Coltanisthemaincauseofaconictwhichhasclaimedthelivesoffourmillion peoplesince1997andasalsocausedthedisappearanceofseveralpopulaIonsof gorillas.

TheextracQonofcoltan,averyraremineralusedmainlyfortechnologicalpurposes, hasledtoalonginternalconictinCongo,thatsince1997(morethanadecadeago),as claimedmorethanfourmillionlives.Thestruggletocontroltheminesofthismineral,aswell asthediamondmines,hasledtothisterriblesituaQon,whichasclaimedmanylivesbeforethe eyesoftheinternaQonalcommunity. TherehavebeenandtheresQllarerealsituaQonsoffamineinmanyregionsofthis countrythatsupportsanalmostuntenableexternaldebt.However,Congoisoneoftherichest countriesintheworld,being"ThebasinoftheCongoRiver,thesecondlargestrainforeston earth. InthemountainsofKakuziBiegaNaQonalPark,whereColtanisextracted,thelivesof hundreds of gorillas are in danger or have nished this last decade, causing the loss of importantgroupsofthisendangeredspecies,compromisingitslongtermsurvival. WhentheareawasdeclaredNaQonalPark,manyindigenoustribeswereexpelledfrom theirterritories.ThesetribesliveinverydicultcondiQons:childrenfrequentlydieofdisease andmalnutriQonduetoscarcityofequipmentinthehospitals.Thousandsofcivilianshaveed intothejungle,wheretheyfacehungeranddisease.InlessthanadecadeitisesQmatedthat four million people have died, mostly from hunger and disease caused by this unending conict.ThiswarhasgeneratedmoredeathsthantheSecondWorldWar,withathousand dailymortalvicQms.AndathousandothersvicQmshavesueredinnumerableabominaQons: muQlaQons,rapes,cannibalismThispresentdayconictisarealhellthattheworldpretends nottosee,clearlylookingoutforseveraleconomicinterests. Foreign mercenaries fuel the clashes between opposite tribes or rebel groups exchanging the preciousmetals for weapons.These mercenariesarepaidbythesocalled civilizedworld,thesameworldthatusestherawmaterialsimpregnatedwiththedeathodor, thesameworldthatpretendstobehorriedbythekillings,andwhichcommandedtheUN peacemakerstroopstodonothing. TheGreatApeProjecthasaskedboththegovernmentofSpainanttheInternaQonal Community,tocancelthedebtofthisbloodstainedcountry,helpingthepopulaQontoght hungeranddisease,askinginexchangethatthegovernmentrespectshumanrights,supports eecQvelythecivilians,andworkstopreservetheirvaluableforests,beneQngnotonlythe greatapes(bonobos,chimpanzeesandgorillas)andotherlivingcreatures,butalsohumanity.

LeonardoDaVinci:ahiddenprophecy. While reading one of Leonardosnotebooks, in one of the secQons devoted to his variousprophecies,IwassurprisedtondaclearandconcisewarningaboutthedestrucQonof therainforestanditsinhabitants,whichfullyagreeswiththesituaQoncausedbytheColtan conict.

Certainlynoonehadsofarunderstoodtheimportanceofthishiddenmessage,which clearlywarnsusaboutourmismanagement,ourdevastaQngimpetus,ourdestrucQvespirit. Leonardo(14521519)warnedusclearlyandpersistently,withnosecretcodes,butopenlyin oneofhisbooksleBashislegacycontribuQontoscience: CreaturesshallbeseenontheearthwhowillalwaysbeghIngonewithanother, withthegreatestlossesandfrequentdeathsoneitherside.Therewillbenoboundstotheir malice;bytheirstronglimbsagreatporIonofthetreesofthevastforestsoftheworldshall belaidlow;andwhentheyarelledwithfood,thegraIcaIonoftheirdesireshallbeto dealoutdeath,aicIon,labour,terror,andbanishmenttoeverylivingthing;andfromtheir boundlesspridetheywilldesiretorisetowardheaven,buttheexcessiveweightoftheir limbswillholdthemdown.Nothingshallremainonearth,orundertheearth,orinthe watersthatshallnotbepursued,disturbedorspoiled,andthatwhichisinonecountry removedintoanother.Andtheirbodiesshallbemadethetombandthemeansoftransitof allthelivingbodieswhichtheyhaveslain. Inanotherofhispageshesays: Metalsshallbebroughtforthoutofdarkandobscurecaves,whichwillputthe wholehumanraceingreatanxiety,perilanddeath.()Omonstrouscreature!Howmuch beJerwoulditbeformenthateverythingshouldreturntoHell!Forthisthevastforestswill bedevastatedoftheirtrees;forthisendlessanimalswilllosetheirlives. ThesemetalsfromwhichLeonardospeaksmayaswellbethegold,diamondsand coltan.Arewefulllinghisprophecies? Primaryforestsorsocalledtropicalforest,havenowlostmorethan80%ofitssurface. Therestharshlysurvives,threatenedbyillegallogging.Twothirdsoftheplanet'sbiodiversity takesrefugeinthislifegeneraQngforests,whichoccupyonly7%oftheearthssurface.Halfthe foreststhatoncecoveredtheEarth,29millionsquarekilometers,havedisappearedandwhat ismoreimportantintermsofbiodiversity,about78%ofprimaryforestshavebeendestroyed andtheremaining22percentarethreatenedbyconversiontootherusessuchasagriculture andlivestock,speculaQon,mining,largedams,logging,roadsandforesttracks,demographic growthandclimatechange.Atotalof76countrieshavealreadylostalltheirprimaryforests andanotherelevenwillprobablylosetheminthenextfewyears.

