Working to end conflict

Currently in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, three militias are fighting a war over the minerals sold all over the world to be put into cell phones, laptops and other electronics that many Americans use every day. Countless people have been killed, and countless women and teenage girls have been raped as a result of this conflict.
This previous Wednesday, Nov. 4, Weber State University was visited by Sasha Lezhnev. He is the executive director of the Grassroots Reconciliation Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to stopping the practice of kidnapping and recruiting child soldiers in Uganda, and helping former child soldiers have a normal life again.
Lezhnev is also a consultant of the Enough Project, which hopes to cease the trade of conflict minerals in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. He is the author of the book Crafting Peace: Strategies to Deal with Warlords in Collapsing States, and worked as a consultant for the film Blood Diamond.
“I was told Sasha was a great partner in this movement in the conflict mining of minerals to help end these atrocities,” said Cameron Morgan, a senior majoring in psychology and president of WSU STAND, who was the chief organizer of the event. “Sasha has been great so far, I think he’s a true humanitarian and I think he’s a great speaker.”
The Enough Project helped organize and stage the event while STAND sponsored it. Fellow sponsors included the Honors Issues Forum, the Environmental Club, the Women’s Center, Amnesty International, the Women’s Studies department and Convocations. The event was held from noon to 1 p.m. at the Lindquist Auditorium in the Kimball Arts Building. Its purpose was to bring attention and gain supporters for the movement to stop conflict mining and slavery in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The three main organizers were Cameron Morgan, Chris Bentley, who is the former president of the Environmental Club, and Spencer Mark Hatch, who is the chair of the Honors Issues Forum.
Lezhnev spoke about the conflict mining of minerals in the eastern DRC, which has fueled a 15-year-long war in which more than 5.4 million people have been killed and more than 27,000 women have been raped. The initial causes of the war were ethnic and land tenure issues, but the conflict mining of minerals has kept it going. The four critical minerals being mined in the region are tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold. These minerals are often used in cell phones, laptops and other electronics made by Western companies such as Apple and Sony.
“The U.S. government has to take major leadership in putting a stop to this conflict,” Lezhnev said to the crowd. “The U.S. is not only home to the major electronics companies, but they can also help on the ground in Congo. And the corporations who buy these minerals need to clean up their supply chains and know where their minerals are coming from.”
Around 80 people attended the event, and many expressed surprise and concern over these statistics. Hatch, a junior majoring in physics, who helped organize the event, said he was shocked at some of the information.
“I was a little bit surprised to find out that there was yet another serious conflict over minerals in this region,” Hatch said. “Instantly once you have that knowledge there’s a little bit of a twinge. I just hope that I can help put a stop to it.”
After the speech, Lezhnev took questions from the audience, who asked about various economic and political obstacles standing in the way of progress in the Congo. Lezhnev gave direct solutions to each of these queries on how to overcome these challenges. He also outlined the environmental impact of poor mining practices in the Congo. Some of these solutions include Americans paying more to buy phones made with minerals obtained without conflict, supporting a Congressional House bill known as 891, which requires U.S. companies to know what mines their minerals are coming from, and joining the organizations dedicated to stopping this conflict.
For more information on the subject of conflict mining in the Congo, potential supporters are asked to visit the cause’s two Web sites, raisehopeforcongo.org and enoughproject.org. Those who’d like to be supporters and begin making a difference with their cell phones are also asked to text CONGO to ACTIV8 to sign up for more information about this cause.
Bentley, a senior majoring in integrated studies, said, “It’s not just an issue for STAND, and it’s not just an environmental problem. It’s really a human problem. The whole human race should be addressing this problem and not just one organization.”