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Four armed men barged into Anna Mburano’s hut, slapped the children and threw them down.

As soon as they finished, they moved house to house, along with hundreds of other marauding rebels, gang-raping at least 200 women.

But many critics contend that nowhere else in the world has the United Nations invested so much and accomplished so little.

'Conflict minerals' are minerals mined in conditions of armed conflict and human rights abuses

If you own a mobile phone, or an mp3 player then it’s likely that you’ve got a little piece of the Congo in your pocket right now.

Most miners only barely earn enough to survive. Many don’t even manage that.

The lights are out in most of Goma.

There is little water.

The prison is an empty, garbage-strewn wasteland with its rusty front gate swinging wide open and a three-foot hole punched through the back wall, letting loose 1,200 killers, rapists, rogue soldiers and other criminals.

Congolese rebels are plundering the country’s natural resources to finance guns and materiel, but the EU remains powerless to compel companies to disclose whether they are buying vital minerals supplied by armed groups in Congo and other conflict states.

The EU has major investments in development, humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and supports global measures to the illicit trade in so-called conflict minerals.

The conflict minerals debate has reached a fever pitch over the past couple months. Scholars, bloggers, researchers, activists, industry representatives, policy makers and many others have weighed in on this contentious issue of conflict minerals and the upcoming rules to be set by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The central African country produces major quantities of tin and tungsten, about half of the world's cobalt output and about three percent of the world's copper and gold

In July 2010, the American government passed financial reform legislation, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Section 1502 of this Act calls on the American Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to make the sector more transparent by formulating rules that require companies to disclose the origin of their minerals through due diligence over the supply chain.

The downturn stems from a six-month suspension of mining and trading activities imposed by the Congolese government (the Congolese government has put a ban on exploitation and exportation of Minerals in DRC for a duration of 6 months, see Ministry of Mines), which prompted leading foreign companies to suspend importation while waiting for the development of the SEC’s regulation to be settled.

mineral exports from the region dropped significantly in 2011.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa’s largest tin producer and accounts for 5-7% of the world output.

The Congolese government has dealt with this by withdrawing their military from the Bisie mine, the nation’s largest tin mine. Removing military units allows the North Kivu provincial mining department to take control of the mine in order to increase the amount of conflict-free minerals. 

The Congolese military has controlled the Bisie mine for the past few years and has been accused of increasing violence in the area. Along with several rebel groups, they have been accused of profiting from illegal mining actions including imposing illegal taxes on miners and trading illegally. Withdrawing the military could end armed conflict in the mineral trade, a main cause of violence in Congo that has killed over 5 million people since the 1990’s.

These groups engage in armed conflict and some of the world’s worst human rights violations

The International Rescue Committee also noted that ongoing fighting had caused more than 5.4 million deaths in the decade between 1998 and 2008, making it the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

Armed groups earn hundreds of millions of dollars every year by trading conflict mineral

The Dodd-Frank Legislation

consumers should be able to shop for conflict free electronics

Conflict minerals are used by armed groups to fund violence and insurrection.

The electronics industry is one of the main destinations for these metals,

World prices for each of these metals have been rising over the past year, giving armed groups in the eastern Congo all the more incentive to target or keep hold of the mines.

these mineral resources are financing multiple armed groups,

Profit from the mineral trade is one of the main motives for armed groups on all sides of the conflict in eastern Congo

tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold

Congo is braced for more conflict in its eastern provinces as the warlord

Sultani Makenga

rebel group now in control of a key city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo announced Wednesday that it plans to "liberate" the entire country.

several days of heavy fighting against government forces, was just the beginning

once the rebels overthrow the government, they will call for elections

banned exports of copper and cobalt concentrates to force mining companies to add value to minerals before shipping

90 days to clear their inventories of concentrated minerals

export mineral products with great added value