Coltan Thename'coltan'isinfacttheabbreviaQonofcolumbitetantalite,mineralscontained in this type of rock. Of this ore are extracted, niobium and tantalum, used in consumer electronicproducts,nuclearpower,missiles,opQcberandothers,althoughmostproducQon isintendedforthedevelopmentofcapacitorsandotherpartsofmobilephones. Thepricesofcoltanbegantoescalaterecentlyconnectedwiththeuseoftantalumin themanufactureofnewgeneraQonmicrochipsallowinglonglifebaReriesformobilephones, videogamesandlaptops.Thepricesroseevenmore,someyearsbefore2000,whenreserves ofcoltaninBrazil,AustraliaandThailandstartedtoscarce.Asanexampleitisenoughtosay, that Japan's Sony had to postpone the release of the PlayStaQon 2 because of this

inconvenient. Given all this, eyes were turned toward the DemocraQc Republic of Congo, countrythatowns80%oftheworld'sreservesofcoltaninitssubsoil. Thewarofcoltan InfactthebiggestbeneciaryofCongolesecoltanduringthewarwasRwanda.During 2001theUNsenttotheareaan'expertgroup'.TheirreportsproposedasasoluQontoendthe war,anembargoovertheweapons,importsandexportsofgold,diamondsandcoltancoming fromtheinvadingcountries.TheyproposedsancQonsnotonlytothecountriesbutalsotothe companiesthatwouldbreakthisagreement.Theyalsosuggestedafreezeonthenancial assetsoftherebelmovements(alliesoftheinvadingcountries)andtheirleaders,andthe developmentofaprocesstoestablishacerQcateoforiginforgold,diamondsandcoltan. ThecountlessreportsofvariousNGOsandtheUN,accusingRwandaandUgandaof plunderingthemineralwealthofCongo,allowedadegreeofinternaQonalpressureandthe publicaQonofablacklistofcompaniesoperaQnginthearea.34companieswereaccusedof imporQngcoltanandcassiterite,andtheBelgianairlineSabenawasforcedtosuspendthe transportaQon of minerals from Kigali (capital of Rwanda) to Brussels. However, other alternaQveroutesconQnuedtooperate,andaconsiderablepercentageofCongolesecoltan conQnuedemerginginthemarketcamouagedasbeingfromBrazilorThailand. Veryfewmeasuresweretakentoghtthisproblem,andtherewasnoagreementin theSecurityCounciltoreachmorerelevantmeasures.ManyWesterncountriesconQnuedto help Uganda and Rwanda either militarily or through substanQal 'development aids'. For example,theUKaidagency(DFID)announced,inSeptember2000,aloanof95milliondollars overaperiodofthreeyearstohelptheRwandangovernment.Itisdiculttounderstandthe needtohelpcountriesthathaveenoughmoneytoinvadetheirneighbor.The2001reportsof theUNesQmatedthatRwandawasspendinginammuniQon,suppliesandightsofitsarmyin theCongoleseterritorysome60milliondollarsayear.OtherreportsalsopublishedbytheUN commissionandotherindependentcommissionsesQmatedthatintheyear2000,Rwandahad won40milliondollarsindiamonds,15millioningoldand191millionincoltan,allextractedon Congolesesoil.Ugandawouldhavegainedinareasundertheircontrol1.8milliondiamonds, gold,105millionand6.2millionbythecoltan. Rwanda and Uganda not only beneted from several external aids during the war period,butpartoftheirforeigndebtswerecanceledandbothcountrieswereregardedas modelsofeconomicdevelopment. AlltheseeventswereknowandconsentedbytheinternaQonalcommunity,whotook advantageofthisconict.TheonesthatreallysueredtheconsequencesandthatsQllsuer themarethepeople,thevillages,andnaQves.Now,thewarhasended,butthepressureofthe Government and the mulQnaQonal corporaQons operaQng under their protecQve layer, conQnue to devastate the forests, using cheap labor and lowpaid women and children, allowingthattheirciQzensdieofhungerandlackofsanitaryfaciliQes.TheVirungaNaQonal Park,hometothelastgorillasonearth,hasbeenconsideredWorldHeritage,andforthat, UNESCOgivesmoneyforitsmaintenance.Butthismoney,ratherthanbeingusedforschools, healthcareorforimprovingthelivesofthepygmiesandothernaQveslivingalongtheshores oftheNaQonalPark,isdivertedtoserveinterestsofthestatethatareanythingbutaidtothe needypopulaQons. Itisquiteincongruousthatacountrythatpossesssuchmineralrichness,thatcouldbe adevelopingcountry,withsustainableindustriesandfarms,ishometooneofthepoorest

