Between a rock and a hard place: human rights impacts in the DRC’s mining sector

Exploring the local context of the DRC, this briefing examines how the accelerating global demand for critical minerals has intensified pressure on the country, which has rich mineral deposits and extensive rainforest landscapes. 

It outlines how mining activities have affected community land rights, Indigenous Peoples, and the environment, and how gaps in the national legal framework have enabled the continued dispossession of customary lands. The briefing also clarifies the rights that communities have under national and international law and highlights the need for responsible approaches to mineral extraction that respect these rights, as well as the need for increased scrutiny on mineral supply chains in the context of the conflict in Eastern DRC.

To avoid reproducing the injustices and harms historically linked to commodity-driven development, policy-makers, companies, and investors must have a deeper understanding of the local context in the DRC. This includes the risks that mining poses to people and forests, the legal framework governing extraction, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.