Reuters Photo: A Congolese mineral trader displays semi-precious tourmaline gem stones in a mud hut at Numbi in eastern Congo. New efforts to clamp down on Congo’s armed groups that finance their existence with minerals sourced from the country’s conflict-wracked east — much of which ends up in laptops, cell phones and jewellery around the world — have been criticized for trying to achieve the impossible and risking the livelihoods of a million people in the area who depend on mining.
Yes. We require all of our suppliers to certify in writing that they use conflict few materials.
But honestly there is no way for them to be sure. Until someone invents a way to chemically trace minerals from the source mine, it’s a very difficult problem.
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~Steve Jobs, kristof.blogs.nytimes.com [1]
So you’ve heard of “Blood diamonds” but in a recent article at nytimes.com Nicholas D. Kristof wrote about “blood phones.” This phrase simply addresses the electronics many of us use all the time that are made with minerals from places like the Congo where the desire for these minerals fuels atrocities like mass rape and slaughter. (more…)
