In an effort to stem the flow of money from mineral mines fueling the brutal civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the U.S. Senate is pushing ahead with new bipartisan legislation that would force U.S. companies to track and disclose the country of origin of minerals used in common electronic products. "Without knowing it, tens of millions of people in the United States may be putting money in the pockets of some of the worst human rights violators in the world," said U.S. Democratic Senator Richard Durbin, "simply by using a cell phone or laptop computer."

While the prospects for the bill are unclear, lawmakers and human rights groups are optimistic that the legislation will pass in some form this year given the bipartisan support of the bill.

So far, the electronics industry has been tepidly supportive of the legislation. When asked for comment, Michael Petricone, a spokesperson for the Consumer Electronics Association, one of the leading electronics industry groups, said the technology industry shared the lawmakers’ concerns and looks forward to working with the bill’s sponsors. "Both individually and collectively, technology companies have been working to increase supply-line transparency," said Petricone, "and enable more effective tracking of metals used in electronics." Several companies have policies on minerals from the DRC. Motorola, for example, bars suppliers from selling them Congolese coltan. But human rights groups say companies do not independently verify this claim down the supply chain.

Human rights activists who have long called attention to how "conflict minerals" mined in the war-torn DRC are sold by rebel groups to purchase arms welcomed the legislation. But they encouraged lawmakers to include even stronger enforcement provisions. "It’s an important first step," said David Sullivan, research associate with the non-profit Enough Project. "But companies should be required to have an independent audit of their supply chains in order to ensure that armed groups were not involved." 

Read full article by Danielle Knight on ipsterraviva.net.