millions died. and made him look forward to be held don't say. the pain and suffering will never be forgotten. as well that is the joy of liberation.

spring the nineteen forty five on our team. wealthy british scientists i am not out to. markets why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy in these kinds of reports on r.g.p. . the one thing i. live from moscow these are the top stories of the week spies lies

and videotape many georgians fear the police's panta russian paranoia could find them obscene is the best you know it's next. better than one russian nato to work together to create a van system to neutralize common threads. obama. say it was just a good old meeting but something national both republicans to victory in this week's us term elections. archipelago outraged he was angered by president medvedev visit to russia. which japan claims added so. able to invest in a system own free jim. a well known investigative journalist was brutally beaten in the center of moscow police say his professional activities was most likely the cause. up next watch a special report on the hunts for coltan a medal used in mobile phone production the program unveils

a criminal net in congo with warlords and forcing child labor and merchants importing material in defiance of u.n. regulations. since two thousand and one. has been leading a powerful organization in a little known campaign. a campaign involving a device that has become indispensable in our daily lives. simple stuff the cell phone this mobile phone is a remarkable piece of engineering but look inside yet there's blood in this machine there's blood in this device because your mobile contains tiny electronic circuits and they couldn't work without a mineral called coal towns it's mined in the eastern congo. yet the song there is blood here the blood of congolese who are dying in a terrible conflict.

to learn more about coltan the precious metal at the heart of every mo bile you must go to the congo fourteen hundred kilometers from the capital kinshasa near the rwandan border in south keefe. this region is a geological miracle stuffed full of minerals and it's ravaged by war four million people have died in the past thirteen years the violence feeds off the abundance of natural resources. we're driving towards the mountains where the mines are it's a dangerous region the congolese army and not in full control here joseph is coming with us he's the mayor of a small town called z beera hoffa's municipality is occupied by guerillas a lot he says he did and came to this area and they never left. and that's a real problem for you isn't it whole communities of congolese have been driven out

there have been skirmishes only if you don't was of course the congolese population have suffered serious consequences yet there are killings massacres kidnapping that's in it isn't it. before reaching rebel territory we stop at the zone commanders checkpoint it's guarded by the congolese army. good morning coming down and though it's captain sorry captain one of the soldiers a suspicious they're not completely in charge here. i'll fire you going now we going as far as the mine. follow and joseph introduces us to the officer he's the only person who can give us a pass to let us go on. now. you know. a

few kilometers of no man's land. pretty soon there's no one to be seen. the congolese are too afraid to come this far deep in the valley after the bridge the land is controlled by the rebel militias. this is the last outpost of the congolese army. a handful of soldiers hold the bridge we showed the pass given us by the zone commander. is somewhat of a fall from here to two and a half kilometers do you ever see them when they come we see them. to say hello no we wave at them and really you get on with them ok good luck see you later. that's it after the bridge we're in the rebels are on the track is deserted but we sense that we're being watched from the hills. suddenly we have to stop. a small

group of rebels has surrounded the car. we'll call. the well. we're french journalists i don't know what it would they want to talk to an officer . and they come on announce that when because of all this is that you are going to . the guerrillas the suspicious their leaders and the way to be seen for. these agendas from french television. we would like to meet one of your leaders to ask him to explain what's happening here and what your aims are. what kind of aims. and the situation in congo in rwanda. that's why we'd like to meet one of the leaders.

they're not here but go to the next village and wait first that. we went about to argue the rebels cut across the hills while we continue along the track. they told us to meet them in this village. no chance to get the camera out of the car. cook at the border and. the men are carrying sacks of minerals on their heads under the d.d.a. eyes of the rebel soldiers were never far away. i'm all right all right. come fall. yes we've come a long way one when history i'm a member of the f.t.l. i. forgot everything quiet yes it's quiet no problems here. the f.t.l. is the name of the rebel movement they come from neighboring rwanda and they've been here for thirteen years. a village agrees to tell us

a little about the coltan mines once he's safely inside our vehicle. we never stop digging. these include because. these people are afraid to dig because of the danger. but the minerals are still there. but as soon as you mention the militias no one wants to talk. to you how do they live this is where they get their money how do they buy their weapons their ammunition to their connection with the mines. at i can't say anything about that when it. is ok ok i don't see them i'll be back. the local chiefs agreed to meet us but they refused to be filmed. many of these men have international mourns for their arrest they call these rwandan rebels the into ham wayne these are the people who committed the rwandan genocide in one thousand

