Blood in the Mobile Page #4

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Bisie alone is estimated to produce $70 million a year.

100 years ago Nokia was a rubber boot factory-

-getting their rubber from Leopolds slave colony.

Today Nokia is one of the biggest corporations in the world.

Every third phone on the plante is a Nokia.

Nokia are market leaders on social responsability.

If theyre using the blood minerals, the whole business is likely to do it.

Dear Nokia, tell me youve learnt from your mistakes in the past.

Promise me that youre not involved in this.

Hello. Im here to see Arja Suominen.

-Would you please sign in? -Yes.

Can I see this?

Frank Poulsen.

Arja is in a meeting the whole day.

Do you have an appointment whith her?

Yes, we wrote to her and said were coming. So she knows...

-This I cant sign. -Sorry?

Because it says Im not allowed to film.

Youre working in communications? You must know the situation in Congo.

-Im concentrating on Finnish media. -Maybe you can find somebody else?

-Ill try to find one and will be back. -Allright. Thank you.

-You have to sign it right here. -Well, I cant sign this.

-Ive signed it, but its just.. -Yes, but is...

No, this is mine! You cant take my signature whithout my...

Okay, but you must...Ill show you. I wont take...

This means that you can use the information we give you-

-but if you suddenly hear something then you cant.

Excuse me? Can I please have this back...

But you cant enter the house whithout that signature.

Then we must take an agreement that I can film.

After all I am here to make a film.

Im sorry, but I couldnt find a spokesperson. Unfortunately.

-So? -Were not able to arrange a meeting.

The people who know the case-

-are either travelling or in meetings somewhere. I cant reach them.

Its really frustrating. Ive been trying for a year.

I need a response from Nokia, because you are my phone company.

As a consumer and a world citizen Im very concerned about this.

I do understand your point, but I want able to arrange a meeting.

But I also have to...

Youre doing your job, and Im trying to do my job.

I wont leave until I get an interview or at least an appointment.

Hello, can I speak to Pekka Isosomppi?

Yes, because I was really...

-Sorry... -Im allowing you to film.

-Im allowing you to film.

I didnt want to accept not to film...

Yes but thats fine, now that Im here.

Wow, this is a nice place.

-So we are in... -Hello, how are you?

Im fine. My names Frank. Nice to meet you.

We have taken action since 2001 on this issue-

-When we first became aware-

-that a raw material called coltan-

-coming from Congo-

-can be turned into tantalum.

The materials is used in mobile phones, but also all other electronics products.

-Yes, of course. -Then we went to our suppliers.

Meaning companies that manufacturate parts that are used in mobile phones.

We asked:
Can you trace where the tantalum you are using comes from?

But we quicly realized that theres a huge challenge in tracing metals.

There is no mechanism to determine where the raw material is coming from.

Theres no labelling.

You cannot trace or test the material-

-as to which part of a particular metal coming from which mine.

If we have a requirement-

-how can we make sure that it goes through the supply chain.

We need mechanism, and these we are now developing.

So thers a big challenge there. But its a serious issue.

We work on int, and we hope there will be a resolution-

-that will enable us to securely say-

-that we have a responsible supply chain.

Nokia has known about blood minerals for 10 years.

They launch a new phone every third month and even sell them in Congo.

And then they say that they dont know where their minerals come from.

They say its impossible to trace the minerals in my phone.

But its possible to trace all kinds of things.

You can trace a human being from a single hair or a drop of spittle.

I visit the Federal Institute of Natural Resources and Geological Science.

Hello.

I have an appointment with Dr. Frank Melcher.

Dr. Frank Melcher?

Melcher...Melcher...

Dr. Melcher, you have a visitor. Yes, sir... Youre welcome.

-Come in. Hello, Im Frank. -So am I. Nice meeting you.

Simon is a PhD student.

Hes working on the tin.

Hes looking into options to fingerprint cassiterite.

And Torsten is knowledgeable about coltan.

He was working on coltan.

We will drill a small hole through that sample.

Then we scan the sample for about 2-3 hours.

We then analyse the volume for its composition.

This is the fingerprint. And this is very typical for Bisie.

Here is Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda.

Bisie would be somewhere here. Here is Walikale.

Bisie would be here. In the white area, where there is no geology.

From every grain analysed here we get the formation age-

-the geological age, and we can say: This material must come from DRC-

-or from Mozambique-

-because we know exactly how old these grains should be.

This is a trick about that machine.

So it is technically possible to trace the raw minerals.

That means they must be traced before they are smelted into metals.

This takes place in Malaysia, where Nokias suppliers buy the metals-

-to make the components that Nokia needs.

The German method makes it possible to certify the minerals-

-in the same way it has been done with diamonds.

-Hi. Global Witness? -Yes. Sixth floor.

Would you sign in, please?

Could this be a solution for Nokia and the rest of the industry?

I visit Annie from Global Witness, which tries to break the link-

-between natural resources and armed conflict.

-What do you think about the method? -Its an interesting idea.

But its a long-term proposition. It takes years to put together-

-an intergovernmental certification scheme. The idea is worth pursuing-

-but not to the detriment of immediate action.

Ths situation in eastern Congo is urgent.

Its been urgent for years. So we need both.

We need short terms solutions that can change the situation on the ground-

-and we need medium to long term solutions.

On their website Nokia has said a number of positive things.

They talk about reviewing standards and about being involved-

-in the work of industry bodies. We welcome these steps.

We arent going to reject them. But at this point its too litle-

-too late and not fast enough. Nokia must prove to their consumers-

-and publish what theyre doing. The contracts they have with suppliers.

What kind of proof do their suppliers bring to them.

They hide behind the fact that theyre a big company-

-and that they have their selected suppliers-

-which is what gives them the edge in a very difficult market.

Who they get their stuff from, and how much they pay for it.

But we need to know, in the light of what goes on in the Congo-

-where the stuff is coming from, and they could put it on their website.

The Congo cant wait to get a certification of the minerals.

Till now 5 million people have died in the Congo in a war-

-primarily financied by the electronics industry.

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