| 5th
February 2012 -Congolese Women
Speak Out:
Obama appointed US trade adviser
linked to illegal deal in Congolese gold
By Pete Jones
A US trade adviser appointed by Barack Obama orchestrated
a deal to buy gold worth millions of dollars from a wanted
Congolese warlord, according to a UN report.
Kase Lawal, a Nigerian-born US oil tycoon, transferred millions
of dollars to the notorious rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda
between December 2010 and February 2011 as part of the deal,
the report by the UN's Group of Experts on the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) states.
If true, this would be a contravention of UN resolutions
banning individuals or organisations from financing illegal
armed groups in the wartorn eastern DRC.
The UN report says Lawal, the chairman and chief executive
of the Houston-based oil firm Camac, was aware he was paying
Ntaganda.
Obama put Lawal on the US advisory committee for trade and
policy negotiations in September 2010, just months before
the deal with Ntaganda.
All efforts to reach Lawal failed. Camac said it had no
comment on the allegations, but said: "Camac is a law-abiding
company and we disagree with the representations made in
the report."
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Ntaganda has been wanted by the international criminal court
(ICC) since an arrest warrant was issued in 2006. He funds
his exploits by smuggling natural resources in the mineral-rich
country, and faces allegations of recruiting child soldiers
and presiding over mass rapes and murder of civilians by
his troops in the National Congress for the Defence of the
People (CNDP).
The CNDP militia has since integrated into the Congolese
national army but its soldiers continue to obey rebel command
structures.
Ntaganda, like many rebel leaders in eastern DRC, funds
his activities by smuggling natural resources.
The UN says "gold is among the sources of financing
most readily available to armed groups".
According to the report, while Lawal was initially under
the impression that he was buying gold from an owner in
Kenya, he did not abort the deal when he learned Ntaganda
was the true owner.
Instead, the UN report says Lawal merely "appeared
relieved to finally be engaging directly with the true owner
of the gold".
The report says Lawal financed the deal while Edward Carlos
St Mary, a Houston businessman and friend of Lawal's, carried
out the transaction in DRC. The deal was proposed to the
two men by Dikembe Mutombo, a Congolese former NBA player
with the Houston Rockets, and three of his relatives.
Despite paying, Lawal never received the gold. St Mary flew
to Goma in DRC to finish the deal in a Camac-leased jet,
but the passengers were arrested by Congolese presidential
security officers as they tried to take off with the gold
in February 2011.
St Mary and two Camac employees were charged with money-laundering
and illegal transport of a banned material, because at this
time the Congolese government had banned mining of gold,
tin and coltan in the provinces where the minerals trade
was affected by illegal armed groups. The three men were
released in late March after Camac's Kinshasa representative
paid $3m (£1.9m) in fines.
Substantial sums of money were involved from the start.
The report says Lawal told St Mary he had lost "$30m
as a result of the whole ordeal, including transport fees,
fines, bribes" and the payments for the gold.
Jason Stearns, a former Group of Experts co-ordinator, said:
"This is a fine example of the rank disregard of international
law by major international companies and businessmen.
"Lawal knew Bosco Ntaganda was involved in the deal,
so he was knowingly doing business with a man wanted by
the ICC. On top of that, there was a Congolese mining ban
in place at the time. And finally, he's probably violating
a UN arms embargo on the region."
|
|
| Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda
has been wanted by the international criminal court
since 2006. Photograph: Reuters |
A source close to the UN who asked to remain anonymous said:
"The whole thing was a scam. It's likely the Congolese
were always going to arrest [St Mary and the others] and
keep the money and the gold. The charge of illegal transport
of a banned material was a pretext for the arrests.
"In reality, the Congolese authorities and Ntaganda
worked together to ensure full payment was made for the
gold, that the gold never left the DRC, and that the arrested
men would have to pay a series of heavy fines to secure
their release."
St Mary agrees. Speaking to the Guardian from Houston, he
said that at one stage he nearly pulled out of the deal,
only to be put on the phone to Zoé Kabila, the president's
brother, who reassured him the gold dealers were "legitimate".
That was before he knew Ntaganda was involved.
Later, in Goma, St Mary said Ntaganda was arguing with Joseph
Kabila, DRC's president, on the phone. "They were arguing
over how to split the cash," he said. "Even when
I first met Ntaganda, he told me he'd just spoken to Kabila
and that we'd be able to leave with the gold with no problem."
When the story first broke in early 2011 Lawal tried to
pin the blame on his friend St Mary. Since then, relations
have soured between the two men, yet St Mary defends Lawal's
decision to push ahead with the deal. "Mickey [Lawal
– Kase Lawal's brother, also in Goma] and I told [Kase]
Lawal that the owner of the gold was Bosco [Ntaganda].
"But by the time we found that out I think our lives
were in jeopardy. To try to pull out then could have cost
us our lives. In those circumstances, what else can you
do? There was no out.
"There was only one way to go: try to do a deal and
get the hell out of there. The problem was the authorities
and Bosco were partners in this, and we didn't know that
until it was too late."
Conflict persists in eastern DRC, despite a 2003 peace agreement
to end a bloody war. Numerous rebel groups and militias
operate in the region and there are regular attacks on civilians,
including massacres and mass rapes.
Collaboration between Kabila and Ntaganda during the recent
presidential and legislative elections lends weight to the
accusations.
"Bosco and the CNDP have allegedly been involved in
election fraud while campaigning for Kabila's Majorité
Présidentielle [coalition]," said Stearns. "Allegations
include ballot-stuffing, stealing people's identities and
intimidation. It's all been happening in CNDP-controlled
areas."
A Goma resident who wished to remain anonymous said: "Bosco
and his men are a very visible presence … they put
a lot of pressure on people to vote for their favourite
candidates."
Fraud was so rife that the Congolese electoral commission
annulledelection results in some areas.
Victoria Dove Dimandja - Congolese
Human Right Campaigner
Liberation
Congolese Women Group
|
