Student voices: Conflicted by my electronics

Emma Gardner and Robbie StaenbergContributorsDuring WWII, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime slaughtered six million Jews, a crime that shocked the world. Today, an equivalent number of people is being killed with almost no outcry, merely because of the technologies we use every day.According to the Washington Post, over the last 20 years, nearly six million Africans have been killed in the Congo as a result of the multi-million dollar trade of mineral resources. While it might have been impossible for ordinary Americans to stop Hitler, we can do something to alleviate this current human tragedy.The minerals tungsten, tin, tantalum and gold, mined throughout the Congo, can be found in everything from computers to memory cards to cell phones. According to enoughproject.org, gold is used in circuit boards, tantalum makes phones vibrate, and tin and tungsten are key components in most electronics. These minerals originate in mines in eastern parts of the Congo near the cities of Bundu and Goma, according to Africa Confidential. Armed rebel groups are mining these materials, selling them to buyers worldwide, and using the money to wage war against their own country.The war is particularly brutal — mass murder and rape are commonplace. These acts are funded by the sale of the aforementioned minerals to manufacturers who produce our everyday electronics. All major electronics companies use these minerals, with a great deal coming from the Congo. Profits from this mineral trade are at the heart of the violence in the Congo.If we prevent these companies from purchasing Congolese minerals, we would be cutting off the rebels’ source of funding. If we, the electronics consumers, pledge to purchase only “conflict-free” products — products which do not have minerals that originated from the Congo — we will be doing our part.Though it is difficult for a company to trace its “minerals supply chain” from mine to market, it is a vital step that needs to be taken to stop this war. A few companies now have transparent operations — publicizing their “mineral chain” — including HP, Microsoft and Dell. Unfortunately, many companies — such as Canon, Nintendo and Sharp — either won’t release information about the origins of their minerals, refuse to act on what they find, or both.Refusing to buy products from these companies who won’t research their supply chain is a huge step that we as electronics consumers can take toward halting the civil war in the Congo.The consequences of the mining and selling of “conflict minerals” are simply too dire to ignore. Every month, 45,000 people in the Congo die. Most are young children. That’s 14 times the number of students at Santa Monica High School! Think about it: the equivalent of 14 Samo student populations die each month in the Congo.Though the cost for a company to go “conflict-free” can reduce profits and lead to higher retail prices, we as consumers must consider which is more important: the increased cost of our electronics products, or the cost of human life. In the wise words of King Hussein of Jordan, one of the only two Arab leaders to ever make peace with the Jews, “Real victories are those that protect human life, not those that emerge from its ashes.”