A number of member governments of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and multinational companies are anxiously awaiting the final report concerning the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which will be presented to the United Nations (UN) Security Council at the end of October. A Panel of Experts, which was constituted in June 2000, has produced a series of reports on the economic causes of conflict in the DRC – the most controversial being the one issued in October 2002 that listed 85 companies considered to have violated the OECD’s “Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises”.

The Panel’s October 2002 report exposed that it was not just shadowy arms dealers or a few unscrupulous traders in collaboration with local militia or foreign armies who were perpetuating one of Africa’s bloodiest conflicts, but also companies based in OECD countries who were profiteering from ill-gotten exports of coltan, gold, diamonds and cobalt.

In January 2003, in response to the uproar by companies and some governments, the Panel’s mandate was extended. It was instructed to analyse existing and new information, including material supplied by individuals and corporate actors, in order to update its findings and/or clear companies named for violating the OECD Guidelines.

Many governments have either overtly or covertly exerted pressure on the Panel and the Security Council to exonerate their companies of any culpability in fuelling the war. This has overshadowed the fact that some OECD-based companies share some responsibility for the illegal resource exploitation and the conflict it has financed.

Final report of the panel of experts on the illegal exploitation of natural resources and other forms of wealth of the DR Congo UN Security Council New York, 2002-10-16 OECD guidelines Paris, 2001-10-31 Commission d'enquête parlementaire le Senat de Belgique Brussels, 2003-02-20 Report of the Prosecutor of the ICC International Criminal Court The Hague, 2003-08-08 OECD must investigate companies involved in the plunder of the Congo Fatal Transactions press statement Amsterdam, 2003-07-04 (in Dutch) Coltan internet documents

Indeed, the battle to control the DRC’s natural resource wealth mirrors a pattern of conflict that has ravaged the African continent over the past half-century. The links between conflict, human rights abuses and resource exploitation are well documented. Yet the linkages between resource-driven conflicts in developing countries and the economic activities of companies based in OECD countries has received scant attention. There are many lessons that must be heeded from the DRC’s resource-driven war where it is estimated that over 3 million people have died and countless more have displaced. One of the most striking of these is how the lack of internationally binding regulations allowed some companies to operate with absolute disregard for international standards for responsible business conduct.

Though voluntary, the OECD Guidelines are one of only a few global mechanisms with a component of accountability. The international community cannot operate a system of double standards. If OECD member countries demand ‘good governance’ and call on the various state actors involved in the DRC conflict to conduct bona fide investigations into similar allegations against their citizens and companies, then no less can be tolerated from OECD governments.

The Panel has agreed to submit dossiers on companies believed to be in breach of the OECD Guidelines to the governmental bodies – the National Contact Points – that are responsible for overseeing the implementation of the OECD Guidelines in endorsing countries. There can be no doubt that some OECD-based companies have been integral in fuelling the conflict, and OECD governments that have endorsed the Guidelines would be remiss in their duty to promote adherence among companies if they fail to deal effectively and expeditiously with complaints submitted by non-governmental organisations and/or arising from the Panel’s final report.

A categorical condemnation by all governments of corporate behaviour that is in defiance of the international standards established by the OECD Guidelines is required if a repetition of the tragedy in the DRC is to be avoided. Moreover, NGOs and OECD WATCH are seeking assurances from the governments concerned that the investigations to be conducted by the National Contact Points for the OECD Guidelines will be impartial, prompt and subject to parliamentary oversight.

To date, only the Belgian Senate has conducted an analysis on the role of Belgian companies in the exploitation of resources in the DRC. However, this analysis was flawed, because the Senate Commission did not assess the activities of the companies relative to international standards – in particular the “Norms of Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights” and the “Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises”. Anti-money laundering investigations have also been instigated in a few cases.

Lastly, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has selected war crimes in the northeastern portions of the DRC as the first case his office will investigate. This includes analysing what contribution businesses have made to the commission of those war crimes. NGOs and OECD Watch shares the view of the Prosecutor that, “those who direct mining operations, sell diamonds or gold extracted in [such] conditions, launder the dirty money or provide weapons could also be the authors of crimes, even if they are based in other countries”, and expects the relevant governments to fully co-operate with the ICC’s investigation.

Indra Van Gisbergen - 11 11 11, Belgium
Georges Tshionza Mata, SERACOB, Afrique Centrale – OECD WATCH
Colleen Freeman – FoE US/OECD WATCH
Serena Lillywhite – BSL – Australia – OECD WATCH
Kirsten Hund – NIZA, NL – OECD WATCH
Jeroen Cuvelier, IPIS, Belgium
Korinna Horta, Environmental Defense, US
Patricia Feeney – RAID, UK – OECD WATCH

OECD Watch – the provisional name for a body to help facilitate NGO activities around the OECD Guidelines and the work of the Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises (CIME) was founded in March 2003.

Belgian Senate, Commission d’enquête parlementaire chargée d’enquêter sur l’exploitation et le commerce légaux et illégaux de richesses naturelles dans la région des Grands Lacs au vu de la situation conflictuelle actuelle et de l’implication de la Belgique, 20 February 2003

Report of the Prosecutor of the ICC to the Second Assembly of the States Parties to the Rome Statute, 8 September 2003