Read the issued by the UK NCP concluding the specific instance - 21 July 2008
In April 2005, the UK NCP received a request for review from the NGO Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) who alleged that DAS Air had breached the concepts and principles, and general policies provisions of the Guidelines for transporting minerals from rebel held areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
More specifically, RAID alleged that DAS Air
- failed to apply due diligence when transporting minerals from Entebbe and Kigali, which had a reasonable probability of being sourced from the conflict zone in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and
- undertook flights between Entebbe airport and the conflict zone in Eastern DRC.
The flights evoked in point 2 coincided with an illegal occupation of the area by the Ugandan military, during a period when the United Nations and NGO’s recorded multiple human rights abuses. A flight ban between the DRC and Entebbe was in place during the applicable period, meaning these flights were in direct contravention of international aviation conventions (the Chicago Convention).
After assessing the allegations and responses by the company and relevant international conventions, the NCP concluded that DAS Air had breached the Guidelines.
The NCP drew the company's attention to the OECD Risk Awareness Tool for Multinational Enterprises in Weak Governance Zones, which consists of a list of questions that companies should ask themselves when considering actual or prospective investments in weak governance zones. In addition the NCP commited to contacting trade organisations with an interest in freight forwarding and request they bring the final statement regarding this specific instance to the attention of their members.