tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold have all been linked to violence in eastern congo by rebel groups and the congolese army. >> millions of people have been killed in the congo over the past decade. i want to see peace in the congo. >> the same minerals are used to make common electronics,that are sold all over the world. but in 2010, after months of lobbying by advocacy groups an obscure resolution called section 1502, was dropped into the dodd-frank wall street reform act. it means publicly traded companies are now required to track whether their products contain conflict minerals from congo. some of the top tech brands are taking credit for reducing violence here -- with the world's largest chip-maker intel even claiming that some of their products are now "100% conflict free". >> "we're proud to say the world's first commercially available conflict free microprocessors do just that". >> but how sure can they be? fault lines travels to eastern congo to investigate. john kanyoni is the owner of a leading trading house in goma. he makes his living selling tin and tantalum to internation

it may not seem obvious, but what you find in eastern congo and in many other parts of the world is that the country and society is still stuck in what you would call a colonial economic model. the congo gained its political independence in 1960. [laughter] howard: they are laughing at you, don't worry. emmanuel: it gained its political independence in 1960, but it never gained its economic independence. the reason for that is it only exports raw materials, and that is what keeps people in poverty. one of the main reasons is that it has no industry. it's only through electrification that you can do it. by doing that, you can reach many more people. what we find is that for every megawatt of electricity you provide for rural communities, you can create 1000 jobs. that's a lot. virunga national park, from the rivers flowing out of it, can create 100 megawatts. that is 100,000 jobs. one million people would benefit from that. you are beginning to have an impact at that level. that is how we would do it. it's very straightforward. it's very simple. it does require a lot of investment, $160 m

congo. reporter: tension is high as the newly arrived refugees from the eastern democratic republic of congo check to see if their names have been listed. like this woman. is her name on the list? then the moment of relief -- yes, her name is there she can stay. -- there. she can stay. she will get half of hectare of land, plus a few pots, blankets, tools, and seeds. for her, it is enough to begin a new life. >> i never want to go back to the congo. rebels killed my husband and one of my children. i am so happy with the support that i received here. reporter: 25,000 refugees live near this settlement in southwestern uganda. it looks less like a classic refugee camp and more like a normal village. this family arrived 10 years ago after fleeing from the civil war in eastern congo. they broke in their field -- they grow in their field corn and beans. this is something that the family and the ugandan government can benefit from. >> at the beginning, we had no idea what to do. we were not farmers. but our neighbors taught us and now we can live from it. reporter: the family uses most of what they

tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold have all been linked to violence in eastern congo by rebel groups andhe congolese army. >> millions of people have been killed in the congo over the past decade. i want to see peace in the congo. >> the same minerals are used to make common electronics,that are

the news continues here on al jazeera >> we're in the eastern part of the democratic republic of congo. it's one of the least developed countries in the world, but there's an estimated $24 trillion worth of minerals here. tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold have all been linked to violence in eastern congo by rebel groups and the congole

tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold have all been linked to violence in eastern congo by rebel groups and the congolese army. >> millions of people have been killed in the congo over the past decade.

tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold have all been linked to violence in eastern congo by rebel groups and the congolese army. >> millions of people have been killed in the congo over the past decade.

. >> we're in the eastern part of the democratic republic of congo. it's one of the least developed countries in the world, but there's an estimated $24 trillion worth of minerals here. tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold have all been linked to violence in eastern congo by

if you're looking to get to the eastern congo, and many would ask why you would even want to do that,drive across from neighboring rwanda. this country, of course, not too long ago, suffered its own appalling genocide. behind the wheel, dan. he's been living in the drc for two years working on a documentary about some of the several dozen rebel groups in the country. riding shotgun, dan's close friend and associate horeb, a congolese. they're taking me across the border. one side, rwanda, hotels, paved roads, internet, and paperwork to be filled out. just a few feet of barbed wire, machine guns and cement walls away -- this. welcome to goma. a city of 1 million, the significant number of whom are idps, internally displaced people -- sitting, rather inconveniently, at the base of mt. niragango, a still smoldering volcano. current street level is about 12 feet above where it was in january 2002 when it last erupted. lava everywhere. which explains the less than smooth ride. one of the first things you notice out the car window, the u.n. about four months ago, the m-23, one of the variou

tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold have all been linked to violence in eastern congo by rebel groups andongolese army. >> millions of ppl

go to eastern congo. that's not a good news story. you can go all over the world and find it. so to me it's a very demeaning to the people who live the way they live in this world that think that somebody in some office can say, i calculate that number, here it is, folks. i think it's bull shit. ideal. [applause] and so, yeah, i'm glad i don't work at the world bank. i to be fired. [laughter] but it's true. i think these are people who need to go spend a little time in the field. i'm going to be two entries because they are very different. i was sitting in 2003 i think, in south sudan, outside, i can't think of the doubt i went to visit these farmers, well, this group, and i was sitting with the elders. it's kind of funny. because something came out of this much later. i asked what the biggest problem was unexpected a couple different answers but it didn't expect this. they said the lra. i didn't know who that was. they said what he neglects they come in, burnt our crops and to steal some of our kids. i thought, while mike, okay. 10 years later my good friend shannon who is he