Mobiltelefoner har dårlige forbindelser til Congo

Friday, 30 May 2008

Mobiltelefoner fra mindst fire ledende producenter indeholder metallet kobolt, der udvindes i DR Congo, hvor brud på menneskerettigheder, børnearbejde, svindel og korruption plager mineindustrien.

Allerede i 2001 dokumenterede et FN ekspertpanel de problematiske forhold i DR Congos mineindustri, blandt andet i forbindelse med udvindingen af metallet Coltan. Siden har en række internationale organisationer arbejdet på at få selskaber som Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG Electronics og Sony Ericsson til at sikre, at metallerne i deres produkter udvindes under bæredygtige og hensynsfulde forhold.

Rapporten 'Bad Connections: How your mobile phone is linked to abuse, fraud and unfair mining practices in DR Congo', som bliver offentliggjort i dag, viser, at mobilselskaberne ikke gør tilstrækkeligt for at imødekomme FN’s og andre organisationers anbefalinger.

Rapporten konkluderer, at:

• Batterier i mobiltelefoner fra Nokia, LG, Motorola og Samsung indeholder kobolt fra DR Congo. Dette er sandsynligvis også tilfældet med telefoner fra Sony Ericsson.

• Ved at bruge kobolt fra DR Congo løber mobilproducenterne en reel risiko for at støtte illegal eksport og hensynsløs minedrift, der ofte medvirker til grove menneskerettighedskrænkelser.

• Mobilproducenterne hævdede indtil for nylig, at de ikke kendte til oprindelse af kobolt og andre metaller i deres telefoner. Denne undersøgelse viser, at det kan lade sig gøre, at identificere forsyningskæden mellem producenterne og minerne i DR Congo.

• Mobilproducenterne hævder alle, at de praktiserer Corporate Social Responsibility og at de har etiske retningslinjer for deres leverandører.

Men på trods af kendskab til de risici, der er forbundet til mineindustrien, har de ikke implementeret og offentliggjort en systematisk politik i forhold til brugen af metaller.

Alene i 2007 blev der på verdensplan solgt 1.15 milliard mobiltelefoner, og i 2008 forventes det, at over 50 pct. af jordens befolkning vil være i besiddelse af en mobiltelefon .

Brug for social ansvarlighed

Rapporten fra DanWatch er udarbejdet for Folkekirkens Nødhjælp (FKN) og Roskilde Festival, og skal bidrage til kampagnen ’Fair Phone – Fair Future’ ved denne sommers Roskilde Festival. Roskilde Festivals talsmand, Esben Danielsen, siger:

- Mobiltelefonselskaberne kunne være med til at skabe en langt bedre tilværelse for tusinder af fattige – og stadig drive en god forretning. En unik mulighed for virkelig at leve op til de formulerede CSR-målsætninger. Det der skal til, er en handling for at sikre at metallerne udvindes under fornuftige vilkår. Lad os håbe på, at firmaerne nu tager ansvaret alvorligt – med denne rapport er vejen vist. Det værst tænkelige er, at firmaerne nu bare lægger ansvaret fra sig og over på leverandørerne og dropper samhandlen med DR Congo, og efterlader de mange fattige i en endnu værre situation.

Folkekirkens Nødhjælps generalsekretær, Henrik Stubkjær, siger: - Det er beklageligt at mobilproducenterne ikke har lært af debatten om coltan fra 2001. Der er selvfølgelig brug for lige så meget social ansvarlighed, når det handler om andre mineraler fra ulande.

Mobiltelefoner kan indeholde mindst fire forskellige metaller - kobolt, tantalum, tin og kobber - der udvindes i stort omfang i DR Congo.

DR Congos’s mineindustri er plaget af børnearbejde, krænkelser af arbejderes rettigheder, korruption og manglende hensyn til miljøet.

Hidtil har producenter af mobiltelefoner hævdet, at det er meget svært, at spore metallerne til kilden.

- Rapporten fra DanWatch viser, at det kan lade sig gøre at kortlægge forsyningskæden fra mineproduktion i Congo til færdige mobiltelefoner i Danmark. Hvis en organisation som DanWatch kan gøre det, må mobilproducenterne også kunne gøre det. De har trods alt direkte adgang til deres leverandører, siger Henrik Stubkjær.

Mulighed for udvikling

DR Congo er rigt på mineraler, som kunne være med til at sikre velfærden i et land, der indtil for nylig var plaget af borgerkrig. Men korruption og manglende kontrol er skyld i, at en stor del af landets rigdomme eksporteres illegalt ud af landet. En undersøgelse viser, at to tredjedel af eksporten af metaller fra Katanga-provinsen i 2005, hvor der blandt andet udvindes store mængder kobolt, var illegal.

