Conflict Minerals: International Response & SEC Disclosure Rule

The term conflict minerals is used to describe metal ores that, when mined, sold or traded, are widely reported to play key roles in fuelling armed conflict and human rights abuses in several far eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire). Links between conflict, human rights abuses, and the mining of and trade in these minerals have been the subject of numerous investigations, research studies, and policy papers, as well as policy advocacy campaigns focused on a need to respond to the persistence of conflict and its large toll in lives and human rights abuses. This book provides an overview of the current international response and SEC disclosure rules and testimony pertaining to the issue of conflict minerals, with a focus on cutting links between the minerals trade and those involved in or abetting armed conflict in eastern DRC.