Argor-Heraeus and other Swiss gold refiners are starting to be held accountable for their industry’s alleged role in unlawful transactions and mining abuses.
All four Swiss-based refiners have been accused in recent years of lapses related to the alleged facilitation of money laundering, human rights abuses and war crimes… a parliamentary proposal made last year for new restrictions on the industry’s acquisition of gold. Voters may have a say in about two years on a measure that could force refiners and other multinationals to disclose data on the human-rights records of their suppliers... Switzerland imports gold in quantities nearly equal to the amount officially taken from the earth in any given year. Last year, Switzerland imported the equivalent of 81% of the world’s gold production from mines
.. According to a decision Swiss federal prosecutors issued last year, gold looted in the Democratic Republic of Congo to fund armed conflict was refined by Argor roughly a decade ago. Argor “provided assistance” to war crimes
Profile: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Named after the enormous Congo River and the large ethnic group living at its mouth, the Kongo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo first had its borders drawn at the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885. During this conference, Africa was arbitrarily divided in ways that benefitted the European colonial powers, with no regard for existing tribal systems and linguistic groups. In some instances, these new borders separated families, while other people without previous contact suddenly became part of one nation. Many of Congo’s leaders have favored certain ethnic groups and areas over others, exacerbating differences between ethnic groups. The future of the Congo depends upon average citizens transcending the political rhetoric of hatred and uniting within an African-style democracy.