Calls for US sanctions against personalities involved in gold trafficking in the Great Lakes | DRC
In their correspondence dated August 17, 2020 addressed to the United States Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, and the Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, concerning the normalization of the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in anticipation of the democratic elections in 2023, the nine US senators have also proposed to Washington to consider sanctions against those involved in the illicit trade in gold from the DRC to the countries of the Lakes.
“As gold continues to be one of the biggest sources of funding for armed groups in eastern DRC, the United States should take action to disrupt illicit supply chains. However, this requires a regional approach. The United States should consider sanctions against companies and intermediaries, including Rwanda, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates, that facilitate the illicit export of gold while also working with partners to pursue money laundering prosecutions money and other violations of the law related to these matters, ”the US senators wrote in their correspondence.
Moreover, for these nine senators, the US Department of State should work with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) to facilitate negotiations between the governments of the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda to harmonize their export taxes on gold.
In the same correspondence, these senators called on the US government to support President Félix Tshisekedi in the fight against corruption and money laundering.
The signatories of the letter are Senators JAMES E. RISCH, ROBERT MENENDEZ, MARCO RUBION, BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, TED CRUZ, CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, DAVID A. PERDUE, TIM KAINE and CORY A. BOOKER.
