Some army officers, rebel groups and criminal networks in Congo are still illegally exploiting the country’s gold and mineral riches despite government and military bans, U.N. experts said in a report circulated Monday.
The panel of experts monitoring sanctions against Congo said gold remains by far the mineral most used to finance rebel and criminal groups. It names several senior officers implicated in gold exploitation and trade, “on occasion in collaboration with private companies.”
The report to the U.N. Security Council said a gold-tracing program has not yet become operational and efforts for the government to control its natural resources are impeded by “the impunity enjoyed by wrongdoers,” corruption by a wide range of parties, and loopholes in implementing bans and monitoring.
On the key issue of Congo’s vast natural resources, the panel said its preliminary investigations showed that “most gold produced in the country continued to be smuggled through neighboring countries to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.”
This post was published at ABC News
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