If you found out that you were helping fuel the deadliest conflict since World War II, would you want to do something about it? 5.4 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo have died since 1998 due to the consequences of war. Similar to blood diamonds, conflict minerals have been fueling the ongoing fighting in the Congo. Thousands of Congolese are living in fear as various rebel groups committing mass human rights violations terrorizing the civilian population using techniques from forced labor in the mines to gruesome rapes in villages. The rampant use of rape as a weapon of war has devastated the lives and livelihoods of thousands of women, making Congo the worst place in the world for a woman to live.
This is where you and I come in. The rebel groups that are committing these atrocities are funded by our purchase of electronic devices with conflict minerals in them. All electronic devices from cell phones to GPS systems require in some form the minerals tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold. Rebel groups violently vie for land to mine these minerals to fund their operations of terror in quest for more power.
Just last week, The Congo Minerals Trade Act of 2009 was proposed in the House as was The Congo Conflict Minerals Trade Act of 2009 proposed in the Senate. These bills will create greater transparency for tracing the origin of minerals to help assure minerals being imported into the United States will be conflict free. I urge you to take action and call our Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss as well as your Representative and ask them to co-sponsor these bills. Let us all take credit for stopping the deadliest conflict since World War II and commit to taking this first step toward creating peace in Congo. For more information please go to: http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/
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