Following a campaign spearheaded by Global Witness and Amnesty International, members of the European Parliament have made history by voting in favour of a strong and binding law to tackle the deadly trade in conflict minerals.
Despite concerted efforts by big business to weaken the legislation, MEPs have approved a groundbreaking proposal to require that European companies importing four key minerals ensure their purchases are not contributing to conflict or human rights abuses in other countries. Amnesty International’s original briefing on this historic result (and their campaigning prior to the vote) can be found here.
For more on the key elements of the European Parliament’s proposal – along with a call for Member States to give their backing – see this joint briefing by Amnesty International and Global Witness (published June 2015).
