Truck Explosion Goldfields
Nolan Guyz
In one video, two bodies are seen crumpled on the ground, covered in dust. A photo shared by a local council member showed a deep crater at the epicentre of the blast, onlookers peering down from its rim.
Seji Saji Amedonu, deputy director general of the National Disaster Management Organisation, said 500 buildings had been destroyed. A regional emergency official told local media he had seen 10 dead bodies.
The explosion occurred in Apiate between the towns of Bogoso and Bawdie when a motorcycle went under a truck carrying explosives owned by a company called Maxam that was en route to the Chirano gold mine, run by Toronto-based Kinross.
The police initially said the explosives were heading from the Tarkwa gold mine run by Johannesburg-based Gold Fields, but a spokesman for Gold Fields said the delivery was from an explosives company in the town of Tarkwa, not the Tarkwa mine. Maxam did not respond to requests for comment.
Gold Fields Limited is a globally diversified gold producer with eight operating mines in Australia, Ghana, Peru and South Africa, and a total attributable annual gold-equivalent production of approximately 2.04 million ounces.
Accra, 21 January 2022: Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) (JSE, NYSE: GFI) expresses its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the explosion at Apiate, near Bogoso in the Western Region, the community and all those who have been affected by this tragedy.
"We are saddened by the disaster at Apiate and have noted the devastating effect the explosion has had in the community. We offer our support to authorities and the people of the community. We are ready to assist any way we can", says Joshua Mortoti, acting Executive Vice President and Head of West Africa.
Initial media reports suggested the truck carrying the explosives had started its journey at our Tarkwa mine. This is incorrect. The van was from an explosives depot at Tarkwa. The news agency has subsequently corrected the original story.
This report was written in English and translated intoFrench. If there are any inconsistencies between the French and Englishversions of this document, the English version will govern. This report wascorrect as at April 26, 2005.
The northeast corner of the DemocraticRepublic of Congo (DRC) is home to one of Africa's richest goldfields. Competition to control the gold mines and trading routes has spurred the bloodyconflict that has gripped this area since the start of the Congolese war in1998 and continues to the present. Soldiers and armed group leaders, seeingcontrol of the gold mines as a way to money, guns, and power, have fought eachother ruthlessly, often targeting civilians in the process. Combatants undertheir command carried out widespread ethnic slaughter, executions, torture,rape and arbitrary arrest, all grave human rights abuses and violations ofinternational humanitarian law. More than sixty thousand people have died dueto direct violence in this part of Congo alone. Rather than bringing prosperityto the people of northeastern Congo, gold has been a curse to those who havethe misfortune to live there.
When Uganda, a major belligerent in the war, occupiednortheastern Congo from 1998 to 2003, its soldiers took direct control ofgold-rich areas and coerced gold miners to extract the gold for their benefit.They beat and arbitrarily arrested those who resisted their orders. Ignoringthe rules of war for the conduct of occupying armies, they helped themselves toan estimated one ton of Congolese gold valued at over $9 million. Theirirresponsible mining practices led to the collapse of one of the most importantmines in the area in 1999, the Gorumbwa mine, killing some one hundredpeopletrapped inside and destroying a major livelihood for the residents of the area.
The Ugandan army withdrew from Congo in 2003, following Rwanda, another major belligerent, which had withdrawn the year before.Each left behind local proxies, the Lendu Nationalist andIntegrationist Front (Front des Nationalistes et Intgrationnistes,FNI) linked to Uganda, and the Hema Union of Congolese Patriots (Union des Patriotes Congolais, UPC), supported by Rwanda. With continued assistance from their external backers, these local armed groups inturn fought for the control of gold-mining areas and trade routes. As eachgroup won a gold-rich area, they promptly began exploiting the ore. The FNI and the UPCfoughtfive battles in a struggle to control Mongbwalu, each resulting in widespreadhuman rights abuses. Human Rights Watch researchers documented the slaughter ofat least two thousand civilians in the Mongbwalu area alone between June 2002and September 2004. Tens of thousands of civilians were forced to flee fromtheir homes into the forests to escape their attackers. Many of them did notsurvive.
