Democratic Republic of the Congo’s lawyers claim that Apple has been obtaining minerals illegally from the DRC for its “global supply chain” and that the blood of the Congolese people is tainted in Macs, iPhones, and other products.
Attorneys for the African nation said that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) government has served Apple with a formal notice in which it is accused of using “illegally exploited” minerals taken from the war-torn east of the country in its goods.
Apple is accused by the DRC’s Paris-based attorneys of buying minerals that are smuggled into neighboring Rwanda, where they are “integrated into the global supply chain” and laundered.
In response to a request for comment from the AFP news agency, Apple France stated that they needed time to review every detail of the formal cease and desist notification, which is a precursor to potential legal action by the DRC.
“Based on our due diligence efforts… we found no reasonable basis for concluding that any of the smelters or refiners of 3TG (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) determined to be in our supply chain as of December 31, 2023, directly or indirectly financed or benefited armed groups in the DRC or an adjoining country,” said the statement.
“Minerals of blood”
Since regional warfare in the 1990s, the mineral-rich Great Lakes region of the DRC has been plagued by violence. Tensions erupted in late 2021 when rebels from the March 23 Movement (M23) started regaining large areas of territory.
Rwanda is accused by the DRC, the UN, and Western nations of arming rebel groups, such as M23, in an attempt to seize control of the abundant mineral wealth in the region; Kigali refutes this accusation.
“Apple has sold technology made with minerals sourced from a region whose population is being devastated by grave human rights violations,” the DRC’s lawyers argued.
The letter makes other allegations, including systemic corruption at locations that provide Apple with minerals, armed attacks, and sexual violence.
The lawyers for the Democratic Republic of the Congo claimed that Macs, iPhones, and other Apple products are “tainted by the blood of the Congolese people”.
70% of the cobalt in the world
A US federal appeals court recently threw out a case alleging child labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s cobalt mining industry, directed at Apple, Google, Tesla, and other tech companies.
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously decided that the plaintiffs did not satisfy the legal requirements to pursue their claims against the firms, even if they have legal standing.
Lithium-ion batteries are in high demand as countries throughout the world move toward renewable energy sources. These batteries are necessary to power electric cars, laptops, and cellphones. Over 70 percent of the world’s supply of cobalt, which is essential for these batteries, comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
But as much as thirty percent comes from “artisanal mines,” where thousands of independent miners labor for meager wages in “subhuman” and “degrading” conditions.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
