Reuters Joins Gang of Warlords & Lobbyists

The UN just released its latest Group of Experts report on the DRC. The news agency Reuters, clearly in the pay of Bosco Ntaganda (or the US Chamber of Commerce), reports on it thusly:

Conflict minerals crackdown backfiring in Congo—UN
By Jonny Hogg and Graham Holliday
KINSHASA, Dec 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. crackdown on so-called "conflict minerals" in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has backfired by pushing trade deeper into the hands of criminals and smugglers, including at least one former rebel leader, a U.N. report said on Friday.

The new UN report, available here, goes into considerable detail on a variety of topics, from an update on the region's armed groups to summaries of harebrained attempts at gold smuggling to an analysis of the impact of SEC 1502 on militia participation at several important mines in north and south Kivu. One thing it doesn't do is what I've been calling for: undertake a thorough assessment of the impact the de facto embargo is having on the miners and their families. Still, the report is worth reading in depth. As most of these UN reports have been, it is well-written and impressively detailed—even the annexes are worth perusing.

I'll have more to say once I finish reading it.