32 / 88
32
Figure 4:
Militias and collaborating subsidiary companies or dealers are involved in everything from road “taxes” and “taxes” on local
impoverished populations to massive scale exploitation of minerals, timber and charcoal.
In February 2000, De Beers, the international diamond market-
ing corporation and the world’s largest diamond mining opera-
tion, announced that it would stop purchasing diamonds from
conflict zones in Africa – an important step toward limiting the
market for illicit diamonds in Europe, Japan and the United
States. Lack of sufficient systems to monitor the import and ori-
gin of petroleum, minerals and fibre-products (pulp and timber)
complicate efforts of this sort. Multinational corporate networks
have on several occasions supplied loans or funds for arms or
even directly supplied arms or training in return for conces-
sions, but most often this is done through consultance firms
or subsidiaries with no liability towards the parent companies.
Funds are therefore often used to finance arms with which to
secure resource-rich locations for multinationals, leading to
the further aggravation of conflicts (Auvinen
et al.
, 1999; Blan-
ton, 1999; Craft and Smaldone, 2002; Addison
et al.
, 2002;
Nafziger and Auvinen, 2002).
Taxation system in eastern DR Congo conflict zone
Part of CNDP incomes from local resources
0
20
40
60
80
100
US dollars, 2008
50 kg sack of cement traded
30 kg bag of charcoal on sale in local markets
50 kg bag of coltan exported
Mud or straw house, per year
Iron roof house, per year
Small business owner, per year
Car passing check point
Small truck passing check point
Source: UN Security council, S/2008/773.
Big truck passing check point