- Congo er rigt på mineraler, og det her er en god mulighed for udvikling. Muligheden vil dog kun blive til virkelighed, hvis de vesterlandske firmaer, heriblandt mobilproducenterne, tager socialt ansvar og sikrer, at der også kommer lokal udvikling ud af deres investeringer, siger Henrik Stubkjær, Folkekirkens Nødhjælp.

Download rapporten her

Mobile phone batteries from at least four leading mobile phone producers contain cobalt from DR Congo. These companies run the risk of supporting illegal export and unfair mining practices, which often involve severe human rights abuses.

In 2001 a UN panel of experts first documented that the extraction of another metal, coltan (tantalum), used in capacitors for mobile phones, was related to critical conditions in the mining industry in DR Congo. Until very recently mobile phone producers such as Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG Electronics and Sony Ericsson have made little, if any, effort to track the origins of the metals used in their phones, even though they have been aware of the risks involved for many years. Presently there are no guarantees that the various metals used in mobile phones are extracted in a sustainable and responsible way.

Key findings:

■    This study shows that mobile phone batteries from Nokia, LG, Motorola and
Samsung all contain cobalt from DR Congo. This is also likely to be the case
with mobile phone batteries from Sony Ericsson.

 ■    By using cobalt from DR Congo, mobile phone companies are running the risk
of supporting illegal export and unfair mining practices, which often involves
severe human rights abuses.

 ■   Until recently, mobile phone companies claimed they did not know the origin
of the cobalt and other metals in their phones. However, this study has proven
it possible to identify the supply chain linkages from mobile phone companies
to cobalt extraction in DR Congo.

■    The mobile phone companies have all committed themselves to corporate so-
cial responsibility (CSR) and they all have supplier codes of conduct. Despite
awareness of the risks in the mining industry, none of the mobile companies
have implemented and disclosed a systematic policy on the use of metals.

In 2007 alone, 1.15 billion mobile phones were sold to consumers worldwide, and by 2008 half of the world’s population will own a mobile phone.

Social responsibility needed

The report from DanWatch is conducted on behalf of the Danish NGO DanChurchAid and Roskilde Festival. It will contribute to the campaign ‘Fair Phone – Fair Future’ which takes place at the Roskilde Festival this summer.

Roskilde Festival’s spokesman, Esben Danielsen, says: ”Mobile phone companies could contribute to a better life to thousands of poor people – and still do good business. This is a unique possibility for them to really live up to their CSR-statements. What is needed is action to secure that the metals are extracted under reasonable conditions. Let’s hope that the mobile phone producers will take their responsibility seriously by now, with this report leading the way. The worst case scenario would be that the companies just left their responsibilities with the suppliers and stopped trading with DR Congo, which would just leave the many poor people worse off”

Henrik Stubkjær, Secretary General of DanChurchAid believes, ”It is regrettable that the mobile phone producers have not yet learned from the debate on coltan in 2001. Of course the same amount of responsibility is required, when it comes to other metals from developing countries”
 
At least four metals used in mobile phones miay originate from DR Congo; Copper, cobalt, tin and coltan.

So far, the mobile phone producers have claimed that it is very difficult to trace the origin of the metals in their phones back to the source.

”The report from DanWatch shows that it is possible to map the supply chain from the metals extraction in DR Congo to the finished mobile phones in Denmark. If an organisation like DanWatch can do that, the mobile phone producers can do it as well. After all, they have the direct access to their suppliers” Stubkjær says.

Possibilities for development

DR Congo’s mineral wealth could potentially contribute to promote welfare in a country that was recently the centre of a brutal war. Yet, corruption and lack of control leads to illegal exports of metals. In 2005, it was estimated that more than 75 per cent of all minerals leaving the Katanga province, where Congolese cobalt is extracted, were illegally exported.

”DR Congo is a mineral rich country, and this is a good opportunity for development. This opportunity can be realised only if western companies including mobile phone producers are acting in socially responsible ways and make sure that their investments also contribute to local development”, says Henrik Stubkjær 

Download the report

Press:
Danish Church Aid
Secretary-General Henrik Stubkjær Tel.: +45 2970 0600
Advocacymedarbejder Mattias Söderberg Tel.: +45 2970 0609

Roskilde Festival
Esben Danielsen, Spokesman Tel.: +45 4636 6613

DanWatch
Director Søren Ring Tel.: +45 7741 7749