Duración: 20:45
May 2006 The West's demand for Cassiterite is fuelling the killings in Congo. Militias rely on slave labour to extract the ore, forcing locals to work in sub-human conditions. "Once you get down there, there's no air", describes one worker. "The rocks often bury us and you have to crawl through the tiny hole, using your fingers to dig." Labourers like him often go unpaid. They're forced to work at gunpoint by militias operating outside the control of the government. "Different armed groups do what they want with the population", laments minister Buta Muiso. But British businessman Ketankumar Kotecha sees nothing wrong in buying casiterite from the militias. "If I didn't do it, someone else would. I am not here as some kind of moral saviour."
Alexander chose to do his school project on the Democratic Republic of Congo. During his research he found out that the children who live in DRC are deeply affected by war and the lack of proper health care and education. He wanted to post his project on You Tube to help raise awareness of the ...
July 2005 The major problem facing Africa is corruption and control of resources. In the DRC, the military is stealing minerals to sell to Western companies. At a remote mine in central DRC, workers with torches and pick axes hack at the ruddy earth. They are mining cassiterite, a mineral vital in ...
Produced by the Pulitzer Center, "Congo's Bloody Coltan" is a quick glimpse at coltan's role in Congo's civil war. It was featured on "Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria" in the Fall of 2006. For photographs, resources and additional reporting by Mvemba Phezo Dizolele on the DRC visit: ...
UNICEF provides shelter for pygmy children and their families. Credits: Producer:Rachel Bonham Carter