As a company with public commitments tocorporate social responsibility, AngloGold Ashanti should have ensured theiroperations complied with those commitments and did not adversely affect humanrights. They do not appear to have done so. Business considerationscame above respect for human rights. In its gold exploration activities inMongbwalu, AngloGold Ashanti failed to uphold its own business principles onhuman rights considerations and failed to follow international business normsgoverning the behavior of companies internationally. Human Rights Watch hasbeen unable to identify effective steps taken by the company to ensure thattheir activities did not negatively impact on human rights.
In other small-scale mining operationsconducted throughout the duration of the conflict, armed groups and theirbusiness allies used the proceeds from the sale of gold to support theirmilitary activities. Working outside of legal channels,a network of traders funnelled gold mined by artisanal miners and forced labourout of the Congo to Uganda. In return for their services some traderscounted on the support of combatants from the armed groups who threatened,detained, and even murdered their commercial rivals or those suspected offailing to honor business deals. These traders sold the ore to gold exportersbased in Uganda who then sold to the global gold market, a practice thatcontinues today.
In 2003, an estimated $60 million worth of Congolese goldwas exported from Uganda, much of it destined for Switzerland. One of the companiesbuying gold from Uganda is Metalor Technologies, a leading Swiss refinery. Thechain of Congolese middlemen, Ugandan traders, and multinational corporationsforms an important funding network for armed groups operating in northeastern Congo. Metalor knew, or should have known, that gold bought from its suppliers in Uganda came from a conflict zone in northeastern DRC where human rights were abused on asystematic basis. The company should have considered whether its own role inbuying gold resources from its suppliers in Uganda was compatible withprovisions on human rights and it should have actively checked its supply chainto verify that acceptable ethical standards were maintained. Through purchasesof gold made from Uganda, Metalor Technologies may have contributed indirectlyto providing a revenue stream for armed groups that carry out widespread humanrights abuses.
The international community has failed toeffectively tackle the link between resource exploitation and conflict in the Congo. Following three years of investigation into this link, a United Nations (U.N.)panel of experts stated that the withdrawal of foreign armies from Congo was unlikely to stop the cycle of conflict and exploitation of resources. But theU.N. Security Council established no mechanism to follow up on therecommendations of the panel. The trade in gold is just one example of a widertrend of competition for resources and resulting human rights abuses takingplace in mineral rich areas throughout the Congo. The link between conflictand resource exploitation raises broader questions of corporate accountabilityin the developing world. Given the troubling allegations described in the U.N.panel of experts reports and in this report, it is imperative that furthersteps be taken to deal with the issue of natural resources and conflict in the Congo and beyond.
In preparation for this report, Human Rights Watchresearchers interviewed over 150 individuals including victims, witnesses, goldminers, gold traders, gold exporters, customs officials, armed group leaders,government representatives, and officials of international financial institutionsin Congo, Uganda and Europe in 2004 and 2005. Human Rights Watch researchersalso met with and engaged in written correspondence with representatives fromAngloGold Ashanti and Metalor Technologies to discuss concerns.
We wish to thank our Congolese colleagues in Justice Plus,and other individuals who cannot be named for security reasons, for theirassistance and support in our research. They risk their lives to defend therights of others and are to be commended for their courage and commitment.
Urgently investigate and bring to justice those responsible foralleged violations of international humanitarian law in northeastern Congo, including leaders and combatants of groups such as the FNI, UPC and the FAPC.
Halt immediately the promotion of armed group leaders to seniorranks in the Congolese army. Investigate and bring to justice those promotedto generals and other senior ranks in January 2004 named in this and previousHuman Rights Watch reports including Jrme Kakwavu, Forebear Kisembo, BoscoTaganda, Germain Katanga, and those promoted to other senior ranks such asSalumu Mulenda and Rafiki Saba Aimable amongst others.
Improve import controls at border points to ensure that all goldentering Uganda has legal import and export documentation as specified underCongolese law. Develop legislation and regulations to stop Ugandan individualsor companies from participating in the illegal trade of gold.
Halt immediately any relationship which benefits, either directlyor indirectly, armed groups in Ituri who abuse human rights, in particular theFNI. Consider temporarily suspending gold exploration operations in Ituri ifsuch operations require cooperation with the FNI or similar armed groups.
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