A/HRC/10/59 page 20 in the region. The illegal exploitation does not only fund non-state armed groups or rogue elements in FARDC,33 but it also deprives the State of the resources needed to provide access to justice and basic social services in accordance with its human rights obligations. 74. The eastern DRC is rich in many different and sought after minerals, in particular cassiterite (tin ore), coltan (columbite-tantalite, used in a number of electronic goods), gold, and wolframite, the major component tungsten, a strong and dense material used for various military components. Extractive sites of these raw materials in conflict areas have been a major source of finances for non-state armed groups in the region, who either directly control or even operate the mines, illegally tax the proceeds or participate in the illegal trade of the raw materials. In a number of cases, rogue FARDC commanders or units have become complicit to these illegal activities. The extraction and trade of the minerals often involves forced labour, extortion and violence against those who resist the demand of armed groups or rogue FARDC. Women groups also highlighted that sexual extortion and rape of women working around the illegal mining sites is rife. 75. Illegally extracted raw materials pass through a long supply chain in the DRC which stretches from the mining operations, quite often artisanal mining, through local traders (négociants) to officially registered export trade firms (comptoirs). Pointing to the involvement of the négociants as middlemen, comptoirs often claim not to know the origin of minerals received, which is implausible since the ore content substantially varies between sites, and mining sites for certain minerals such as coltan are almost entirely under the control of non-state armed groups. The Group of Experts of the Sanction Committee has identified a number of comptoirs who knowingly traded in illegal minerals34 and the seven thematic special procedures were encouraged to hear from the Minister of Mining that their business licenses would not be renewed. 76. From the comptoirs and in some cases also directly from the mining sites, the minerals are exported to neighbouring countries or others from where they are re-exported and eventually end up in Europe, North America, Asia or elsewhere, where it is used in products such as mobile phones (coltan) or military munitions (wolframite). According to the principle of corporate responsibility to respect human rights, transnational corporations and other business enterprises as well as consumers have a crucial role in ensuring that buyers and users of such minerals do not knowingly or negligently purchase minerals from conflict areas in the eastern DRC. 4. Political instrumentalization of ethnic cleavages 77. The political instrumentalization of ethnic cleavages in the eastern DRC feeds the conflicts in the region and exacerbates the human rights violations that precede and accompany them. Following his visit to the Eastern DRC and neighbouring countries from 23 November to 4 December 2008, Mr. Francis Deng, Special Advisor of the Secretary-General on the prevention of genocide found that “massive violations of international human rights and humanitarian law 33 See S/2008/773, paras. 127-135. 34 Ibid., paras. 130-134.