Commentary: Are there regulative solutions to human rights abuses in the mining industry?

Commentary on the article titled: "How can public–private partnerships contribute to security and human rights policy and practice in the extractive industries? A case study of The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)" By Rachel Perks.

The author suggests implementing a “Private-Public Partnership” (PPP) initiative in an effort to mitigate conflict surrounding mining operations, using the DRC as a case study. The approach emanates from a partnership between public and private organizations in communities suffering social and economic conflicts. The article notes that global awareness of deplorable corporate acts have augmented pressure on governments, lending institutions and international organizations to address and remedy corporate harms on vulnerable social and economic environments within their own institutions and beyond. Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives stem from such pressures and are an encouraging instrument in preventing human rights violations as well as environmental harms; however they do have their limitations. CSR measures arise from within an organization lacking any consistent, agreed upon measures. Each corporation can introduce their own guidelines which may be very minimal and inconsequential with very little impact on addressing and restraining harms. Furthermore, these self-regulating responsibility measures are basically voluntary, meaning the corporation can choose to implement the guidelines and has full discretion on addressing and/or punishing wrongdoers. Also, a significant aspect required to regulate the mining industry would be both the central government’s ability to monitor and inspect operations and their political will to perform the role of regulator. The DRC seems to lack this rather central feature and will probably continue having difficulties addressing the issues of corporate malfeasance as long as their central government has no influence within the extractive regions of the country.

The article mentions various advocacy initiatives to ensure compliance within the extractive  industry. Examples include: Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR), Publish What You Pay (PWYP) and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). It is interesting to note that the “Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights lists on its website AngloGold Ashanti as a corporate participant in the principles initiative.  The first article mentioned AngloGold as one of the leading corporations involved in extractions within the Ituri region of the DRC. I wonder when AngloGold signed on as a participant to the initiative and whether or not demands for corporate accountability within the DRC caused them to join. I also wonder whether or not the principles are being met as of this moment.  

The article then dives into case examples of extraction and human rights issues within various regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, all of which create the atmosphere of recognition of the harms being created and a willingness by many organizations and corporations themselves to address and rectify the concerns.