Mining fraud: JUSTICIA calls for pursuit of financial networks in DR Congo
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Actualité.cd
Congolese human rights organisation JUSTICIA ASBL calls on the government to pursue financial networks involved in mining fraud, beyond arrests and mineral seizures in Haut-Katanga and Lualaba. The statement comes after more than 500 trucks were seized, according to JUSTICIA.
An inter-service commission deployed in Haut-Katanga and Lualaba seized more than 500 trucks carrying minerals from operations deemed illegal, while foreign nationals in an irregular situation were arrested. The operations target operators accused of extracting minerals belonging to mining concession holders, according to Actualité.cd, citing a statement by JUSTICIA Asbl, a Congolese human rights organisation.
JUSTICIA is calling for investigations to go beyond operators and transporters to identify the political and financial actors allegedly involved in organising or protecting fraudulent networks. The organisation says national and foreign financial networks have been fuelling fraud in the critical minerals supply chain for several years and is calling on the authorities to pursue the real masterminds, according to Actualité.cd.
The JUSTICIA statement comes after the suspension of the head of SAEMAPE for illegal mining activities on concessions on 27 October, followed by operations that led to more than 500 arrests in Haut-Katanga on 1 November. It also follows the Congolese justice system's investigation into mining fraud after 500 seizures, announced on 2 November.
