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20
PROFITS AND LOSS
Mining and human rights in Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo
The ore purchased by Misa Mining was sold on to other commercial actors. There are, as noted above,
significant difficulties in establishing where the Tilwezembe ore went after Misa purchased it from the
artisanal miners. This is due to a lack of transparency and a lack of monitoring by companies along the supply
chain.
Those companies that bought ore from Tilwezembe bear responsibility for sustaining and profiting from a
context of abuse. The OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-
Affected and High-Risk Areas, state that all actors in the supply chain have a responsibility to conduct due
diligence aimed at ensuring that they do not contribute to human rights abuses. 94 Basic due diligence on the
part of processing and trading companies should reveal the source of the ore that they are purchasing. Annex
II of the OECD Guidance advises that suppliers “immediately suspend or discontinue engagement with
upstream suppliers” where there is a reasonable risk that they are sourcing from, or linked to, any party
committing serious abuses. Although the OECD Guidance currently refers to tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold,
the Congolese law incorporating the OECD Guidance at the national level explicitly states that the obligation to
conduct due diligence in the supply chain could apply to other minerals. The OECD Guidance has been
endorsed by the DRC government as well as the OECD Member States.
Amnesty International June 2013 Index: AFR 62/001/2013