populaQonsonearth,whiletheirpoliQcalleaderslivewealthylives.Wheredidallthatrichness comefrom?WhoisbeneQngfromit?Whywastherenoinvestmentinthepeople?Simply becausedevelopmentisnotaninteresQngperspecQvetothemulQnaQonalcompaniesorthe government.Forthem,itsbesttomaintainthissituaQon,conQnuetheextracQonofnatural resourcesusingcheaplabor,sellingthematerialindevelopedcountries.Theyhavenointerest increaQngpermanentjobsorindustriesbecausethatwouldendangertheirhighprots.The governmentconQnuestoenrichitsmembers,beneQngwiththelowlevelsofeducaQon,and thehighlevelsofpovertyandanger.Forthem,itsbeRertohaveuneducatedpeople,unable toghtfortheirrights. ThisisthecurrentsituaQonintheDemocraQcRepublicofCongo,andforthis,noone shouldbuyortradewithmineralsextractedinCongo,sonottofeedangerandcorrupQon. The Center for InternaQonal Studies of TantalumNiobium in Belgium (a country tradiQonallyconnectwithCongo),hasgivenarecommendaQontointernaQonalbuyers:avoid coltan from Congo for ethical reasons. "ThecountriesoftheCentralAfricanDemocra?cRepublicofCongoandRwandaand theirneighborswereo2enthesourceofsignicanttonnages.Butthecivilwar,loo?ngna?onal parksandexpor?ngminerals,diamondsandotherresourcesnaturaltonancethemili?ashas forced the Center for Interna?onal Studies the TantalumNiobium to warn its members to bewareofbuyingrawmaterialsfromlegalsources.Damage,orthedangerofprovokinga damagetothelocalpopula?on,thewildlifeortheenvironmentisunacceptable." Measurestobetaken: Wemustemployallourknowledgeandtechniquesothatmankindprogresses,butwe mustdothiswithrespectfornature,prevenQngthattheseadvanceswillmeandestrucQon, desolaQonanddeath.Itisimportanttorespecttheenvironment,localpopulaQonsandto assure that the coltan recollecQon is made in areas with no armed conicts and without harmingotheranimalspeciessuchasthegorillas.TheinternaQonalcommunityshoulddenea conductcodetopreventtradeinminerals,Qmber,etc.fromareaswhereitsexploraQonhasled tohabitatdestrucQon,regionsinconictorwherethereisnorespectforthefundamental right of life. Do not allow that these resources are extracted from poor countries, where hunger, war, dictatorships, human exploitaQon and destrucQon of natural resources is law, becausethemoneywillonlybenetleadersandthepeoplewillconQnuetosuer. We must research to nd the adequate mechanisms to recycle mobile phones, reuQlizingtheircomponents,andaregulaQonsystemshouldbedevelopedinordertoforbid tradewithproductsfromcomingfromsuspiciousareasandcountries,punishingmulQnaQonals thatoperateandenrichthemselvescommiSngrealcrimesagainstmankind. WesQllhaveQmetostopthisecogenocideannouncedbyLeonardoDaVincialong Qmeago,andthatalreadybegantodestroythelivesofmillions.Itsinourhands.Buyershave thepower,thepowertodestroymulQnaQonalcompanies.Theyarenotstrong,we,thepeople how consume the products, we have the strength to demand that all products, including mobile phones, come from clean hands, doves of peace, and not of blood, death and destrucQon. OurhearthastobesensiQvetothesueringoftheworld,sensiQvetotakecareofthis uniqueplanetwhereourchildrenandthefuturegeneraQonshavetherighttolivejustlikewe do.Wehavetheresponsibilitytoprotecttheenvironmentandalllivingcreatures.

PedroPozasTerrados

DirectorEjecuIvoyCoordinadordelProyectoGranSimio(PGS/GAPEspaa) Telfono:678708832 www.proyectogransimio.org h6p://igualdadsimios.blogspot.com hJp://comitecontracambioclimaIco.blogspot.com/ h6p://hermanosevolu5vos.blogspot.com/ hJp://proyectofotogracolibertad.blogspot.com/