nine hundred forty eight hundred thousand tutsis were massacred by hutu militias. when the situation was reversed tens of thousands of hutus had to cross the congolese border for fear of being massacred by the tutsis. among them when militia men of the former rwandan regime and the soldiers who'd carried out the genocide and army in full flight crossed into congo with their weapons and supplies these are the people we meet and today we're carrying a hidden microphone. we'll have a new way from french television we've come from paris we're making a documentary about the mines what i mean. there are mines everywhere around here. they stretch from here to temple and. they're everywhere around here. and that's as far as we get the rebels discover a microphone they are going to show us any mines we decide to leave. on the way

back we passed people carrying minerals coltan. they want to get out of this is known as fast as possible to sell their merchandise for their own they especially want to avoid paying a few notes in taxes to the rebel militiamen. but that isn't the end of their troubles crossing the bridge should mean crossing to freedom but each barrier is shaken down as we watch. they don't want us to film they don't want us to record the congolese people being ripped off by their own soldiers. like . what joseph is disgusted by the situation he lectures the soldiers on the subject. and the mineral carriers take advantage of the moment to slip away.

but this only checkpoint makes people pay to post and that's not allowed it's extortionate. the mineral carriers meet up a few kilometers for their own at this house in run this is the village where all the coal time in the region is gathered some of these men have worked for four days to get here. this. is a much to the sex way. forty kito forty. a barrel gets fifteen euros for this job. another to feel safe away from the militias joseph tells us the whole story. it isn't if you're good at it you know the places where this or is found are often occupied by foreigners and the mineral is a form of currency you don't get that the problem of there are two aspects to the problem the political side and the economic side the political side is the fact

that there are always foreigners on congolese soils they should leave this land and return home. but in the meantime they're stealing from the congolese the foreigners are getting rich. but not the ordinary congolese. to get to a mine we have to travel a few dozen kilometers west to a region recently retaken by the congolese army. after three hours drive in a rough track we reach a plateau congolese soldiers go with us they're supposed to protect the mine from the rebels. in fact the mine is a quarry the workers are adolescents who slave like convicts. and

. this is colton the black gold of the congo pieces of rock attached to limestone just what you know what colton is used for no we don't really know you know it's a mineral it's quite a muddy. every able bodied young person in the village must dig the mountain they have no choice in the mine is the only way to earn a living. how old are you fifteen. someone just young children. as in a gold mine the earth is washed several times the impurities are washed away leaving grey sand dotted with little black pebbles. this is the coat and that the armed groups want so much not long ago they came to get it with weapons as anatole the village headmen remembers. they were an issue groups the f.d.a.

allowed they often attack to get the cult. if they came when they knew people had some they came to steal it but they kill people to. never stop doing that oh they come into the area they steal the cows the goats. because. that identically colton anymore no they don't come here because we're well protected here. the common base is their protection a handful of civilians commanded by a soldier poorly armed and ready paid they too sometimes extort money from the miners. for the precious mineral is heated sifted and carefully packed before being resold to local dealers.

that one would think. discuss ten dollars yes. ten dollars for a small tin of colt and several days work for a miner. through when. there are a few roads so airplanes are the usual way to take the call times of the town's. bukavu airport is the hub of the region's mineral trade. inquisitive people are not popular here with filming with a hidden camera the plane's make daily trips to the mining zones to supply them with food and equipment we joined one of the flights. the pilots are well paid each flight costs two thousand five hundred dollars these

shuttle missions are particularly dangerous. there have been many accidents crashes in the hills i'll show you a few wrecks. they were in the clouds and they didn't see the hills they were too heavy they couldn't climb. and. the other danger is the armed men who are everywhere around here. usually we know what's happening around here if there are any armed groups in the area. to have a turn back very often if we land and we see. that an armed group has taken over the airport we have to take off again. as anyone have a shot at the plane many times. this is more along the street five hundred metres of hard a pocket handkerchief landing it's always scary here. you can't afford to make a mistake or the plane will end up in the trees. sacks

of flour sugar cases of beer supplies to be sold on to the minus. that the most important thing is what they'll be taking back colton. this is one week's production the sec's are not especially big but they weigh on average forty kilograms called tan is one of the most dense metals in the world. was eight hundred twenty nine kilos. this plane will be carrying about eighty thousand dollars with. the details on the manifest a very sparse just the amount in the recipient of the or nothing about its origin as. the plane comes to malone who just once every ten days without it the village would be completely cut off. and it says there's been no road since

one thousand nine hundred sixty eight so there are no trucks nothing you get here on foot and you carry things on your back yes it is my that's what it. says. to me how many days is it take to get a book of who almost a week. this is our office and this is where we have the radio at the control tower that's the control tower called. the town and its equipment above the base of. this is the v.h.f. ten. that goes in the control tower it helps the pilot to land safely matriculated that it sunk in. the radio can be used to warn pilots if rebels have taken over the zone that hasn't been peace in this region since one thousand nine hundred four for democracy but exam many people have died here and maybe thirty the fighters wanted control of the minerals like colton. now we have protection and security

