Report Attacks Governments For Ignoring UN Panel On Resource Plundering In The DRC
March 18, 04“OECD Governments have failed to investigate the alleged role of multinational companies in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” says the Oxford-based NGO Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID), in a new report released today. In October 2002, an Expert Panel set up by the U.N. Security Council accused 85 companies – including a few dozen diamond companies – of violating the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, a voluntary company code that has an obligatory government monitoring mechanism. To date, there has been almost no progress in investigating these companies. “The furor created by the Panel’s reports makes the need to draw a clear line between acceptable and unacceptable corporate behavior a top priority - not just in the tragic case of the DRC but in all conflict zones,” says Patricia Feeney, one of RAID’s founding directors.
“In October 2003 the Panel’s final report failed to make this distinction clearly. It listed many company cases in a ‘resolved’ category without publicly explaining the reasoning. Only 11 cases were forwarded to governments for investigation under the Guidelines, but so far almost no action has been taken. There are still many unanswered questions about the allegations against companies. It’s been five months since the UN Panel of Experts completed its work. Over the past four years no fewer than five resolutions or statements have been passed by the UN Security Council urging governments to conduct their own investigations into the part played by companies in illegal resource exploitation, which helped fuel the conflict. So far, most governments have been long on excuses but short on action,” notes Patricia Feeney.
RAID’s report has not yet been released to the public. It is my understanding, however, that quite a number of diamond companies are again mentioned. It raises very specific questions about the conduct of these companies, formulates questions to which no satisfactory answers have been received and it basically aims at refocusing again on the infamous Panel findings. In all fairness, RAID also has considerable criticism about the way the Panel collected its information and finds fault with some of the Panel’s reasoning. RAID also wonders why some companies were mentioned while others were omitted. But the most scathing criticism is reserved for governments – who have an obligation to encourage compliance with the guidelines and who have assumed a role in the process that they seem reluctant to play.
It may be recalled that the DRC is emerging from a devastating five-year war that is estimated to have cost the lives of more than three million people. In two UN Panel of Experts Reports, multinational corporations have been accused of helping to perpetuate the war and of profiting from it. In February 2002, British Prime Minister Tony Blair promised to clamp down on companies that fuel resource wars in Africa and called for stricter adherence to the OECD Guidelines as a means of ensuring that companies behave responsibly in conflict zones.
The report by RAID examines the role of companies in the DRC conflict, their reactions to being listed by the UN Panel and the publicly unanswered questions that remain about their conduct. For the first time, it frames the questions in relation to the OECD Guidelines. Governments adhering to the Guidelines have a responsibility to ensure that they are implemented. It is in nobody’s interest - neither responsible companies nor the people of the DRC - to leave these questions unresolved. This report should act as a catalyst for action by governments.
RAID is not making allegations of its own nor does it claim that the UN’s allegations amount to proof of misconduct. But the Panel’s reports raise legitimate, ethical questions, which, in the interest of all parties concerned, must be resolved publicly and unambiguously. The DRC case is a crucial test of the Guidelines. “If they can’t handle this they’ll be dismissed as meaningless and irrelevant”, notes Patricia Feeney.
We regret that Patricia has not yet made her report public. RAID decided to submit an electronic version of its full report to the UN Security Council, OECD Governments, the OECD’s Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises (CIME) and the International Criminal Court. However, if RAID really wants to see some action it should make the report available to the public at large and particularly to the companies mentioned.
This is probably the best way to see action taken. Moreover, by not making the report public, suspicions will again circulate in the diamond industry’s rumor mill – and named companies will not be able to react. Let’s not go down that road again.