Wednesday, December 18, 2024 - DR Congo on Tuesday, December 17, filed a criminal case against European subsidiaries of tech giant Apple, accusing them of illegally using “blood minerals” in its supply chain.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo alleges that Apple has bought
contraband supplies from the country’s conflict-racked east and Rwanda, zones
in which the materials are alleged to be mined illegally and then integrated
into global supply chains before ending up in tech devices.
Apple’s French and Belgian units also deployed deceptive commercial
practices to persuade consumers that its supply chains were clean, according to
a statement from lawyers representing the DRC.
AFP has learned that complaints against Apple have been lodged in Paris
and Brussels with the allegations encompassing war crimes, laundering, forgery,
and deception.
Last April, the legal team asked Apple CEO Tim Cook, along with Apple
subsidiaries in France, about the potential inclusion of pillaged minerals in
the company’s supply chain but did not receive substantive responses.
The DRC’s Washington-based lawyer Robert Amsterdam described the case as
constituting a “first salvo” of judicial actions.
“Color Apple red, and not green. It is a trillion-dollar company that
must be assumed to know the consequences of its actions. Enough with denials of
accountability and hiding behind the false narrative of supply chain
defenses!”, he said.
Paris-based lawyer William Bourdon said the criminal complaints
constitute “a first step towards making one of the biggest players in tech
accountable for its policy of endless enrichment at the cost of the most
serious of crimes staining African supply chains.”
Brussels lawyer Christophe Marchand added that “these complaints filed
against Apple are a matter of great public interest at a time when European
countries, consumers and non-governmental organizations are increasing their
scrutiny of international supply chains.”
Computer chips and tech devices require a wide array of minerals and
specialty metals.
The lawyers said that the scale and duration of the alleged activities
have caused “unfathomable harm and suffering” for civilians, fuelling violence
and conflict by financing militias and terrorist groups and contributing to
forced child labour and environmental devastation.
They also cited investigations by the United Nations, the US State
Department and international NGOs such as Global Witness to document the scale
of the problem.
The lawyers said they have written to European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen to inform her of the criminal complaints and to request a
dialogue on the EU’s role in working towards accountability and an end to armed
violence in sub-Saharan Africa’s mineral supply chains.
Apple last year said it had “no reasonable basis for concluding” its
products contain illegally exported minerals from conflict-hit zones. The tech
giant has insisted it carefully verifies the origin of materials in its output.
Rwanda has also dismissed the allegations as unfounded. “This is just
the latest blow by the DRC government, which is constantly seeking to divert
attention to Rwanda with false accusations,” Rwandan government spokeswoman
Yolande Makolo told AFP.
DR Congo’s mineral-rich east has been racked by violence since the
1990s, with tensions worsening since a renewed offensive in late 2021 of
Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in the DRC province of North Kivu. Kinshasa has
accused Rwanda of using M23 to take control of resource-rich eastern DRC.
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