Carter Center Levels Critique of Mining Contracts

The Carter Center released a press release on Congo's Mining Review process. They are one of the participating institutions in the government's contract review process. The essence of their statement reinforces what has been well documented by international NGOs and Congolese civil society.

Key elements from the Carter Center's review include the following:
1. Severe and widespread problems in the contracts.
2. The contracts were made without independent valuation.
3. No provisions to ensure equitable sharing of profits.
4. There has been a lack of support of the mining review from the World Bank and foreign countries where the mining companies originate.
5. Mining companies have been unwilling to acknowledge even those problems that are manifest and undeniable.

John Reboul, of Ropes & Gray, which analyzed five of the major contracts in detail for The Carter Center, described them as "some of the most one-sided agreements I have seen in 30 years of practice."

The Carter Center suggested a number of prescriptions that will ostensibly benefit the Congolese people. Click here to read>>