Blood Coltan

April 2008 | Ratings Update

The UN voted in March to extend its existing arms embargo on militias operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the end of the year, but is exempting the DRC government's military. Previously, arms could only be imported for forces which had been through a national integration program, and all legal weapon imports passed through inspections by UN peacekeepers in the country, which will no longer take place. The easing of the embargo is meant to simplify enforcement and strengthen the country's armed forces. A key problem is that the existing embargo is making little substantive difference to

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