Gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten sound innocent within the context of Edina’s affluent community, popping up in chemistry homework assignments or discussed at the local jewelry store. But in the eastern Congo, these minerals are the source of much conflict and bloodshed.
Tara Mohtadi, a senior at Edina High School, understands the complexity of the issue surrounding these minerals, and the role Edina plays in perpetuating the cycle of violence half a world away. As co-leader of the Edina chapter of STAND, a national genocide intervention group, she was determined to be a part of the solution. But that would take research, perseverance and lots of help from the community.
The eastern Congo has been a land of conflict since 1996, with government and rebel militias fighting to control the mines, which are rich with valuable natural resources. Although the war officially ended in 2003, violence continues today, fueled largely by the continual mining of “conflict minerals.” Over the years, these resources have been used to fund horrific violence that has left more than 5.4 million dead and 2 million displaced, explains Mohtadi. Conflict minerals are difficult to trace, since they are exported to neighboring countries where they are refined, but many end up in electronics sold throughout the world—including right here in Edina.
“The city of Edina buys a lot of electronics,” explains Jennifer Bennerotte, the city’s communications and technology services director. But in 2010 a provision to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act was signed, requiring companies to trace and audit their supply chains. “This propelled nationwide efforts to reform the supply chains of various companies,” said Mohtadi.
Last fall, Mohtadi and STAND members began researching, and discovered that only two other cities—Pittsburgh, Pa., and St. Petersburg, Fla.—and several universities had passed resolutions supporting conflict-free minerals. The movement was so new that it was difficult to find information they could turn into a proposal, but Mohtadi and her team were nevertheless eager to get involved.
The Human Rights and Relations Commission in Edina, which has been instrumental in many human rights ordinances and policies, was happy to help the students draft and finalize a proposal to take before the City Council. “[STAND] has been active in terms of bringing various global issues to the city … so it was great to see them come forward with this [resolution],” says Jessi Kingston, chair of the Human Rights and Relations Commission.
Backed by the efforts of Mohtadi, Kingston, and other members of STAND and the Human Rights and Relations Commission, on May 15 Edina officially became the first city in Minnesota to adopt a conflict-free resolution. As Mohtadi explains, “this means [the city] will work to minimize, or eliminate when possible, business with companies that do not actively trace their supply chain.”
Although the resolution is currently directed simply at the city itself, affecting purchases of electronics by local government, the hope is that “the city can use its stance as a large community to encourage companies [within Edina] to ensure their products are conflict-free,” says Mohtadi. “We encourage local businesses to follow suit,” affirms Bennerotte. For now, this means taking small steps, like replacing the Panasonic Toughbooks used in the police squad cars, because they do not score well in the conflict-free report. But someday, as more businesses adopt the resolution, the goal is that “by slowing the trade of conflict minerals, resources to armed groups will be reduced, and hopefully, more legal mining practices can be adopted,” said Mohtadi.
Kingston delivered the official presentation before the City Council, and Mohtadi spoke on behalf of STAND “and she just did an incredible job in front of the City Council presenting and discussing the topic,” recalls Kingston. Mohtadi has been actively involved with STAND since it formed in 2008, and has been part of many initiatives, including a trip to the national STAND conference in Washington, D.C., where the group lobbied Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken. This past January, STAND hosted Carl Wilkens, the only American who voluntarily chose to stay in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, and “used his inspiring message about a past atrocity to relate to the current conflict in the Congo,” she recalled.
Although change takes time and patience, STAND is proud of its recent contribution to stop the conflict in the Congo and hopes the community will follow suit. The fact that the resolution passed unanimously reflects positively on the character of the city. As Mohtadi points out, “Edina is a city known, among other things, for its human rights activism.” She is confident that its citizens will accept their role as responsible consumers and help end the atrocities related to conflict minerals in the Congo. “It is simply unacceptable that we stand by and fuel what has become a cycle of rape and violence.”
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To read more about how you can help end genocide and crimes against humanity in the Congo, visit Enoughproject.org, Standnow.org and Raisehopeforcongo.org.
