Javier Bardem rails against conflict minerals

I've got to hand it to the Enough Project — the people there really know how to pull in the cool stars.

And to pull in stars that can speak persuasively about the issues.

The latest is Javier Bardem talking about Congo's conflict minerals. This message has a corny pitch for Mother's Day, but the video is fun and Bardem and Enough's John Prendergast make a strong argument for the campaign against conflict minerals. And they have a petition to sign which will go to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Here's what they have to say:

This is not your typical Mother’s Day message.

We email, text and call each other from our Blackberry and iPhone regularly. We would have been Facebook friends if we had our own Facebook pages. And surely we would tweet each other if we became twitterers.

But underlying all these dizzying 21st century communication tools is one of the saddest secrets in the world involving mothers and daughters. Innocently, inadvertently, we are using communication products that are powered by minerals (conflict minerals) that are fueling the highest rates of sexual violence in the world in a place called the Congo.

Congo is the most dangerous place in the world to be a mother or a daughter. We got together and made this video to explain why.

The very good news is that there is much we can do about this.

Start by signing this petition to one of America’s Mothers-in-Chief, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who visited the Congo and cares very much about the issue. The petition calls on Secretary Clinton to lead a process that removes conflict minerals from the supply chains of our electronics products, much like the system that removed blood diamonds from our jewelry and sweatshops from our clothing.

On this Mother’s Day, as two momma’s boys, we cherish our mothers extra special. Join us in cherishing the mothers and daughters of the Congo and taking a small step to protect them from some of the worst horrors in the world. Together we can use our consumer power to make our phones and laptops conflict-free and rape-free.

Javier Bardem is an Academy Award-winning actor and activist. John Prendergast is co-founder of the Enough Project and author of Unlikely Brothers.