judicial system, and encouragement of citizens to engage in public life. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 3/8/2010)