War in The Congo: Consumer Technology & Human Rights

So if you’ve read my last post (which was an age ago!), you have some idea of what I do for a living.  Basically, I spend quite a lot of time trying to figure out what role digital technology is taking on in human rights.  In the course of my daily work I come across some pretty outrageous material–outrageous in the original sense of the term–creating outrage.  What I read and view inspires outrage, hurt, and heartache.  But the flip side of this is that I’m actually in a position to try to do something about it–something that my friend Mike pointed out to me today when he said to me “You should write about this shit!”.  He’s right–I should.  The stuff I learn is too important to not act on.  So, from now on, I’m going to try to post here more often and call your attention to what’s going on in the world out there that you might not know about.  What’s more, I’m going to also point out things–small, easy things–that each and every one of us can do to try to combat some of the human rights problems in the world.  If we all take these small actions, they will add up to be greater than the sum of each action added to the next–they will turn into a tide that can affect real change in the world.

Today, topic one…  Stay tuned for many more

Peace,

Sarah

Cell Phones and Genocide in The Congo

Did you know that our desire for cell phones, lap tops, iPhones, etc. is causing the deaths of millions of people in The Congo of central Africa. Don’t just take my word for it–go visit the Enough! website and watch the videos posted there.

We all know about human rights atrocities in Darfur, but how many of you know about The Congo and the genocide that’s been happening there since the 1950′s?  I bet not many of you do–that’s because it’s in a lot of technology companies’ interest that you don’t know.  You see, The Congo is an important source of many of the trace minerals that are needed to build cell phones, lap tops, computer towers, iPhones, etc.

In order to build our consumer technology gadgets that we so easily throw away when a newer, better, faster one comes out, companies like Apple, Dell or Nokia need extremely rare minerals and metals.  And it just so happens that one of the highest concentrations of these extremely rare minerals  exist in The Congo and that these minerals are fueling a decades-old war.

• Did you know that more than 5 million people have died procuring these minerals for our toys?
• Or that more than 500,000 women and girls have been raped as a result of the petty wars that surround access to and control over the mines where these minerals exist?
• Or that every day, hundreds of miners (many of them children) die as they seek to pull these minerals from the ground with their bare hands?

The technology corporations call this “collateral damage.”

Nice.

Stop and think about it…

This “collateral damage” is built into every single cell phone, lap top, PDA, or iPhone that we purchase every day in this country and around the world.  Is this something that you really want on your hands?   People dying so that you can text your friends or stream your videos?  Take a minute and think about the impact that your consumer choice–your choice to buy that new iPhone because you want to look hip and cool–has on people thousands of miles from you.  Do you really want your money to be turned into blood money?  Think about it and think about it hard…

So what can you do?

Now that you’ve thought about this, and hopefully feel some despair over contributing to the deaths of millions and the rapes of hundreds of thousands, I offer some simple solutions.

1) Use that piece of technology until it falls apart

2) When that gadget falls apart, take it to be recycled so that the conflict minerals can be reclaimed

3) When you replace the gadget, consider buying a refurbished phone or laptop.  Dell and Apple both offer factory warranted rebuilt laptops.

4) Vote with your dollars–If a company insists on using conflict minerals, refuse to take your business to them.

5) Spread the word and offer these solutions to all of your friends, families, and co-workers.  The more that people are aware of this situation, the more pressure we can put on companies to stop abusing human rights to fulfill our consumer desires.

---