Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-07-05-Speech-4-187"
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"en.20010705.9.4-187"2
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"The Commission is well aware of the information referred to in the proposals for a resolution submitted to Parliament and in the press concerning illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This information has been broadly confirmed by the Commission's interlocutors on the spot, including non-governmental organisations and in an interim report by the United Nations, to which a number of honourable Members referred. The honourable Member referred to that report during a speech which made a powerful case for an international criminal court able to extend its remit around the world, not unlike the Tribunal at The Hague focused on the Balkans.
That report covers the illegal exploitation of the DRCs natural resources and other wealth. It was presented to the Security Council by the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on 14 April 2001 and it was the subject of a heated debate. The Secretary-General decided to extend the mandate of the experts who compiled the report by three months, so that they could add to the research and the information already provided. The report will be an important point of departure for the international community, which will have to take a position on it.
The profits to be made from coltan mining and other mining by the warring parties in Congo are bound to have an impact on the devastation in Kivu. The region's decline began under President Mobutu and has a number of causes, one of the most significant being ethnic tensions. The situation became much worse following the genocide in Rwanda and Rwanda's intervention in both the country's wars which were originally fought to secure external borders. The international community is aware of the link between economic interests and the continuation of the war in Kivu. The only lasting solution is nonetheless to advance the peace process and to build legitimate institutions able to regulate the exploitation of resources. This is the objective supported by the Commission through its activity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That is the context in which we envisaged the gradual resumption of aid in tandem with the implementation of the Lusaka agreement and the progress of the Congolese dialogue.
Honourable Members, and particularly Mr van den Berg, focused their arguments on the relationship between the illicit trade in some commodities and the conflict. We know the problems that have been caused with diamonds elsewhere and the arms trade. It is extremely important, where we can, to take initiatives and pursue them on both. That is why we have been so active in working at the United Nations on small arms and we must make use of the Community's competences, when we can, and with the Member States deal effectively with the illicit diamond and with other illicit trades which have caused so much suffering and impoverishment in Africa in particular, but in other countries as well."@en1
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