Britain freezes assets of DRC kingpins
The British government said it has frozen £580m in assets held by several dozen militia leaders, army officers and private organisations with ties to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The freezes were mandated by the EU as part of a sanctions regime imposed by the UN.
They represent a hefty sum in the DRC, which has an annual GDP of about $30bn and a budget of $5bn.
The figure was published on the UK parliamentary website on Monday by Economic Secretary John Glen, in response to an MP’s question about sanctions imposed on the DRC.
His answer gave the total sum of seized assets but no details of the assets themselves. Still, it provided a rare window into the scale of illicit financial activity that international powers have targeted as they try to ratchet up pressure on President Joseph Kabila to step down from power.
Leaders of the DRC’s dozens of militia groups, government officials and military officers have long enriched themselves by trafficking minerals, imposing illegal taxes and stealing public funds, according to the government and experts.
The asset freezes apply to individuals and groups, including warlords convicted by the International Criminal Court, a general who was convicted of rape, a gold trading company in Uganda and two now-defunct Congolese airline companies.
Glen said the data covered the period from the adoption of sanctions in 2005 up until September 30 2016.
That was before the EU imposed sanctions in late 2016 and in 2017 on 15 state officials and a militia leader. Those sanctions were imposed over alleged human rights abuses and delays in replacing Kabila.
Glen said the measures apply to holdings in the UK and British Overseas Territories. Figures for 2017 freezes are still being compiled, he said.
The funds remain the property of the individuals.
The UN first imposed a sanctions regime and arms embargo on the DRC in 2003
The DRC is Africa’s leading producer of copper and the world’s top miner of cobalt, which is used in rechargeable batteries, but ranks 176th out of 188 countries on the UN Human Development Index.