EnglishThe following press release was distributed to media outlets today:
LONDON, December 11, 2023 – His Excellency Mr. Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has met in Kinshasa with members of the law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP, which has been retained by the Government of the DRC in order to conduct investigations, pursuant to Congolese and international law, into the supply chain of 3T minerals (tin, tungsten, and tantalum) sourced from Congolese territory and illegally exported through international money laundering operations.
Following its investigations, the firm intends to engage, if appropriate, in litigation internationally on behalf of the DRC against individuals and companies involved, willingly or unwillingly, in the chain of extraction, supply and commercialization of natural resources and minerals that are pillaged from the DRC. Indeed, the scale and duration of these illicit activities have caused unfathomable harm and suffering among the civilian population in mining areas. Furthermore, these activities have fueled a cycle of violence and conflict by financing militias and terrorist groups, and have contributed to forced child labor and environmental devastation.
International observers have documented numerous schemes that underpin and enable an extensive money laundering enterprise through the illegal trade in conflict minerals sourced from Congolese territory. These observers have demonstrated the dependent nature of relationships between perpetrators of this looting and some of the biggest producers of consumer electronics, such as mobile telephones and computers, and companies in the automotive, aviation and renewable energy sectors.
Robert Amsterdam, founding partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, stated that “this activity by some of the largest technology companies in the world, which seriously harms the future of the people and economy of the DRC, has nevertheless been ignored and passed over in silence for far too long.” He further stated in this regard: “Our firm will collaborate with a team of lawyers both inside and outside the DRC, to address the scourge of the predation of the country’s resource wealth, and this work will set an example for the Global South.”
Amsterdam & Partners LLP is an international law firm with offices in London and Washington DC. More information about the firm is available at www.amsterdamandpartners.com.
