Summary of the article on the situation in Kisankala, in the province of Lualaba in the DRC:
Violent demonstrations took place in the village of Kisankala with rifle attacks on protesting civilians. The protests are linked to an unease felt by artisanal diggers who are driven out of the sites where they used to work so that Lebanese operators can exploit the resources. Tensions were fueled by a young woman injured in the leg by a bullet fired by the gunmen pushing back the protesters.
A government delegation, led by the Minister of Mines, went there to calm the situation and promised the diggers to share the sites with the Lebanese operators.
However, the representatives of the mining company holding the mining rights claim that the Lebanese operators have been exploiting the sites illegally for several months and that they benefit from the protection of the civil and military authorities.
Several complaints have been lodged with provincial and national authorities, as well as with the Palais de la Nation. A legal action would have been opened, but the operators would have refused to cooperate with the investigators.
The victims demand the intervention of the supreme authority and justice to put an end to the industrial spoliation of mining resources and to ensure the safety of workers.
This conflict highlights the tensions between small local artisanal miners and international mining operators in the DRC, as well as the impunity sometimes enjoyed by industrial spoliators.