by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: July 31, 2010

If the corporation is now to be considered as an individual, with the rights of an individual, then the corporation should be treated as an individual would be treated if they were psychopathic and a harm or a danger to others.

There is, simply put, an increasing lack of empathy, remorse, ability to take responsibility for damage and harm, along with an inability to be socially responsible that is not only being manifest in corporate functions, but in the living human beings who are the public face of corporations.

Whenever a business interest is the driving force behind an operation that involves abuse, slavery or oppression of children, then the business interest is responsible for stopping the abuse and implementing decency in operations, no matter how the operations are legally, politically or socially distanced from the corporation or its final product.

Coltan is a dull, black metallic ore that is also called Columbite-Tantalite. Two metals, tantalum and niobum are extracted from this ore. Tantalum is critical for electronic components, such as tantalum capacitors. Phones, pagers, personal computers and automotive electronics as well as carbide tools for metalworking use tantalum and nobium.

Australia, Brazil and Canada are the major sources of tantalum concentrates. Brazil and Austrailia are the major sources of niobium concentrates. But coltan is said to be exported from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with some claiming that it is a major source of funding for civil wars throughout Africa. Ethiopia and Mozambique are also sources of Coltan. Prospecting is going in in Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Greenland, China, Finland and Afghanistan.

Many of these countries are at best, not reliable  and at worst, horrific when it comes to human rights and the rights of children, especially children who are stolen from other countries and sold into slavery.

Having given all of that background, there are three ways in which to assign responsibility for abuse of children in the mining or processing of Coltan to extract tantalum and niobium:

First, we could take it to the last beneficiary: us. We who love our smartphones, late model cars and computers are ultimately responsible for creating the demand for Coltan and for turning a blind eye to the horrific conditions that are actually international crimes against humanity. As with luxury and blood diamonds where many want the profits to go only to the traditional diamond

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>