Deaths at Anvil Mining's Kulu mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Deaths at Anvil Mining's Kulu mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

28th April 2006

Anvil Mining put out a press release immediately after 2 of its employees were killed when protesting artisanal miners set fire to the company's guesthouse on April 24, decrying "illegal activity", but failed to mention that the mob might have been angry because the company's security was reported to have drowned one of their number. It also failed to explain what alternatives the "illegal" artisanal miners should avail themselves of in an area of extreme poverty and high unemployment. Only a week earlier a conference of non-governmental organisations had issued a communiqué decrying the pillaging of Congolese mineral wealth by foreign companies, environmental degradation, and child labour among other abuses suffered by the long-abused population.