Posts tagged ‘DRC’
Dodd-Frank and Unintended Consequences
While the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act, passed in 2010, was mostly concerned about financial reform, it included a provision, Section 1502, chiefly through the efforts of Congressman Jim McDermott, aimed at increasing transparency about mining activities in the DRC by forcing US companies to disclose whether the sources of their mining activities were in certain areas of the DRC or unspecified neighbouring companies.
The result has been devastating to say the least. David Aronson’s op-ed in the NY Times last summer details some of the unforeseen damage on the mining industry in the eastern part of the country:
The law has brought about a de facto embargo on the minerals mined in the region, including tin, tungsten and the tantalum that is essential for making cellphones. The smelting companies that used to buy from eastern Congo have stopped. No one wants to be tarred with financing African warlords — especially the glamorous high-tech firms like Apple and Intel that are often the ultimate buyers of these minerals. It’s easier to sidestep Congo than to sort out the complexities of Congolese politics — especially when minerals are readily available from other, safer countries.
While a recent UN report acknowledges some successes of the legislation, it notes that the falling production due to the law has led to “”rising unemployment and worsened poverty among the tens of thousands…
Last Week in International Law
1. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)’s 20th Anniversary
The CRC is the most universally accepted international human rights treaty in the world, ratified by every country except the US and Somalia. The CRC is based on the principles of non-discrimination; the best interests of the child; children’s rights to survival, development, and protection; and children’s right to participate in decisions affecting them. Ten years on, in Canada, it became one of the issues in the Baker litigation, in which the SCC decided that although the CRC had not been implemented into domestic law, its values should still inform the contextual approach to domestic statutory interpretation and judicial review.
Twenty years on, UNICEF reports fewer child deaths, improved child health, and improved and more gender-equal primary school enrollment. However, approximately 1 billion children still suffer some form of “material deprivation”, and children are disproportionately likely to suffer the negative effects of the global economic crisis and climate change. UNICEF reaffirms the importance of the best interests principle in governance; capacity-building to realize children’s rights; support for social and cultural values that respect children’s rights; and cooperation “to make the vision of the Convention a reality for every child.”
2. Khadr’s Day at the SCC … and US Military Tribunal?
On November 13, the SCC heard arguments in the case of former child soldier/alleged terrorist and Canadian Guantanamo…
