I) Human rights violations by multinational companies in DRC

The report begins by using specific examples to demonstrate the various violations of which the companies involved in mining in the Congo are accused. For example, in the town of Kowelzi in 2015, the reopening of a copper and cobalt mine led to the destruction of an entire neighborhood, affecting no fewer than 39,000 people. The project is managed by Compagnie Minière de Musonoie Global SAS (COMMUS), a joint subsidiary of China's Zijin Mining Group Ltd. and the DRC's state-owned mining company, Générale des carrières et des mines SA (Gécamines). The compensation granted by COMMUS has not enabled the inhabitants to find equivalent housing, while these populations have not been consulted and the mine's expansion plans have not been made public.
Near Kolwezi, a subsidiary of Eurasian Resources Group SARL (ERG), whose head office is in Luxembourg and whose majority shareholder is the State of Kazakhstan, is also managing a mining project. Twenty-one male and female farmers belonging to a collective whose crops were located on the outskirts of the concession stated that, in February 2020, without having been consulted and without any prior notice, soldiers, some of them with dogs, had occupied their fields while bulldozers razed their crops. One woman even claimed to have been sexually abused by soldiers.
These various abuses, on the part of both companies and the Congolese authorities, are a reminder of the duty of companies and governments to respect human rights in the context of their economic activities.

II) Business development must not be at the expense of the local population

Through its mining operations, the Democratic Republic of Congo is playing an important role in the transition away from fossil fuels. However, this transition must not take place without respect for international human rights commitments.
For Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, "climate justice requires a just transition". She adds that "decarbonizing the global economy must not lead to new human rights violations". As for Initiative for Good Governance and Human Rights’ coordinator Donat Kambola, "the international mining companies involved have ample means to make the changes needed to protect human rights, to put in place procedures that improve the lives of people in the region, and to provide reparations for the harm caused".
The two organizations are therefore calling on companies involved in mining in the Congo to take responsibility for investigating identified human rights abuses, making genuine reparations, and taking the necessary steps to prevent future harm. They also call on the Congolese state to put an immediate end to forced evictions, to set up an impartial commission of inquiry, and to strengthen and enforce national laws on mining activities and evictions in line with international human rights standards.
It should be recalled that under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the army must never be involved in evictions.