Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Democratic Republic of Congo (RDCongo) accused the North American company Apple of using, in its devices, “illegally exploited” minerals, coming from Congolese mines in which “numerous human rights are violated”.
According to documents cited by the France-Presse news agency, lawyers appointed by Kinshasa claimed in the process that the minerals are “transported outside the DRCongo and, in particular, to Rwanda”, where their origin is hidden.
“Rwanda is a central actor in the illegal exploitation of minerals and, in particular, in the exploitation of tin and tantalum in DRCongo”, say the lawyers.
“Following their illegal extraction, these minerals are smuggled into Rwanda, where they are integrated into global supply chains,” the formal notification states.
The document was sent this week to Apple’s two subsidiaries in France by French lawyers William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, as well as a letter to the North American parent company, known for iPhone cell phones and Mac computers.
DRCongo has numerous natural resources, being the world’s largest producer of cobalt and the main African producer of copper.
According to a report published by the non-governmental organization (NGO) The Enough Project in 2015, Congolese mines “are often controlled by armed groups who force, through violence and terror”, civilians, including children, to work in these places. .
DRCongo accuses neighboring Rwanda of supporting the rebellion of the M23 armed group, which currently controls a large part of North Kivu province, to take control of resources, particularly mining, in eastern Congo.
“Apple’s responsibility, as well as that of large manufacturers of cutting-edge technology, when using ‘blood minerals’, remained a black box for a long time”, stated William Bourdon and the British Robert Amsterdam.
The lawyers consider “notoriously insufficient” the “various commitments and precautions taken” by Apple, “whether on its own initiative or in the application of the law with regard to the use of minerals acquired in Rwanda”.
The lawsuit highlighted that Apple’s suppliers use the Tin Supply Chain Initiative (ITSCI) certification, “whose serious and numerous malfunctions have been demonstrated.”
ITSCI is a mechanism implemented over 10 years ago to ensure a supply of “conflict-free” and responsibly extracted minerals in DRCongo.
But, in 2022, the British NGO Global Witness said that, on the contrary, the program had contributed to the laundering of minerals linked to conflicts, child labor or resulting from trafficking and smuggling.
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