there's trouble elsewhere we've heard about it there are still rebels when all the rebels you have to see them says yes they ransacked some of the villages around here. and. it will take less than an hour to get to the town. i. this is because the capital of south kivu where in the cathedral. we've come here to me john both school a follower of liberation theology he's one of the leading critics of the blood trade in colton. says that he did you ever get bored of talking about natural resources things like that. as that's exactly what has caused the problems here is how do you expect this to. it's as if by giving us natural resources the lord has

trust us because other people come and take them from us and instead of improving our lives they've made us much more unhappy if my life was. for john bosco his work is a celebration every believer is waiting for a single moment his son. should i've made the peace of the lord be upon you. and upon me i needed as much as you. well what if a difference why doesn't our country function properly have to look at this because many of the people here want to play before they have worked that's cheating surely that's corruption if they are prepared to sell themselves to foreigners and that's why we have the war in the congo they on the hutus and tutsis fight each other you fools they give them all weapons bang bang they fight and while they fight the cult

time is mind colton gold's diamonds. do you see this gesture. the n.b.a. is popular in this town he's warning cry finds an echo with the poorest of the poor . who only they organize the war so they can carry on pillaging us but i say it's not a good thing for the waste the west would earn much more here if they stopped draining the country dry and started to help the congo to take off economically the congo's riches would do more good for the world without this greed the western state should take another look at this system and crack down on the traffickers and the other modern pirates who are behind this war. to come with them he sauntered into can easily get. the base closest allies this woman christine discreet shoulder

she's the daughter of a belgian planter and the congolese teen pika and we jump she runs an association for women who've been victims of the violence here she attacks the rwandan rebels who control the mines. these women have had a miraculous escape they just got away from their hutu torturers they've been raped several times by rebel soldiers. cecile was sixteen years old they kidnapped her and have been. illegal for. they held her in the forest for a year and a half using her as a sex slave six yet. one day she managed to escape i think she was pregnant and she is the little result of the rape little sylvia at the center of a decision. they took my mother and my two brothers my two brothers were taken to work in the mines they were cotinine. did you work in the mines

you know the men did they were taken to work in the forest like slaves. and when you are too exhausted they cut your throat that's how your life ends. either they burn you alive or they cover you up with a machete so far if you're lucky they shoot you in the head. so yes they have lots of mines. and there are people in the town who bring the money. and. those people leave with the minerals from which they sell in the town. ok. christine is often their only hope in a region where terror is everywhere she gives each one of them ten dollars a month that's a lot of money here. so you can manage you know. abidjan bosco does more than denounce this situation he records the crimes hoping that one

day the torturers will be punished by divine justice and by human justice for the barbarous acts they are still committing. so what keeps these armed groups going is the knowledge they can get money for the minerals they dig up and selling of on when you see things like this you want yourself to the people who buy their minerals the product of their rapes do they have a conscience called you did your happiness. look at the kinds of things they didn't before. the problem a book of who is that money and conscience don't go together there's no bank here no industry but people are building everywhere they call these cotyledon houses. this town is full of small air freight companies and as specialists transporters.

hypocrisy is everywhere everybody makes money from the mineral trade john b. and c. kill a freight tejan c. they supply the miners with basic goods. such as these are the products so much is batteries and so on it's own people use it for support for the clients. to see what the plans of the clients are the traders who transport their stuff to the interior. possible to much understand it yeah well the ones i love what you do is you're going to buy the even go to radio to communicate with them and while they're in the forest. they arrange the transport of coal time and other minerals for the businessmen in the town and they also buy call time to resell on their own account about a hundred dollars a kilo that's the export price of contact. with fifty

cent we do business. and we make a small commission. and who sets the prices are pretty who sets the prices you do. sit. in the white set the prices. but still it's the world market it's you if you're the one to make the telephones it's if i think. it's. as for knowing where the money they pay the producers of the cult and ends up they prefer to be careful. do whether it goes to financing the bennion we don't know. and yet today money set in lead does finance the gorillas in this region. on the other side of lake kivu we visit goma capital of the neighboring province of

north kivu. this region is full of minerals too and wracked by rebels. the moment when the world has changed forever. thousands passed to nothingness. thousands wounded. and doomed to suffer today. was the first but probably not the last military uses of this weapon. how many more will be come. show one common get on in the future.

colony colonel wouldn't dare to swim so deep. a tourist would be scared of such cold water. and would never die if nothing within arm's reach. they are not to lists they are researchers. and feel worse on land than in deep water.