Fools? Gold: Illegal Mining Linked to Conflict in Democratic Republic of the Congo

International organization including the United Nations and the European Union have devoted increased attention to the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in recent months, working to stem an internecine conflict that has resulted in over three million deaths since 1998. Recent UN Security Council resolutions address a number of issues related to the DRC, including mineral exploitation, the presence of militias funded by or composed of soldiers from neighboring countries, international arms trafficking, and nascent attempts to establish a stable framework for post-conflict governance. The question of natural resource exploitation has attracted substantial attention from a number of non-governmental organizations ? including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Global Witness ? and demonstrates the international nature of the conflict in the DRC?[more]